Feature: Diesel Black Gold makes magic debut at Milan fashion week

The much awaited debut of Diesel Black Gold, Diesel's luxury ready-to-wear line, at the ongoing Milan fashion week for the womenswear fall-winter 2016-2017 season was a celebration of the brand's Italian roots and global spirit.

Surrounded by industry experts, buyers, fashion lovers and old friends who gathered to raise glasses for the successful debut, Renzo Rosso, founder and owner of the brand, and Andreas Melbostad, creative director, both agreed that Diesel Black Gold after the great experience of New York, where the womenswear collections have been presented for long time, is now back to its roots and ready to enhance its global spirit.

A lot of time has passed since Rosso, born into a family of farmers in northeastern Italy 60 years ago, produced at the age of 15 his first self-designed pair of low-waist jeans, using his mother's sewing machine. At that time Rosso dreamt of doing something different from his parents, and his dream has definitely come true.

"I am feeling proud and happy today to see that our products have become so modern and international, and can dress people with very different bodies in the world," Rosso told Xinhua.

Such an openness, he said, was the fruit of "the work of a team formed by people from all over the world who create together pieces that therefore are global by nature."

"I would like Diesel to be seen as something magic, as a brand which makes nice things but also a brand which has a culture, a lifestyle, a brand which is very positive and always works to be a reference point for smart people who want to distinguish themselves but always with a good taste, without being too extreme," he pointed out.

Diesel Black Gold inaugurated its Milan season with a contrast between raw and decorative, and a variety of materials and textures. An appeal of leather, nylon, denim and felt seemed to contrast to the velvet, lurex and sequined cloths.

The generous-cut outerwear showed hybrid poncho-inspired pieces, and wool and flannel skirts were embellished with hardware details wrapped around the body.

The waistline, emphasized by belts, was high, while blouses were cut in quilted nylon, as well as in velvet and sequins.

Wide-legged straight pants were cropped over the ankle, and jeans revealed feminine lace inserts and sequined embroideries. The collection's functional urban sensibility was enhanced by the accessories that included tall, lace-up biker and combat boots with buckles.

Melbostad defined his woman as "urban, industrial, with a 'rock' soul but also an elevation, a sense of focus and control."

"I really love the idea to empower our girls with the pieces," he said. "It felt like the right moment for us to bring the collection here. I think that we have a strong identity now that people associate with us," Melbostad told Xinhua. This new identity of a brand that gets close to the runway audience with a warm and friendly attitude, he noted, is "quite different from the typical Milanese shows."

"We know that Milan has a great energy and is our home in a sense, so we think we can open another perspective to the Milan fashion week," he said.

At the same time, the decision to come to Milan was "based on knowledge that the audience here is very large and international, because our inspiration is to be global," the Norwegian fashion designer explained. "Milan allows us to have a bigger range of international buyers and press, and also stay more focused on the product as well as on the creation process," he added.

"We have been following Diesel in the past years and this show had a lot of interesting elements indeed," said a buyer, Elena Comi. "The target was young and the general impression was that of a 'rock' but also clean style overall," she told Xinhua. "This brand is certainly upgrading, evolving."

For Anna Kutskaylis, Russian student of fashion at the University of Milan, it was the first time at a Diesel Black Gold show. "I loved its fresh and modern style," she said.

"Beautiful, I liked it even more compared to the past collections. I found a more feminine woman, with less studs, for example. Colors also added some new taste, there was a lot of blue whereas in the past collections we saw almost total black with some white hints," Andrea Manda, a supervisor at a Diesel flagship store in Milan, told Xinhua. "I saw a modern woman, dynamic and cosmopolitan, simple but with a great personality, a woman ready to travel to the whole of the world," he said. Endit