The revival of Diesel has been utterly astonishing.

Founded in Italy by Renzo Rosso in 1978, the brand stood out as an edgier and more stylish denim brand, running the 90s with bold, big commercials and using that to pivot into a mall staple in the 2000s. If you wanted classic American denim, you went to Levis, but if you wanted something with more sex appeal and flair, you shopped at Diesel.

But then the 2010s came around, and Diesel didn’t do anything special, so its flame fizzled. It began closing down stores, further discounting its items, and all its attempts at grabbing online attention were flops, leading to Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. So, in a “why not?” curveball move, they appointed Glenn Martens as artistic director and gave him carte blanche to remake the brand as he saw fit. Martens was not a well-known director, but he was the head of the boutique, edgy denim brand Y/Project — known for its playful distressing, and unique cuts — and the team at Diesel thought that his eye might bring back that 90s energy.

And, boy, they were right. Martens started at Diesel in October 2020, and within a year, sales increased by 30 percent; and they’ve exploded further every year since. In 2019, nobody cared about Diesel; now, all of my young fashion-head friends rank it as one of their favorite brands. They’re edgy, stylish, daring, and the rare brand that has moved upmarket whilst also increasing sales and reducing the average customer’s age. They’re still not a full-fledged luxury brand, with jeans available at premium but accessible prices, but they have that aura.

And, though Y/Project got a bit of the Diesel shine, it was the more obscure, expensive, avant-garde brand, and despite its influence feeding the Diesel look, it stopped working as its own business.

The core problem was that Martens defined the brand. Y/Project was founded by Yohan Serfaty and Gilles Elalouf in 2010, but Martens became creative director in 2013 after Serfaty passed away from cancer and made the brand his own. That brought the brand a lot of success, finding fans across the fashion world, including Kanye West; when Martens joined Diesel, Y/Project no longer had a monopoly on his aesthetic. And to the average fashion fan, why spend $900 for Y/Project jeans when you could get a more wearable Diesel pair with a similar look from the same designer for $300?

Y/Project remained the more interesting brand, with its distinct use of ruffle-like internal wires and aesthetic “war on symmetry,” but that’s not enough to make a sustainable business. Despite the high margins per item, ready-to-wear can’t make for a thriving fashion business, and Y/Project never put much energy into their accessories and bags.

That was already challenging enough; but in June 2023, co-founder Gilles Elalouf also passed away, and without the security of its original owners, Martens resigned — after 11 years at the brand — in September 2024. The brand was placed into receivership shortly after and put up for sale in October, but ultimately, it didn’t find a buyer. On January 10th, Y/Project announced they were shutting down.