EXCLUSIVE: Diesel Enters Real Estate Branding Business
MILAN — Diesel is marking the 10th anniversary of its interiors line by entering the real estate branding business.
In a partnership with Bel Invest Group, the Italian company is planning its first residential Diesel building, which will be located in Miami.
The building will be erected in the buzzy art district of Wynwood and include 143 residential units designed by Diesel Living, the name of the brand’s home and interiors collection, as well as about 24,000 square feet of prime street-level retail space.
“Diesel Living is the first true concept of modern living by a fashion brand,” touted founder Renzo Rosso. “It reflects the lifestyle of today’s young generations, moving around the world and living life on their own terms. It reflects their ‘social’ way of interpreting their residences, spaces where they live, work, entertain friends — spaces that say a lot about them and their personality. Diesel Living helps them to do just that: show the world who they are. I am sure this new project is only the beginning of a new exciting adventure.”
Pre-sale of the units will begin by the end of the fist quarter of 2019 with an official launch event at the site.
The building is designed by Zyscovich Architects and developed by Bel Invest Group, an international real estate developer with offices in Miami, Berlin, Barcelona and Vicenza, Italy, not far from Diesel’s own headquarters.
“We are excited to help turn Wynwood into the first real urban pedestrian-friendly neighborhood in Miami, thanks to our long-term experience in developing real estate across Europe,” said Maximilian Beltrame, president and chief executive officer of Bel Invest Group, touting the “perfect match” between Diesel and Wynwood. “We want to create buildings and shape neighborhoods where people do not have to leave their house by car, but rather find all their daily needs within walking distance.”
Rosso already has a personal and private investment in Miami with the Pelican Hotel, an Art Deco building constructed in 1939, which the entrepreneur restored and opened in 1994 on the city’s South Beach strip.
Diesel Living has evolved from a textile collection launched in 2008 to a full-fledged interiors line. At the international design and furniture trade show Salone del Mobile in Milan in April, Andrea Rosso, creative director of Diesel Living and son of Renzo, presented a collection that was inspired by a photographic trip to Mexico, which included a visit to the studio of artist Diego Rivera. At the time, he told WWD the company was “taking a step in the direction of hospitality” and evaluating interior design projects for apartments.
“There is an interest in marrying the Diesel aesthetic,” he explained.
The collection included a collaboration with Mirabello Carrara for linen that reproduced jungle motifs or impressions of the desert, as well as street art and urban graffiti. With Scavolini, Diesel presented the Open Workshop kitchen with modular metallic structures made of iron with an industrial twist. With Moroso, the Iron Maiden indoor and outdoor collection included a linear and light brushed stainless steel frame, powder coated in a deep blue or sand pink with contrasting black bolts, and a coffee table with table tops in Alicrite, or methacrylate and Corian.
Diesel Living is expanding its visibility: In addition to the Salone del Mobile, it has added participation at the Dubai Downtown Design in mid-November and the Salone del Mobile in Shanghai that just wrapped up.
Other Italian fashion brands have entered the residential design business, from Giorgio Armani to Fendi and Roberto Cavalli, to name a few.
Related stories
Levi Strauss Is Not Flattered by Imitators
No. 21, Brave Kid Sign Children's Wear Licensing Agreement
Diesel Releases Holiday Video Campaign
Get more from WWD: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
