Diesel opens “home-inspired” flagship in London

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 27, 2016

Diesel has unveiled what it describes as a “game-changing” new retail concept on London’s Brompton Road.

The new flagship, not far from key destination stores Harrods and Harvey Nichols, is a two-storey location covering 230 m². It is a collaboration between Japanese architecture firm Wonderwall and Diesel’s artistic director Nicola Formichetti.

The company said that Wonderwall, which is led by Masamichi Katayama, specialises in “creating cutting edge design concepts, which pay respect to conventional and traditional design philosophies.”

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The new store reflects this with the idea of a home-inspired space serving as a backdrop for the brand’s extensive men’s and womenswear offerings.

A stainless steel and glass installation, which Diesel said reflects its “innovative and progressive approach,” is the focal point of the flagship.

Customers arrive at the store to find menswear and womenswear collections in a hallway punctuated with industrial steel fixtures. The back of the space leads to female denim with jeans merchandised alongside Persian-style rugs and antique-look furniture from the brand’s interiors line, Diesel Living.

The basement floor comprises a wine cellar-inspired space housing the brand’s mens' denim offering.

The company has integrated technology into the new concept with high definition screens and a cement mortar facade designed to accelerate the air's natural oxidation in order to minimise air pollution.

The opening follows the brand concept store debut on Madison Avenue in New York last year. It opens two decades after the brand first became available in Britain and comes with UK exclusives including leather jackets in shades that echo the brand’s Italian heritage, and metallic shearling coats.