Diesel is known for going against the current. The Italian denim brand famously sold its own knockoffs, while simultaneously cracking down on counterfeit goods. It encouraged shoppers to celebrate the significant events they missed due to the pandemic with a tongue-in-cheek customizable collection. Most recently, it flung intimacy back into its campaigns—a rare narrative in an age of social distancing.
Now it’s challenging notions that traditional retail is over—but with a twist. Under the vision of newly appointed creative director Glenn Martens, Diesel introduced a new popup retail concept that boldly places branding front and center.
The Italian denim brand unveiled the design at two temporary retail locations situated in Amsterdam PC Hoofstraat, a premium retail destination in the Dutch capital, and at Tyson’s Corner Center, a shopping mall located in the Virginia suburbs outside of Washington, D.C.
The goal of the design is to blend a unique atmospheric experience with the physical act of shopping. Both stores make a strong first impression. The popups pay homage to Diesel’s DNA and heritage by using the company’s red tag aesthetic and hue as a primary design feature. Top to bottom, floor to ceiling, the spaces are saturated in Diesel’s signature red.
In tandem, elements of “discontinuity and transformation” are layered into the architecture. Diesel’s motto, “For Successful Living,” is distorted and printed across the entirety of both stores, and is only legible when viewed from their entryways. The immersion engages the shoppers’ senses on all levels, leaving a strong and lasting impression, the company stated.
The popups currently offer an assortment of seasonal products for women and men from Diesel’s Spring/Summer 2021 collections, as well as the brand’s Pre-Fall 2021 line.
As part of Diesel’s new “cultural vision” led by Martens, the design is set to refresh the brand’s existing retail model by the end of the year. “This new form of business is the future of physical brand interaction and will be visible by the end of the year in the first Diesel Hub that will open in Shanghai,” Diesel stated.
Diesel is actively responding to the changing retail landscape. For the popups, the company is working with local authorities in order to strictly adhere to health guidelines and to maintain compliance with Covid-19 protocols.
Diesel also recently overhauled its omnichannel experience with Moon, an operating model that connects all aspect of the business—web, mobile, social media, phone, stores and warehouse. On the consumer side, Moon offers a seamless shopping experience by providing access to all of Diesel’s current global stock. The platform allows consumers to easily pre-order products and arrange in-store returns, same-day pickups and same-day deliveries.