diesel uses scaffolding to build temporary club where the audience becomes part of the show
A CLUB WHERE EVERYONE HAS A PART TO PLAY
Diesel’s Spring/Summer 2027 runway show began in a purpose-built club, but the clothes were only part of what guests had come to see. Conceived by Studio Dennis Vanderbroeck, the space placed the audience inside a performance that could break out anywhere. There was no safe distance from the action, even for those who thought they had come to sit and watch.
As the models appeared, interventions directed by Marseille collective (LA)HORDE unfolded among the crowd. Some 200 performers were embedded with the guests, interacting with one another and drawing unsuspecting spectators into scenes that shifted from strange and unsettling to openly sensual. At times, it was difficult to tell who had been given a role and who had simply found themselves in one.
Diesel’s SS27 show unfolds inside a purpose-built club | all images courtesy of Diesel
THE RUNWAY SPILLS INTO THE CROWD
The spatial concept took cues from the anatomical theatre, a place built for looking, and pushed it toward the heat of a music video or a crowded dance floor. That combination gave the show its tension: the audience could watch the runway, but the room kept asking them to look elsewhere. Lighting by Lightlab Studio and sound by Sen Studio helped turn the setting into a club with its own momentum.
That momentum suited Glenn Martens’ last collection for Diesel. Denim appeared coated and treated to resemble leather; knits were interrupted by cutaways; shirts, tailoring and sweatshirts looked twisted, peeled back or partly undone. On a conventional runway, those details might have invited a closer look. Here, they seemed to belong to people already a few hours into the night.
Studio Dennis Vanderbroeck conceived the show’s spatial design
ONE LAST NIGHT OUT FOR GLENN MARTENS
Diesel has repeatedly treated its shows as occasions that extend beyond the catwalk, from an open-air rave to a citywide search for looks enclosed in transparent structures. For SS27, the intervention moved indoors and much closer to the guests. The performers made the club feel occupied before the audience had quite worked out what was happening.
By the finale, the distinction between show and party had become wonderfully unhelpful. Martens’ departure gave the evening a natural ending, even if the room suggested otherwise. Diesel had built a place for its final bow that looked ready to carry on after everyone was supposed to leave.
lighting shapes the club atmosphere
Performers mingle with guests during the runway show
the club setting brings runway and audience together
project info:
name: Diesel Spring/Summer 2027 runway show
creative director: Glenn Martens | @glennmartens
brand: Diesel | @diesel
concept design: Studio Dennis Vanderbroeck | @studiodennisvanderbroeck