Under Glenn Martens, the latest campaign doesn't just dress a royal family in denim — it makes the argument that denim was always royal to begin with.
Denim has always carried a class argument inside it — the fabric of labour, of rebellion, of the street. What Glenn Martens has spent his tenure at Diesel doing is taking that argument and turning it upside down, slowly and with great theatrical pleasure. The latest campaign is the clearest version of that project yet: a royal family, rendered in full denim regalia, crystal-covered bags and impeccably styled dogs included, presiding over a fashion aristocracy that was always there, just waiting to be coronated.
The visual language is pure Martens — exaggerated proportions, dangerously low waists, absurd glamour worn with the kind of straight face that makes it funnier and sharper than any wink could. Denim on denim on denim, layered until it stops being casual and becomes ceremonial. The campaign understands that excess, when it's this controlled, stops being excess and starts being a point of view.
"Framing a denim family as actual royalty is the most direct version of Diesel's whole argument — that the most democratic fabric in the world is also the most powerful one."
What makes it work beyond the visual spectacle is the coherence of the conceit. Royal families have always used clothing to perform authority, to signal status, to make power visible. Diesel takes that logic and applies it to denim — not ironically, but earnestly, with crystal bags and groomed dogs as the court jewels and royal pets of a new kind of aristocracy. The tongue is in the cheek, but the conviction is real. That combination is what Martens does better than almost anyone working in fashion right now.
It's also worth noting how fully the campaign commits. There is no hedging, no moment where the brand pulls back from the absurdity and reminds you it's in on the joke. The royal family is treated with full seriousness — the styling, the framing, the dogs — which is exactly what makes the humour land. Comedy at this level requires total commitment, and Diesel delivers it.
Under Martens, Diesel has become one of the most consistently interesting brands to watch — not because it reinvents itself constantly, but because it keeps deepening the same idea with more confidence each time. Denim was never basic. This campaign just made that impossible to argue with.