One thing's for sure: Diesel is not Abercrombie & Fitch.
The retailer is going in a new, refreshing direction (clothing companies take note): instead of hiring models, which exclude most of the population (and their customers), the company has gone to microblogging site Tumblr to find "real" people for their latest advertising campaign.
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Diesel Ad Campaign 2013
Diesel's new artistic director, former Mugler designer and Lady Gaga's ex-stylist Nicola Formichetti, has chosen a variety of people to model for the campaign.
WWD reports that the 20 people chosen represent all kinds of body types, ethnicities, sexualities, ages and professions. A fair number of the people are androgynous and plus-size.
"Examples include Michelle Calderon, a 22-year-old pink-haired graffiti artist; Helen Primack, a 15-year-old aqua-haired aspiring filmmaker and student at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in New York, and Benjamin Ackermann, a light-eyed 23-year-old photographer, musician and collage artist. There are a few models in the mix, notably Loulou Robert, Omahyra Mota and Casey Legler, the former Olympic swimmer who broke gender barriers as a woman being contracted as a male model."
Photographed by famed Dutch fashion duo Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin (who also photographed Lady Gaga for the latest V magazine), the goal of the campaign was to "reboot" Diesel, the brand.
"I wanted to find people who reflected the diversity of the creative community today and not just the typical model," said Formichetti. "I wanted the campaign to showcase a variety of characters, people who are beautiful in their own unique way."
Diesel may be the first to crowdsource "models" through Tumblr, but they certainly aren't the first to use "real people" in their ads.
Last year J. Crew ditched their usual roster of teenage-looking models for working professionals including a makeup artist, a fashion director and the founder and CEO of Tumblr.
And French fashion powerhouse Lanvin replaced their models du jour for a drag queen, a DJ and an 82-year-old dancer among others.
What do you think of Diesel's ad campaign?