Saturday, February 21, 2009

Diesel Black Gold Fall'09 Mens Collection














"Diesel Black Gold Goes Kind Of Blue," said the liner notes, and the preshow soundtrack sounded a little like Miles Davis' band tuning up. Then, quotes from Casablanca ("of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world…") and The Shining ("you're the best damn bartender from Timbuktu to Portland, Oregon!") were added to the mix. If the point of that curious combo was to make the audience yearn for a drink, well, then, mission accomplished. And the clothes? Diesel knows how to destroy a garment, and Renzo Rosso's washing and dyeing facilities worked overtime on the Black Gold Fall offering. Despite the occasional exception—an elongated, beaded black waistcoat over an even longer double-breasted black cardigan, for instance—the through line was worked-over workwear, fruitful territory for a brand that, at its core, is about jeans. So there were side-striped conductor's pants worn with suspenders and thirties-era work shirts with oversized buttons that were worn, weathered, and stained. And an oil- and rust-stained union suit looked like it actually came from a union shop. On a more retro tip, bowler hats topped many of the looks, and boots were festooned with white spats. But the Last Minute Orchestra was on hand to keep things from getting too mired in the past, with jazzed-up versions of songs like "Walk on the Wild Side" and "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Those (along with the leather pants) reminded us where Diesel's heart really is.
-[[ Josh Peskowitz]]

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