Biker jackets. Moulded leathers. Racing trousers. Boiler suits. Studs on studs on studs. For his first Diesel Black Gold show, new womenswear creative director Andreas Melbostad showed a collection that drew a clear line to core ideas about what Diesel is: fast, dangerous and loaded with leather.
The need for speed, as the show notes put it, infused every look. Low-slung trousers featured articulated knee patches and multiple zips. A little dress in white leather looked ready for Anne Hathaway as Catwoman to slink into it and peel away, right down the middle of the catwalk. Tailoring appeared too, in lean-sleeved blazers and in one jacket that extended into a minidress.
Key shapes returned to the catwalk again and again in different treatments, picking up metallic glints along the way. By the end of the show, every surface that could have been studded was bristling with metalsilver studs, black studs, gold nail heads and more.
Backstage at Tuesdays show, the word of the moment was iconic.
Its very important to tap into what I think is a very iconic DNA that Diesel has, and focus on very iconic pieces, Melbostad said. But to do those pieces and set it apart in a sense of how its structured and engineered and tailored.
Thats why he rendered most garments in black and white, to draw attention to textures and surface treatments. For the pieces most emblematic of DBGs new direction, he cited the jackets. They bring different references together and express the new structure.
Melbostad said he wasnt nervous in the run-up to his DBG debut. Past designer Sofia Kokosalaki apparently had differences of opinion with Diesel Black Gold bosses concerning her design direction, but her successor didnt seem concerned.
Its been an easy transition. Meeting Renzo originally and feeling the company, it was a very natural fit, its very close to my own sensibility.
