Text by Ashley Brewster
In the cyclical world of fashion, everything that is old eventually becomes new again. Over the past few seasons, ’90s minimalism has made a strong comeback. Labels like Alexander Wang, Helmut Lang, and Olivier Theyskens’ Theory have championed this chic back-to-basics movement — after all, there is only so much neon color-blocking and outrageous floral print one can handle before needing a fashion detox.
Men’s fashion has always been relatively minimalist in nature, yet in recent years we have seen the popularization of an unfortunate aesthetic—tacky excess—where Ed Hardy faux tattoo designs polluted apparel and the overly embellished look of ‘premium’ denim was rampant. Everything short of rhinestones graced men’s back pockets from New York to LA, Berlin to Hong Kong. There were, thankfully, still a contingent of men who favored clean, unadulterated style. From the rigid virgin denim of A.P.C. to the tried and true 501s, classic denim is always, well, classic.
Diesel has long been synonymous with premium denim. Sure, they can also be associated with the Vegas club uniform, but they’re now returning to their bread and butter—pure, premium denim. In launching the Our Glory collection, Diesel harks back to their rich heritage that began with Renzo Rosso in Northeast Italy. Just as trends come full-circle, Diesel is reintroducing Our Glory, which first debuted in 1993, when the collection drew inspiration from the industrial development of the 1950s with classic tailoring and rich, traditional washes. This time, Our Glory takes the classic ’90s aesthetic from the original capsule, and marries it with ’50s workwear inspiration from the Diesel archives.
Diesel touts the Our Glory capsule collection as “the most traditional and original jeans that could possibly be crafted.” While this may seem a contradiction of terms, in the case of Diesel, it makes perfect sense. As a pioneer of premium denim, they’ve always revolved their aesthetic around traditional Italian tailoring and fabrics. Our Glory features three distinct styles.
Each pair is constructed using traditional shuttle looms, which yields a narrower piece of fabric, making each
pair truly original.
Our Nomad is a classic slim fit in a rich dark indigo. Made of selvedge denim from Japan’s famed Kurabo denim mill, the line is made of a crisp, dark denim with creases for a worn look, with none of the fade. Our Gold Digger is a relaxed fit, reminiscent of the dungarees worn by the prospectors of the gold rush. A true blue wash accented by a careful whiskering process and delicate fading, the attention to detail is precise. Our Labor rounds out the trio; the name refers to the obvious inspiration the style has drawn from ’50s workwear, its dark indigo hue and contrast stitching is as basic and classic as you can get.
These three styles are undoubtedly instant classics. Perhaps the cycle will repeat itself in another ten years, and Diesel will release a new Our Glory collection, but until then, welcome back to the glory days, Diesel.
Our Glory is available throughout Europe, but exclusively available in the U.S. at American Rag Cie and Industrie Denim.
