Renzo Rosso Creates Dedicated Contract Division as Diesel Living Expands
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BREGANZE, Italy — Renzo Rosso’s passion for interior design translates into constant changes in the layout of his homes.
“On Sundays, whenever I can, I turn the house around, it’s a home in flux,” said Rosso, the founder of Diesel and parent company OTB — an attitude that bewilders his wife Arianna Alessi. “Although she thinks I do this better than fashion,” he chuckled.
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“I travel and I see beautiful things and I always want to upgrade our home, change the color of the rooms, move the furniture, revisit the bathrooms. I can’t do it every day, but often — I like it,” he said shrugging.
This does not translate into buying and selling houses, though, because Rosso believes that “a home must be alive, lived-in.”
During his frequent trips, he would rather stay in a hotel, but “always in the same suite.” That said, he has recently secured an apartment in central Milan, an addition to his homes in Venice and Bassano del Grappa — a 20-minute drive from the OTB headquarters in Breganze.
A view is the main requirement, a must-have. “Even if you are feeling low, you go to the window, with a pretty view, your imagination takes flight and it’s relaxing,” he mused.
Rosso has translated his views on interiors into a solid business, the Diesel Living segment, first launched in 2008 at the Salone del Mobile.
It has gradually grown from an initial assortment of fabrics for the home, expanding into different categories that include long-term agreements with Moroso for furniture, dating back to 2009; for kitchens and bathrooms with Scavolini since 2012; with Iris Ceramica for tiles and with Berti for wooden floors since 2016, and with Lodes for lighting from 2020. Other collaborations include with Seletti for home accessories, since 2013, and with Mirabello Carrara for home linens since 2016.
The segment is expected to represent 4 percent of projected 2023 revenues.
“It’s becoming a true business, so much so that now my son Andrea is its creative director with the supervision of [Diesel creative director] Glenn [Martens],” Rosso said. “We are structuring a business unit dedicated to contract and looking for an executive to lead it.”
Following the first Diesel Wynwood apartments in Miami revealed in 2018, the company is working on another residential project in Las Vegas, in partnership with BelVillage, a community-driven division of real estate developer Bel Invest Group, with which Diesel already partnered on the Wynwood residences. It will include about 250 residential units, including penthouses, designed by Diesel Living,
Rosso underscored that the companies have pledged to meet LEED sustainable criteria.
He said he is evaluating “two or three other potential” residential projects at the moment.
For this edition of Milan Design Week, Diesel Living will not be at the Salone del Mobile fairgrounds, but will set up a pop-up showroom with Moroso on Via della Spiga 26 with a bold and surreal 3D takeover of the window in its signature Diesel Red.
The pop-up will be open from Tuesday to May 20, showing a collection in monochromatic red that will be arranged in a fun-house style with additional furniture tableaus set on the walls.
As for the actual furniture lineup, the Wood Wave collection blends clean lines of Scandinavian design with a Diesel twist for stackable chairs, stools and tables.
An evolution of the Cloudscape, the High Cloud sofa is Diesel Living’s highest and softest design to date, looking as if it’s been constructed from fluffy bed pillows.
Nebulone coffee tables will be presented in a new indigo raw finish.
Mindful of sustainability objectives, the fabric selection will include natural materials such as hemp and linen that have a lower environmental impact than conventional cotton. Other new textured fabrics include Ricciolone [big curl], a soft and velvety bouclé fabric.
With Lodes, the brand will present the Magic Mushroom table lamp whose shape is reminiscent of the retro blown glass lamps of the ‘70s with a transparent water effect and a psychedelic twist.
The Spiga 26 pop-up will launch the Hoily Marble with Iris Ceramica and a texture recreating the iridescent soft marbled effect of oil on asphalt.
The Classic on Acid collection by Diesel Living with Seletti distorts classic porcelain iconography to create a psychedelic, kaleidoscope effect.
Functionality is key, said Rosso, who believes Diesel Living should offer “solid, quality objects that must stand the test of time, while evolving in sync with the world.”
Rosso’s appreciation of hotels drove him to buy the Pelican hotel, a 1948-built Art Deco building on Miami’s Ocean Drive, in 1990. A second, new restoration was completed at the end of last year. It features 32 uniquely designed rooms, updated with newly acquired antique furniture and pieces sourced around Miami.
Through his private investment vehicle Red Circle Investments, Rosso has a stake in London’s Chiltern Firehouse, André Balazs luxury hotel and restaurant in Marylebone. “The most beautiful hotel in the world,” Rosso enthused.
He revealed he has also invested in another “wonderful” hotel in Cortina, the Ancora, dating back to 1826 and strategically located in the center of the luxury winter resort town. The remodeling should be completed in time for Christmas 2024 and the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina in 2026.
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