Diesel Pre-Fall 2014 Campaign–A hodgepodge of references inform the campaign for Nicola Formichetti’s first collection for Diesel. The brand’s artistic director, Formichetti explained, “We were looking at many of the great images, from fashion advertising to fine art, that have shaped our way of looking at things. We wanted to bring them together – pop Picasso-style! – through the use of the digital medium. In many ways it was looking at the ‘great group shots’ through history, from Michelangelo to Avedon. Now the Diesel Reboot is complete, this is the foundation of the new vision for Diesel. And with new beginnings there is always a certain looking back to look forward, here it appears as a sort of ‘Neo- neoclassicism’ in the campaign.”
Meanwhile, Nick Knight, the photographer of the campaign added, “There is a deliberate attempt to look at Italian art throughout the centuries, right back to the Renaissance. It was an idea to bring together great moments in visual culture that we liked. I think what is interesting, while referring to these great moments, is that Nicola is also bringing his ‘glitching’ community; that sense of something global and new. It’s the juxtaposition of the two, of the classical and digital that makes them both feel stronger.”