See Formichetti’s Diesel Debut

Nicola Formichetti has unveiled a first look at his debut collection for Diesel.Having been appointed the label's artistic director in April, the designer's inaugural offering, named #DieselTribute, has used the brand's 35-year archive as its starting point.

"It's like a love letter to Diesel," Formichetti told us. "The #DieselTribute collection idea came from simply finding beautiful things in Diesel offices and factories, including old denim and patches, and I wanted to work these into a small collection."

Nicola Formichetti For Diesel

The collection is divided into two different lines - denim and leather, which will launch in November and February respectively. Each of the 45 pieces is handmade, and includes men and women's ready-to-wear apparel, denim, accessories and lingerie. Nick Knight was hired to shoot the campaign, entirely on an iPhone - images that will be shared via the label's social media channels.

The range is a teaser to his first full collection for the brand, which will be presented in March. Formichetti - a collaborator of Lady Gaga - worked as creative director of Mugler before joining Diesel. He cites Rosso's passion as the reason that he wanted to work at the label."What Renzo Rosso, the founder of Diesel, has done over the last 35 years is so incredible," he said. "I want to make Diesel the coolest brand on the planet. We are planning so many crazy things for the future."

"I'm working in a completely different environment now," he said. "I have a huge team, all over the world. With Diesel we can do something very personal and handmade but with a global reach."