After six years of reshaping the Italian denim house, the Belgian designer signed off with a red-lit, body-positive spectacle that blurred the line between runway and nightclub — and left the audience breathless.
MILAN — The party started before the first model appeared.
As guests settled into their seats at Diesel’s Spring/Summer 2027 show on Tuesday afternoon, something strange began to happen. Around 200 performers from the Marseille-based collective (LA)HORDE had been planted among the audience, disguised as ordinary attendees. Then, as Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby” filled the venue — complete with its signature moans — they began to move .
Some danced alone. Others kissed. Some writhed in pairs or threesomes, lost in a private world that happened to be in full view of the fashion press. The venue, bathed in red light, had been transformed into something closer to a late-night club than a traditional runway .
By the finale, the sensual writhing had given way to collective headbanging. And Glenn Martens, the man who had orchestrated all of it, received a standing ovation .
A Farewell Six Years in the Making
The show marked the end of Martens’s tenure as creative director of Diesel, a role he assumed in October 2020 after founder Renzo Rosso recruited him from the Diesel Red Tag project . When he arrived, the brand was, as Martens himself put it, “literally T-shirts and five-pocket trousers” .
Six years later, Diesel had recorded its best business results in a decade in 2025, and Martens had become one of the most influential designers in contemporary fashion . His departure, announced just days before the Milan show, was driven by his growing commitments at Maison Margiela, where he has served as creative director since January 2025 following John Galliano’s exit .
Rosso, who founded Diesel in 1978, issued a statement praising the designer’s contribution: “Glenn Martens’ contribution to Diesel has been extraordinary. Through his vision, talent and commitment, he has transformed the way the brand is perceived, forging a strong connection with younger generations” .
The Clothes: Disintegration as Devotion
The collection itself was a distillation of everything Martens had brought to Diesel: experimental textile treatments, deconstructed silhouettes, and an unwavering commitment to denim as the house’s central language .
Knitwear appeared to disintegrate into denim and leather. Trompe l’oeil techniques created the illusion of luxurious shearling and leather on flat, lightweight fabrics. Laser-cut T-shirts looked as though they were falling apart — deliberately styled to evoke a “walk of shame” that never quite ended .
The denim itself underwent constant transformation. Coated, lasered, topstitched, and distressed, it sometimes looked like an entirely different material. Jeans mimicked leather. Slip dresses and tailored suits blended seamlessly with the brand’s foundational fabric.
Shorts grew progressively shorter until the final look — a pair of denim micro-shorts worn by model Ella Snyder — was reduced to little more than a strip of fabric across the back . The symbolism was deliberate: Snyder had opened Martens’s very first Diesel show in 2020. First look, last look, same energy .
“The Party Always Comes First”
Backstage, Martens was characteristically direct about his intentions.
“Every season we try to do something unexpected. This one was a bit more… experimental,” he said. “I think the whole celebration of being body positive and loving each other is part of the Diesel DNA” .
In the press notes, he expanded: “The party always comes first at Diesel. It’s about inclusivity, self-expression, pleasure and the democracy of experience. The collection is the essence of Diesel: disruptive, sexy, fluid, fun. We are all in this together: let’s take a ride one more time” .
That philosophy had defined his tenure. Under Martens, Diesel staged raves open to thousands, used 200,000 condom boxes as set design, and turned Milan into a citywide egg hunt for its Spring/Summer 2026 presentation . He brought fashion out of industry-only spaces and into the public realm, making Diesel’s shows genuine cultural events rather than insider gatherings .
A Legacy of Revitalization
When Martens joined Diesel, the brand had been without a true creative director since 2017. It was, as Vogue put it, in a “holding pattern” . His first collection for Spring/Summer 2022 reignited the brand, and its logo began appearing everywhere again — worn by Rihanna, Michelle Obama, Kylie Minogue, and a generation of new fans .
The numbers followed the cultural momentum. Diesel recorded its best business results in a decade in 2025, while Martens simultaneously led Maison Margiela . Managing two demanding brands was never sustainable, and his departure from Diesel allows him to focus entirely on the Paris-based couture house .
At Diesel, “we never pretended to be a luxury brand, even though we were on during fashion week,” Martens said. “We also wanted to do more alternative things, and think about the community. I think that’s what I try to celebrate, but also with respect for the clothes” .
The Final Act
As the 200 performers broke into full headbanging and the last model disappeared from view, the audience rose to its feet. Martens took his bow — wearing sunglasses indoors for the first time at one of his Diesel shows, a small but telling signal that this was indeed the end .
He leaves behind a Diesel that is unrecognizable from the one he inherited: a brand with a fully formed fashion identity, a distinctive approach to denim, and a place at the center of contemporary culture. The successor has not been named; Diesel said plans for its future creative direction will be revealed “in due course” .
But for one afternoon in Milan, none of that mattered. What mattered was the party, the pleasure, and the clothes — and the designer who made all three inseparable.
As Martens himself put it: “Let’s take a ride one more time.”
They did. And nobody wanted it to stop .
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