From befriending your enemy to having sex, Glenn Martens’s secrets to successful living

In February 2022, Glenn Martens staged his first physical catwalk show for Diesel. Taking over a vast industrial lot on the southern outskirts of Milan, the runway was dwarfed by seven enormous – as in roof-to-ceiling enormous – inflatable dolls, their limbs entangled in an orgiastic struggle. Less than 24 hours later, Russia invaded Ukraine. “It was strange,” he says, speaking from the brand’s Milanese HQ. “Because I had spent the night celebrating, I had a hangover and was super happy with the collection. But the mood had obviously shifted and I realised, even more so, that I can’t just do clothes for the fun factor.” This is particularly true of a firm like Diesel: a lifestyle brand that sells T-shirts for £27, as well as distressed denim coat for £9,510. “You’re not talking to an exclusive audience, you’re touching people around the world, regardless of income, religion, sexuality. It’s a different exercise than working for Dior, it comes with real-life responsibilities.”

His first port of call was to write a manifesto, compounding Diesel’s existing modus operandi: that it would be a brand that makes people feel desirable and seductive, but also campaign for social and geopolitical issues. “It’s why Diesel’s denim proposals have gone from five per cent recycled and organic fibres to 57 per cent,” he says. “We don’t advertise that, but it’s important to talk about.” It might also explain why his latest venture will invite competitor brands to share their unsold stock and manufacturing processes to produce artisanal capsule collections under the moniker Diesel Loves. “The question was, how do we tackle overproduction and overconsumption?” he says. “I can’t answer this all by myself, but I know that I can be part of the change. We all have so much merchandise that remains unsold, so I hope this is a call to action to other fashion companies to do the same.” It’s a powerful proposal considering an estimated 15 to 45 billion garments become deadstock every year.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Martens adds. “But our first collaboration will be with Lee, which is kind of a statement. Two denim giants, often selling the exact same product with different logos, dropping our weapons and teaming up to address overconsumption.” Requiring three years of development just to harmonise all the different fits, treatments and sizings, the collection comprises a series of straight-forward, spliced-and-diced jeans with shorn waistbands and distressed seams. “It’s easier to create something new than it is to upcycle a garment, especially when customers want something to look exactly like they do online,” he says. “But the small things you do can go far and deep. I’m well aware that most of my customers are working people who have three jobs and three children and they might not have the time to think about sustainability because they have to survive. But at least when we include a message about sustainability on a tag, they might read about it on the bus home.”

In time, Martens hopes that Diesel Loves will encompass three collections a year, the only requirements being that it should attract brands with somewhat decent ethics – “we don’t want to be someone else’s excuse for greenwashing” – and democratic price points. “And it’s not going to be with denim brands, either,” he says. “Because Diesel sells clothing across all sorts of categories.” Perhaps the most essential aspect of this project, though, is that 100 per cent of all profits will be funnelled into the United Nations’s Refugee Agency, with both Diesel and Lee already contributing a third of their respective budgets to the global initiative. “It’s not just for Ukraine, but for displaced people all over the world, with funds going to wherever it is most needed at present, which is great. That’s what it’s all about.” As with all the unusual things Martens does – backdropping runways with 200,000 condoms, casting Rebecca More as Mrs Claus – Diesel Loves comes from a place of irreverence and warmth.

Diesel Loves is – if anything – a Trojan horse: a tongue-in-cheek fashion collaboration, which challenges the rest of the industry to redress its own role in overproduction. “We spend all of our time on each other’s backs, taking each other’s clients. But we could work together and make something good, something beautiful,” says Martens. This statement sits within Diesel’s Successful Living motto, which has fast become his own guiding principle. Here, the designer gives a choice selection of his other secrets to leading a successful life: from befriending your enemy to having sex.

The great thing about this Diesel Loves Lee collaboration is that we are two denim giants. We are meant to hate each other, because we are in an intense competition at all times. But look at us now, sharing resources and working together on an artisanal product to address a critical issue in fashion: sustainability and overproduction. It’s important to think about your neighbours and see how you might be able to come together to help. It’s about Diesel’s manifesto on social politics and sustainability. And even though I wrote that three years ago – during the pandemic when I was writing and thinking about lots of things – it’s still relevant, because when I have an issue with anyone on the team, I always tell them to refer to the manifesto. It’s not the done thing, but I also just think ‘Do whatever you want to do, go hardcore… as long as you respect other people, that is.”

“I’m very in your face, which is sometimes problematic, because I’m not always the most social person. Diesel is a very straightforward, no bulls*** brand. It’s about bold, simple, strong products – like the 1DR bag. You have to be a happy person to wear that, it’s like sunshine. And denim in a nice, distressed wash? You put it on and you feel like you’re going to nail the world: ‘I own the streets, I am the king of the streets’. It’s about straightforward emotions. That’s the kind of person I am – I’m direct and I can tell when someone is being dishonest or talking nonsense and I’ll just tell them, ‘You’re bulls***ting me’. Trust me, that’s happened a few times. I have two full-time jobs and way too many collections to oversee, so there’s no time for playing games.”

“We did a collaboration with Durex last year called ‘Sucsexful Living’, and I was quite proud of that. Because what is more successful than having sex? At least, that’s how I feel. It’s about being together, having a good time. It’s very good for your mental and physical health! I just wanna taste and experience everything. That being said, I don’t want people to think I’m a sex addict, because it’s not true – it’s just in Diesel’s DNA! Diesel was about sex even before my arrival. It’s about owning yourself and being empowered. People who feel powerful want to please themselves and other people. I remember in 1992, Diesel was one of the first lifestyle brands to include a gay couple kissing in their advertising campaigns. It was done with joy and happiness and it made people think. Seeing that campaign when I was 13 and in Bruges was the first experience I had of a gay couple kissing. It was when I discovered that, ‘Oh, it’s okay to be gay?’”

“Give yourself! Be open! Even though I hate putting myself out there, I decided to debut my face on Diesel’s Instagram for the first time because I’m really into the whole Diesel Loves idea. I’m trying to do as much as possible to make it a success story because, for me, it’s an amazing project. We’re addressing critical talking points: sustainability and overproduction. I don’t want to be a dumb, superficial fashion person, I want to think about my neighbours as much as I can. So, voila! I hope this call to action will inspire more people to do the same, to approach fashion differently. I know we all work hard and we all live in small apartments, but it’s about sticking together not fighting each other.”

“This is the most important one: laugh. There’s a lot of irony at Diesel, and I guess that’s why I managed to bring the brand back in less than three years! Wait, I’m bullsh**ting there. Because we worked very hard to get to this point. Fashion is a serious business, it’s hard work. And I have more than 40,000 employees worldwide, which means a lot of families are relying on me to put food on the table. That gives me migraines sometimes. Like, changing everything to organic cotton and putting the prices up by five per cent – how is the market going to react to that? What does that mean for the 40,000 people that are relying on a stable income? That doesn’t sound like successful living, does it? Being stressed out, the sleepless nights I had at the beginning of Diesel. But, listen, you just have to go for it. Otherwise you’re just going to be in bed sh**ting your pants. I am a very serious worker, but I do not take myself seriously, you see. I’m an easy colleague. Go for it, believe in yourself. God, that’s such a cliché…”

This article first appeared on vogue.co.uk

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