Glenn Martens Bids Diesel Farewell With a Loud Final Runway

Glenn Martens has left Diesel. The Belgian designer closed six years as the Italian denim label's creative director with the Spring/Summer 2027 presentation at Milan Fashion Week on Tuesday, September 22, 2026. Diesel's owner, OTB Group, announced the departure only days before the show, and the finale was loud, physical, and unmistakably his own. Glenn Martens will remain inside the group as creative director of Maison Margiela, and Diesel has not named a successor.

The Glenn Martens Diesel era began in 2020, when the brand was better known as a utilitarian jeans label than a fashion-week draw. He arrived after running Y/Project and turned Diesel into one of the industry's most talked-about names, pairing experimental denim with events that drew thousands of young fans. His exit closes one of the most watched creative runs of the decade, and it leaves open the question of who inherits a brand that younger shoppers finally find cool again.

A red-lit farewell in Milan

The runway glowed red. Midway through the Spring/Summer 2027 show, Diesel models planted in the stands began moaning from their seats, alone, in pairs, and in threesomes, to a rework of Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby," according to an Associated Press report. The writhing in the audience turned to headbanging for the runway finale, and Glenn Martens received a standing ovation.

The collection ran to around 90 looks, reported Hypebeast, and opened with a sensual performance piece by the Marseille collective (LA)HORDE in a club-inspired venue. It delivered the house's signature disruptions: hybrid garments such as "pantasocks," trompe l'oeil outerwear that printed luxe materials onto lightweight jersey, and denim laser-cut to mimic leather. Knitwear appeared to disintegrate into denim and leather, and recurring orchid-shaped cutaways softened the industrial edge of the distressed fabrics. Shorts became gradually shorter until the final look was little more than a strip of fabric across the bum.

Backstage, Glenn Martens told reporters the season had been more experimental than usual. He framed the body positivity and mutual celebration on the runway as part of Diesel's DNA, and said the label never pretended to be a luxury brand, instead wanting to do alternative things with its community in mind. Model Ella Snyder closed the farewell presentation. She had opened Glenn Martens's very first Diesel show, a casting choice that turned the night into a full circle.

Six years that remade the label

Glenn Martens joined Diesel as creative director in 2020, arriving after years at Y/Project and an earlier 2018 collaboration with the brand through the Diesel Red Tag experimental capsule series, according to TheIndustry.fashion. His first full runway show for autumn/winter 2022 won critical acclaim, and from there the Glenn Martens Diesel years ran on large-scale spectacle. Later shows combined experimental denim with public events, including a spring/summer 2023 presentation attended by nearly five thousand people and a free outdoor rave for roughly seven thousand guests.

The overhaul paid off. OTB's 2025 full-year results showed that Diesel achieved its best profitability in a decade, following years of investment in repositioning the brand and flagship openings in Berlin and Seoul. Diesel founder and OTB chairman Renzo Rosso called the contribution of Glenn Martens extraordinary, crediting him with changing perceptions of the brand, strengthening its connection with younger consumers, and returning it to the global fashion conversation. The brand's new visual language kept experimentation at the center while holding onto its accessible, irreverent positioning.

What comes next for Glenn Martens and Diesel

Glenn Martens is not leaving the OTB fold. He stays on at the group as creative director of Maison Margiela, the avant-garde Paris couture house, and the company stressed he remains committed to that role alongside his Diesel farewell. The departure announcement arrived Friday, just ahead of the Tuesday show, giving the fashion world days to absorb the news before the final bow.

As for Diesel, the brand has not announced who will take over. That leaves one of fashion's most closely watched creative seats open heading into 2027, and the industry is already watching for who can keep the label's connection with Gen Z alive after the designer who rebuilt it. For now, the Glenn Martens Diesel chapter ends on the runway that made it famous: red light, distorted denim, and a room full of people who never saw a quiet goodbye coming.