Diesel has announced the end of Glenn Martens' tenure as creative director of the brand, following the presentation of the spring-summer 2027 collection, according to a statement relayed by FashionUnited France. The designer's final show for the brand is set to take place in Milan on 22 September 2026.
Renzo Rosso, founder of Diesel, praised the work accomplished: « La contribution de Glenn Martens à Diesel a été extraordinaire », he said in the statement. « Grâce à sa vision, son talent et son engagement, il a transformé la façon dont la marque est perçue, tissant un lien fort avec les jeunes générations et créant des bases solides pour son avenir. »
Renzo Rosso, who founded Diesel in 1978, had first recruited Glenn Martens in 2018 as guest designer for the experimental capsule series Diesel Red Tag, before appointing him creative director of the brand in 2020. Since then, according to WWD, Martens has injected new energy and revived Diesel's relevance in pop culture, drawing on the legacy of his tenure at Y/Project, where he had forged a reputation for an experimental approach.
A continued role at Margiela
Glenn Martens retains his position as creative director of Maison Margiela, also owned by OTB group, which additionally brings together Marni, Jil Sander and Viktor & Rolf. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 2008, the Belgian designer, who grew up in Bruges, had been spotted by Jean Paul Gaultier after his graduation show, a designer he described as a « véritable inventeur ».
Diesel stated on Friday, according to WWD, that a successor would be revealed in due course.
