About Glenn Martens’ departure from Diesel

Catering to the young spirits, those unafraid to try without fearing judgements, and those who value quality and savoir-faire no matter how dishevelled, trashed or deconstructed a garment is, during the past six years, Glenn knew how to speak the language of the current times and say the words the audience wanted to hear, because he himself grew up with the same idea of what Diesel was and what Diesel could be. His version of “For Successful Living” was successful until the end.

There's no doubt about the skill a designer and creative like Glenn Martens possesses: everything he touches turns into gold. From the gone but never forgotten Y/Project, to his later appointment as creative director of Diesel at a moment when it was understood more as a utilitarian legacy brand than the ultimate fashion house, and now in his outstanding role as head of Maison Margiela, every task he has been given, he has fulfilled to perfection. Accustomed to handling more than one job title at the same time, he spent a good portion of his Diesel tenure also leading Y/Project. He later left Y/Project, and the label closed after struggling to continue as an independent brand and to find the support it needed. To this day, it remains one of the saddest endings for a brand that clearly stood out from the rest, in part thanks to the freedom of creation and experimentation Glenn could enjoy while there.

But not everything was lost in Alexandria: Glenn was still going stronger than ever at Diesel, and he took his own experimental and inquisitive mind and focused on what denim could become and how it could serve his purpose. In one of the most resistant and versatile materials that has accompanied humans for a very long time, Martens found an infinite source of inspiration by combining his avant-garde Belgian mind with the undeniable legacy of an Italian powerhouse that has been standing for almost fifty years, and with this recipe for success, he turned its designs and garments from basics present in almost every closet out of necessity into the hottest objects of desire everyone was dying to wear. But this virality and the cult status of Glenn's creations for the brand are not a result of a strategy to just make the flashiest clothes that sell no matter what; Glenn's intention was always more conscious and responsible than just generating views and numbers devoid of meaning.

The man who took charge of the Italian brand founded by Renzo Rosso in 1978 was once a kid who, in his hometown, Bruges, used to look at Diesel's store windows and be inspired by the “For Successful Living” tagline that has always accompanied the brand and that has always held the true meaning and intention for it: a democratic approach to fashion where success was not a synonym of wealth and luxury but closer to a mental state associated with feeling your best, enhanced by clothes that helped you feel that way. Knowing and being aware of the true power of fashion, Glenn took the brand as a flag for all the right causes, from inspiring young fashion students by granting them free access to the fashion shows to campaigning for healthy sexual freedom in an open, creative but serious and conscious way.

“I need to be very consistent and bring a message of respect, peace, and awareness continuously. Potentially, it will speed up the process of global ethics based on respect and involvement. And it will encourage you to live your life the way you want to live it, as long as you don’t hurt anybody. So, I think that’s what brands – definitely big brands – should be aware of. It cannot be created just for the sake of your personal ego and personal aesthetics. It has a massive impact, and that’s also one reason why I joined this industry, because on top of that, it has this massive reach. But not only to privileged people from the luxury industry, which is only talking about luxury. We are really talking to every single person who has the essence of fun, reality, and life. And I think that’s really why I joined Diesel. Because I can talk to so many people. And I can make so many people feel,” he told us back in 2023, and now in 2026, when the time to say goodbye has arrived, we and everyone else can confirm that his purpose was clearly fulfilled.

The departure is sad but understandable. After only a few months in which he could focus solely on Diesel, the opportunity to lead Maison Margiela, the house founded by fellow Belgian Martin Margiela and also part of the OTB Group, arrived. With his mind split between two very different giants once again, we knew this time would come. His first years at Diesel were extremely fruitful, and every collection left us in awe with many things we had never seen before, taking denim into unexplored territories, and while the last season hasn't been bad whatsoever, we could tell that one is only human and can't give the same attention to everything at the same time while multiplying the responsibilities by a lot.

So a goodbye now, triumphantly, with improved profitability, the best reputation and everyone's love is what Glenn deserves. We are lucky enough to be able to keep enjoying his creative mind at Margiela, where he’s doing a great job; the future of Diesel, however, is more uncertain. Is there someone who can sustain that profitability and have the same effect without copying what has already been done? Could it follow the path of other brands so heavily attached to the image one designer built for them that they are now facing an identity crisis very hard to sort out? There are many questions left to be answered; we just hope the successful living keeps prevailing.