Widely known among fashion insiders, it’s in Antwerp where DIESEL creative director Glenn Martens laid the foundation of his professional career, graduating from the internationally highly regarded fashion department of the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten. The previous DIESEL store closed its doors a little while ago, but the Milan-based fashion brand has made a grand return downtown with a new retail space which features bold new design codes which tap right into irreverent youth culture from days gone by albeit with a contemporary twist. Occupying a lofty ground floor unit of an Art Nouveau structure built in 1904 by Belgian architects August Cols and Alfried Defever, the store rubs shoulders with the boutiques of Chanel, DSQUARED2, Panerai and a string of others from fashion’s upper echelon.

Framed by walls and flooring of artisanal, handmade resin posters and an expansive grid Barrisol ceiling, a large-sized and distressed industrial metal billboard sign, similar to those alongside highways stateside, takes centre stage. The billboard sign doubles as a display and ties in with furnishings clad decorated with metal peel-off vintage posters. At the back of the DIESEL store a cozy nook can be found, featuring bright red lacquered wall panels, which presents DIESEL‘s coveted denim collection. Mind you, a special capsule collection exclusive to the store is on offer, comprising a denim jacket, denim jeans, a long-sleeve T-shirt, a tank, a tank dress with the metallic Oval D emblem on the chest, metallic denim cuissard boots, D-Venus-SB pumps and new versions of the 1-DR and D-Vina bags.