Diesel Red Tag Project With A-Cold-Wall Launches in New York
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Renzo Rosso loves the United States. So it’s no surprise that the Diesel founder chose New York as the first non-European city to launch the latest chapter of his Diesel Red Tag Project.
On Monday, Rosso was joined by Samuel Ross, the 26-year-old designer of A-Cold-Wall, to show off the fourth collaboration of the elevated fashion project. They took over a space on Grand Street in SoHo to create an installation to showcase the collection, which includes vegetable-dyed garments, avant-garde workwear with utility-focused details such as translucent denim seam taping and the use of the devoré technique. Diesel’s heavyweight denim was layered with memory nylons that have become a signature of the A-Cold-Wall brand.
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The other three Red Tag collaborations have been with Shayne Oliver of Hood By Air, Glenn Martens of Y/Project and Gosha Rubchinskiy of GR-Uniforma, all of which were launched in Europe.
“The U.S. always inspired me when I was younger,” Rosso said. He said that as a child born in the Fifties, he knew well that the Americans had saved Italy during the Second World War. “So it was always a dream of mine to come to the U.S.” He made his first trip when he was in his 20s and now comes here often, although not as often as he used to since his son, Stefano, is now in charge of the company’s North American operations. “My son lives here so he takes care of the business,” he said.
That aside, Renzo Rosso said the Diesel Red Tag Project, which was launched as a capsule project in 2018, has been successful in elevating the brand through distribution in high-end retailers including Dover Street Market and Opening Ceremony.
The collaboration with A-Cold-Wall, which he said provides a “freshness” to the brand, will intentionally be offered in very limited quantities, he said, through a network of select retailers offered by Tomorrow. It will also be sold at select Diesel flagships worldwide. Pre-orders for the collection were also being taken at the launch event and the merchandise will ship in December.
The installation was designed especially for the launch and features suspended garments, white fluorescent tube-lighting, raw metal scaffolding and a global debut of a film by Dexter Navy. The film, along with a look book photographed by Rob Rusling, will be available on the two brands’ web sites and social media channels later this year.
Ross said the two brands had been working on the capsule for around a year to create a line that blended the aesthetic of the two brands. “There’s a real artisan treatment to the garments,” he said. “They’re very technical but still wearable.”
Later this year, other activations will roll out in Tokyo and Shanghai.
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