Although Nicola Formichetti is not a household name, the least fashion-savy portion of the population is sure to have seen his work. The 37-year-old Japanese-Italian designer’s career and notoriety catapulted in 2013 when he became the artistic director of Diesel. Formichetti’s current success can be attributed to his past, in which he was often shrouded by large label’s names and celebrity icons before being at the forefront of the runway literally and metaphorically.
Formichetti began his career as a columnist for British magazine, Dazed & Confused. He became creative director there in 2008. In 2009, he styled a new to the scene Lady Gaga for V magazine. This ultimately led to a partnership that established the pop singer as an international fashion icon and propelled Formichetti’s career further into the realm of fashion. Formichetti was indeed responsible for looks such as the instantly iconic “meat dress” Gaga wore to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards.
Despite his lack of formal design training, Formichetti has landed prominent positions with big labels. In 2010, he was appointed creative director of French fashion house Thierry Mugler, which was rebranded as Mugler and stimulated a brand revival. The next year Formichetti added fashion director of Uniqlo, the Japanese fast-fashion brand, to his resume. In addition, he also spent time working as a consultant for numerous leading fashion brands including Nike, Levis, Adidas, Prada, D&G, Alexander McQueen, Missoni, and MAC. As stated before, in 2013 he left Mugler in order to acquire his most significant job to date, artistic director of Diesel. Today, Formichetti is working to restore relevance to the Diesel brand without losing touch of the brand’s origin’s while launching his own magazine, starting his own fashion line and becoming an ambassador for Pepsi. Who wouldn't argue his significance as one of the next big things in fashion?
Formichetti credits his unique style to his upbringing: internationally eclectic; modern and traditional; Eastern and European. These attributes along with his willingness to combine old concepts with new at Diesel will allow him to not only save the brand but also make his mark in the fashion stratosphere. Upon receiving his position at Diesel he immediately fell in love with all of the concepts that Diesel stood for in the 90s. Formichetti plans to not alter all aspects of the brand, which many artistic directors are doing today in order to stay relevant, but rather take key components from the once thriving company to refine and reboot them. According to Formichetti, “it was about reintroducing the DNA of Diesel, which was all about denim, leather, army surplus and sportswear." Another important element in his revival of the Diesel brand will be his ability to go back to the basics that laid the foundation for the brand. Formichetti wants to remain true to classics while embracing trends that are cool and upcoming now but will remain to be cool and timeless next season, or even next year.
