Some clothes make you look good; others make you look like you had a better night than anyone else in the room. For the Diesel Fall 2026 collection, Creative director Glenn Martens designed entirely for the latter. The show, presented in Milan this season, was built around a specific scenario: You wake up somewhere unfamiliar with no memory of the previous night, yet you walk out looking like the most alive version of yourself. This premise may sound provocative, but Martens made it work and made it wearable.
| 📌 Key Facts |
|---|
| 🧵 50,000 archival Diesel objects used in the Milan set design 👖 Resin-treated denim creates permanent “worn-in” creases 🎨 Bold leather and shearling pieces mark a late-show color surge ♻️ Tailoring built from industrial offcuts and recycled materials 👜 D-One bag debuts in leather, crystal denim and floral prints ⌚ Closer watch introduces a hidden buckle construction 📅 Diesel founded in 1978, reinforcing 50-year heritage narrative |
The set alone signaled what was to come. Approximately 50,000 pieces of Diesel archival memorabilia – objects, props, and relics from nearly five decades of brand history – were arranged under bright, clinical lighting as though submitted as evidence in a gloriously disreputable trial. Stuffed animals, scattered condoms, a slice of pizza, and a fake zebra wearing a hat were among the items in the installation, which felt like the morning after the greatest party the brand had ever thrown. A stuffed pig costume positioned on a bed as if asleep stirred and sat up as the final looks passed by. It was absurd and completely deliberate.
Martens built his collection on the idea of deliberate disorder. Denim was treated with resin so that creases became permanent, creating the impression that the jeans had been worn through an entire night and kept on the next day. Double-layer jersey tops appeared bunched and thrown on, but they were engineered to stay in place. Knits were intentionally boiled down from oversized shapes. Shirts and boyfriend t-shirts were twisted and layered to look like a single garment – a jumpsuit or a dress that looked like two things refusing to behave. Nothing looked finished, and that was precisely the point.
The volume and texture work was impressive. Alpaca and wool coats were unlined and unstructured with rough-cut fronts. Felted tailoring was constructed from production scraps and industrial offcuts that were originally destined for disposal. Velvet denim skirts were pushed into exaggerated shapes. Some jeans were cut extra long with hidden vertical slits near the ankle designed to accommodate a stiletto heel and fasten with a hook-and-eye closure. Pantaboots with flat, pointed soles made getting dressed a matter of seconds. Intarsia knits featured florals cut into necklines and hems as if the wool had been eaten away.
Toward the end of the show, Martens unleashed what he described as a surge of color. Leather and shearling outerwear, shirts, and pants came in bold, assertive colors. Flattened-leg jeans and cotton twinset tops appeared drenched in confetti tones, lighter and more optimistic. Draped velvet tops, pants, and dresses became a full-scale confrontation with color. Printed pieces were foiled and then partially cracked open so that the original pattern showed through underneath. This process transformed even a simple wrapped dress into something that looked as though it had its own interior life.
Follow all the latest news from Fashionotography on Flipboard, or receive it directly in your inbox with Feeder.
You may also read
The accessories held their ground. The new D-One bag debuted with convertible body straps and was available in leather, crystal-encrusted denim, and floral prints from the collection. Footwear had a strong sculptural profile in both men’s and women’s styles, with pointed toes raised by a lateral wall around the foot. This profile appeared on pumps, boots, derbies, and ankle boots alike. A new unisex watch named Closer introduced a hidden buckle construction that sits between functionality and jewelry.
Underlying all of this was a genuine commitment to responsible production. The collection drew on a wide range of recycled and responsibly sourced materials for denim, ready-to-wear items, and bags. The upcycled installation was not just for decoration; it reflected how Martens thinks about the brand’s relationship with its past materials. Founded in 1978, Diesel presented an honest accounting of everything that has accumulated since this season.
