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CHANTAL FERNANDEZ

Diesel Names Inditex’s Marco Agnolin Chief Executive

The announcement follows artistic director Nicola Formichetti’s decision to depart the lifestyle brand that accounts for the majority of revenue at Only The Brave, founder Renzo Rosso’s luxury group.

BREGANZE, Italy — A new chapter is set to begin at Diesel. One day after Nicola Formichetti announced he would leave the multi-billion dollar denim-focused brand after a four-year stint as artistic director, the company has named a new chief executive to replace Alessandro Bogliolo, who departed for Tiffany & Co. in October. Renzo Rosso, Diesel’s founder and president of its parent company Only The Brave, announced that Marco Agnolin has been hired for the position. Agnolin has led Inditex’s younger more accessible brand Bershka since 2011.

“I am proud to welcome Marco on board, one of the most talented fashion executives worldwide and a professional whose career I have followed for a long time,” says Rosso in a statement. “His experience and personal attitude, matched with our vision of the brand, will bring about a successful future for Diesel”.

Agnolin has a challenge ahead of him. Despite being an early pioneer in the contemporary market, Diesel has struggled to fend off the many competitors that have emerged in the last two decades, including fast-fashion retailers such as Inditex, premium denim brands and a new generation of contemporary lifestyle brands. Formichetti and Bogliolo arrived in 2013 to revitalize the brand and orchestrate a three-year reboot by elevating the quality of the offering and infusing the marketing with the mischevious sense of cool for which Diesel (and Rosso) are known. But the strategy did not hit with customers: in 2016, the brand operated on a loss, reaching €960 million in sales.

Only The Brave is undergoing a series of leadership changes right now. Earlier in December, former Staff International CEO Ubaldo Minelli was named chief executive of the group, which now includes Maison Margiela, Marni, Paula Cademartori and Viktor & Rolf.

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