Diesel's Spring 2023 Runway Show Was a Denim Haven at Milan Fashion Week

Glenn Martens’ latest showcase featured the world’s largest inflatable, butt plug invitations and lots of shredded denim.

Diesel Spring 2023 runway show in Milan
Photo: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images

Only a brand like Diesel could get away with sending a literal butt plug as a fashion week mailer. Housed in a red box — a color signature to the Italian fashion house’s core — a glistening blue artifact held the show’s invitation into Diesel’s larger-than-life world.

Diesel kicked off Milan Fashion Week on Wednesday, debuting its Spring 2023 collection packed with a slew of sure-to-be-viral womenswear and menswear looks. This marks the second show by the recently-appointed creative director and designer Glenn Martens, whose highly-anticipated debut collection back in February was critically well-received.

As experimentally on-brand for Diesel, the runway show at the 5,000-seat capacity Allianz Cloud Arena opened its doors to the public for the first time, hosting a whopping 3,000 attendees. The latest Diesel Democracy presentation takes inspiration from all things “wild and free,” nodding to many themes like biking and skateboarding, animalistic qualities and more. As the show counted down from 59 seconds, Diesel’s churned warning sirens and techno beats filled the stadium, with models soon appearing from under and between the largest inflatable sculpture in the world – and we mean that literally, as that claim was approved by the Guinness Book of Records during the show.

The 71-piece collection is dominated by denim looks — a signature for the brand — and even when dabbling in the expected, Martens has a tendency to bring out the unexpected. He elevates and pushes the material into never-before-seen silhouettes and unconventional shapes. Models wove through the catwalk sporting baggy jeans, cropped denim jackets and exaggerated coats. Some looks came shredded, too, including over-the-top maxi skirts and coordinating sets, with Martens also incorporating croc leathers, shimmery metallics and vibrantly-hued ensembles. Not to mention, the micro-mini skirt gets a revamp with pieces this season coming in billowing logo-adorned belts.

The brand also brings sought-after accessories to the runway, including exclusive wraparound sunglasses and its cult-favorite 1DR purse (which come as a itty-bitty mini and larger shoulder bag version).

Many of our favorite style stars were also in attendance at the show: Julia Fox was captured in a bikercore-inspired metallic mini skirt set, while “Gossip Girl”‘s Evan Mock wore head-to-toe denim. Singer Normani was seen in the tiniest mini dress, and “Elite” cast members Ester Exposito and Mina El Hammani also made an appearance in the front row.

See the full Diesel Spring 2023 collection in the gallery below.