Nicola Formichetti will leave his position as the artistic director of Diesel at the end of the year.
“I want to thank Nicola for our collaboration over the past years: they will remain a special moment in the history of our brand. He looked at our past, at our iconic pieces, and refreshed them in the brand DNA, reigniting Diesel’s imagery and branding on the values of freedom and originality”, said Diesel-founder Renzo Rosso in an official statement.
Formichetti, who became well known mostly for his (celebrity) styling work for people like Lady Gaga, was appointed Diesel’s artistic director in the spring of 2014 after a tenure as creative director at French fashion house Thierry Mugler. At Diesel, the Italian-Japanese creative oversaw all creative activities for the main line, including the areas of product, communications and interior design.
Under Formichetti’s guidance, Diesel carried out its “Reboot” process and especially attached much more importance to digital communication (including advertising on rather unusual platforms such as Pornhub) and keeping up with the younger target group. In the creation of Diesel’s traditionally sensational fashion campaigns, he worked together with heavyweights including Inez and Vinoodh or Nick Knight. Formichetti’s first Diesel collection for fall/winter 2014-15 was unveiled during a big show event in Venice.
In his time after Diesel, Formichetti wants to focus more on his own projects and his fashion label Nicopanda, with which he introduced a unisex streetwear capsule collection together with Amazon Fashion at last season’s London Fashion Week. Nicopanda also recently launched a collection at Urban Outfitters.
Diesel is not naming a successor to Formichetti at the moment. Also the CEO role at Diesel is vacant since its former CEO Alessandro Bogliolo left the company this past summer. However, there will be a CEO change at Diesel’s parent company OTB at the beginning of the new year: Ubaldo Minelli will take up his work in January 2018.
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