Diesel has announced the departure of its creative director Nicola Formichetti and a new CEO Marco Agnolin. Renzo Rosso, Founder of Diesel and head of the OTB group has now recruited a specialist in fast fashion for this managerial role. Agnolin served for seven years as Chief at Bershka, the youth label from Spanish giant Inditex. The manager, introduced as a retail specialist, will fill the role left vacant by Alessandro Bogliolo, who left Diesel for Tiffany & Co this autumn.
The appointment therefore seems to highlight a new direction for the Italian brand. While Alessandro Bogliolo, who took the company’s reins in 2013, came from a luxury background, having previously served as director of operations at Bulgari, Marco Agnolin’s experience is much more clearly oriented toward the mass market, as shown by his time at Inditex, fist as country manager in Italy, then as chief of Bershka.
Who will be replace Nicola Formichetti’s successor as creative director is a big question. It also raises doubts as to whether the brand will continue to work in line with the selective distribution strategy implemented by its former CEO. As of now, the group has not specified any strategic guidelines for Diesel’s future.
Diesel, which accounts for 60 per cent of the OTB group's turnover, reported sales of 960 million euros in 2016, although its balance sheet still registered a loss.
