Y/RTW Project Fall 2023

In just 18 months, Glenn Martens made Diesel a staple of Milan Fashion Week thanks to its inventiveness revisits the denim heritage of the 45-year-old brand.

Much of this inspiration comes from Y/Project, where, over the past decade, Martens has arguably done more than any other designer to bring premium craftsmanship to jeans.

His student collection for the Parisian brand featured an extraordinary range of innovations, from a millefeuille bomber in denim from jacket to jean with twisted seams or buttoned inserts that enveloped the legs in sculptural pleats.

He used cut and sewn denim as an embellishment on items ranging from herringbone coats to a dress skinny cardigan, where ripped denim also appears in photo prints, for a vertiginous trompe-l'oeil effect.

"The whole idea of ​​this brand is to reinvent techniques, construction and experiment with the no more possible. That's really what we love to do,” he said.

"It was the first time I really made a personal collection where I really brought a little more about what we're going through at Y/Project because the last few months have been quite difficult, and we decided to try to do something beautiful," he said, without giving further details.

The exhibition took place at a construction site where guests were literally eating dust. In the front row, Estonian rapper Tommy Cash, ensconced in a duvet, put on a surreal performance, applying cucumber slices to his eyes mid-show.

Despite its antics, there was a poignant feel to the display, enhanced by the soundtrack: George Frideric Handel tune "Lascia ch'io pianga", each phrase being performed by a different singer. The song featured in the opening scene of Lars von Trier's "Antichrist," a reference that Martens says explained the presence of pornographic prints on some outfits.

Provocation has always been part of her register, but the final dresses, with their long trains trailing in the dust, suggested that there is true salvation in beauty.