Diesel Denim

The terminology of denim can leave a consumer conflicted – low-rise, mid-rise, bell, boot, straight, stiff, weave, wax, 814, 501… articulating our needs is often as taxing as finding the fit itself. This season Diesel have pitched in and compressed these buzz words into their own pseudodictionary for their new Fit Your Attitude collection: Getlegg, Grupee, Bootzee, Highknee, Flairlegg and Myguy.

Myguy, phonetically pronounced mai-gahy is inspired by menswear denim tailoring. Unlike the 1964 Mary Wells song, Myguy by Diesel projects a strong image of a denim cut; a low waist and loose crotch similar to a menswear style, with a relaxed fit and slightly tapered leg. Whether a souvenir from a past relationship, a current beau or a vintage treasure, this portmanteau term is suggestive of that pair of borrowed man’s jeans in a female wardrobe.

The most sexually charged of Rosso's denim pack, Grupee, pronounced grooh-pee is a homophonic play on "groupie"; a-slim-fit jean with slender leg, it is a drink-stained pocket in a gig-pit or tucked into a boot in a field, echoing Diesel's rebel youth and Mohawk-emblem T-shirts of the 1980s.

There is also Getlegg (get-leg) and Bootzee, phonetically pronounced booht-zee, which is the modern day equivalent of a power suit, or a sophisticated upgrade on the original denim worker’s overall – a durable bootleg silhouette designed for the office and afterhours.

To company founder Renzo Rosso, denim is not a textile; it is an evolution. Founded in 1978, they have always differentiated themselves from their fellow cotton-drill competitors through a unique treatment of their denim, in which they use individual processes to fatigue, distress and colour their wash, devised in their Diesel HQ hub in Breganze, northern Italy.

The new Diesel denim collections are available in-store and online.

Text by Mhairi Graham