Diesel

Diesel traces to 1978, when Renzo Rosso, then 23, used a loan from his father to buy a holding in a Veneto clothing manufacturer called Moltex, owned by Adriano Goldschmied, and renamed it Diesel. Rosso had been sewing his own low-rise, bell-bottomed jeans on his mother's machine since his early teens in nearby Brugine, selling them to friends before joining the trade professionally. The Diesel name was chosen because, amid the 1970s oil crisis, 'diesel' read as the alternative fuel - a way of positioning the label as an alternative to mainstream casualwear. The company has remained headquartered in Breganze, in the Veneto region, since its founding. In 2002, Rosso formalized his growing fashion holdings by founding OTB Group, a holding company that has since brought Diesel together with other houses under common ownership as Rosso expanded beyond the original jeanswear label. Diesel today produces jeans, ready-to-wear and accessories and sells online at diesel.com, alongside its retail network.