[gallery size="medium" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="“I Want Diesel To Be The Biggest Of The Coolest!”" ids="52044,52045,52046"]
Mariam Nihal
Renzo Rosso, founder of Diesel, visited his flagship store on Tahlia Street in Jeddah on Tuesday. Saudi Gazette caught up with the Diesel mogul who is also one of the coolest icons alive. With ruffled hair and espresso shots aplenty, Russo was warm and endearing in a way that excited the young crowd gathered around him. “It’s my first time in the country and we have many stores here. In fact I have been trying to come for over two years and finally they managed to invite me. I mean I see we are doing so well in the country so I am thinking about how we can become more important for the future.” Rosso, is a success story who was born in Padua, in north-eastern Italy. “I made it from nothing,” Ross told Saudi Gazette. “Perhaps why I am not arrogant and don’t care much about that.” Rosso began producing his own clothing in 1975, after graduating from a textile manufacturing college.
In 1978 he teamed up with other manufacturers in his region called the Genius Group. Thus now representing many brands including Katherine Hamnett, Replay and his ‘baby’ Diesel. Rosso is the chief designer for Diesel and has been since 1985. So how does he keep the brand so young and fresh every season? “I work with a lot of young people. They have great ideas and a clear vision. They are uncontaminated, you see. Sometimes the crazy ideas can be a disaster but I think with an experienced senior management and young ideas, we manage to create cool things. These young people I work with give me energy, vision and possibility to run the company in a better away.”
Speaking about the brand value and its strong relationship with the Saudi market, he said: “It is not about being the biggest. I like being the cool. Big is okay but sometimes it is too much. I want to be the biggest of the coolest. I recommend my staff to have better relationships with the customers. Have a personal relationship with customers. Be nice to them, remember their birthdays, call them up and be cool. Be less aggressive and work with love and patience. You know that’s what is missing today. We have social media and everything but what we need is humanity. This also creates loyalty and what I like.”
It really is true, that age is mind over matter and you are as young as you think you are. Rosso, who is now 60-years-old still represents the coolest brand in the world. He is still a trendsetter and visionary who proudly represents contemporary fashion and of course the youth. “I am the founder, this is my baby. I work with Denim. Jeans for instance can be worn anywhere. Now you can wear it to the red carpet, in sports, anywhere. In fact we recently designed a wedding dress in white denim in Tokyo. It was fantastic. Now it is like you can wear it to work and then anywhere. And Diesel is the way to go.” So what makes his customers so loyal given the choices they have. “Well simplicity makes people different. Like when you see me, you can tell I have my feet on the ground. This is my personality and lifestyle. When people identify that, it transfers to the consumer in a nice way. Like Dalai Lama said, the more profit you make, the more you can invest. This is not just my company it is ours. It is not what I do, it is what we do.” Rosso spoke extensively about his participation in corporate social responsibility. He thinks more and more about giving back as Diesel has grown in strength and numbers. “We have to give back and help people.
We are heavily involved in community services via our foundation. We have impacted lives of 170,000 through our foundation. I work to save the planet and invest in clean water for the future. I have to invest in time and money to save the planet. I just came from the micro biotical centre in Spain and learned a lot about modern day science. They told me you are what you eat. Look at the conditions we have these days, we never had them in the past. People should be healthy so we can help our future generations and help people live better lives.”
On that note, check out his latest denim collections at Diesel stores across the Kingdom. The lightweight denim is perfect for the summer with an overall laidback vibe harmonizing classic and edgy designs.
