MILAN — Those looking for insight into Diesel and what makes its chief executive officer, Renzo Rosso, tick will find it in “Fifty,” his new coffee table book.
Rosso stressed that he never intended the book — marking his 50th birthday this year — to be a self-celebration. Rosso views it as a collection of the different parts that make up the Diesel world, including family and friends, his wine, his Pelican hotel in Miami Beach, his soccer team, his private plane and his 1929 boat, Lady May.
“The book is about my lifestyle, but also about creativity,” said Rosso, who released a similar book 10 years earlier, titled “Forty,” naturally. “It’s a history of Diesel, of what we are doing now and a glimpse into the future, but all is filtered through my own memories, hopes and dreams.”
The 200-plus-page book covers Diesel’s most outstanding advertising campaigns, shows a range of different product offerings, questions the meaning of success and includes contributions by Vogue Italia’s Franca Sozzani, Interview’s Ingrid Sichy, Vivienne Westwood, Martin Margiela, DSquared’s Dean and Dan Caten, Sir Paul Smith and Vogue France’s Carine Roitfeld, among others.
“These are friends who are really close to me,” said Rosso.
There are also “face-to-face conversations” with the Dalai Lama and Bono, i-D magazine founding editor Terry Jones and Kevin Roberts, worldwide ceo of Saatchi & Saatchi.
Written with British journalist and writer Mark Tungate, Rosso worked on the book for a year, translating it into Italian twice.
“I stressed about every single word, always looking for the best, most appropriate one,” he said, praising Tungate as a writer who “perfectly reflects my own thoughts.”
The book will be available at selected bookstores in the U.S. and Japan next month, retailing at $150. It will be introduced in Europe and on Diesel’s Web site at the end of the month. Diesel plans to publish around 8,000 copies. Enclosed with the book is a DVD with coverage of fashion shows and a selection of Diesel’s visual work.