Wilbert Das (born 2 December 1963) is a Dutch fashion designer.

Wilbert Das
Born (1963-12-02) 2 December 1963 (age 60)
Holland
NationalityDutch
EducationAcademy of Fine Arts in Arnhem
OccupationFashion designer
LabelFormer Creative Director of Diesel

Biography

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Wilbert Das spent his formative years working on his parents dairy farm in the small village of Riethoven in the southern Netherlands.[1] At age 19, he left Riethoven to study fashion design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Arnhem, where he received his diploma in 1988.[2] Das was intrigued by the revolution that was taking place in Italian fashion; after graduating from Arnhem, Das travelled to Italy for an interview with clothing manufacturer Renzo Rosso, the owner of the fashion brand Diesel.[3] Das was offered a job on the spot. In fact, he started working at Diesel that day in the role of assistant male designer on the Male, Accessories, Leather and Kids lines; he was soon directing the style office.[4] In 1993, Das was recognized with the title of Creative Director.[5][6]

Collection Design

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During Das' early years with Diesel, the company became most famous for its denim collections.[7] Throughout this time, Diesel used many techniques to age jeans and give them a more vintage feel; this included experimenting with dyes, destruction, movement of pockets, reshaping and introduction of curves.[8]

In subsequent years, and under Das's creative direction, Diesel introduced collections of footwear, eyewear (Diesel Shades), jewellery (Diesel Jewellery), and watches (Diesel Timeframes).[9]

Communications & Advertising

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As well as being responsible for the development of all Diesel's fashion and accessories collection, in his role as Creative Director, Das also oversaw the creative aspects of every Diesel campaign from the time the company began advertising until 2009.[10] The influence of Diesel's communications campaigns, published under the umbrella label “For Successful Living”, have won Diesel and Das the Grand Prix, Gold, and ‘Advertiser of the Year’ awards at the International Festival of Advertising at Cannes.[11]

References

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  1. ^ Kurihara, Erika, i-D 277. Out of the Blue Issue, June 2007, p. 101 [1]
  2. ^ Ykone Fashion Encyclopedia
  3. ^ WWD Behind The Scenes, April 2003, p.12-13
  4. ^ The Retail Fuel, Issue 14, 2007, page 12
  5. ^ WWD Behind The Scenes, April 2003, p.12-13
  6. ^ Lauren Milligan, Vogue, March 20, 2009
  7. ^ Poyner, Rick, Obey the Giant: life in the image world, August 2001, p. 83
  8. ^ Raper Larenaudie, Sarah. Art Of The Deal: Who Drives Diesel? Time Magazine, September 2006 [2]
  9. ^ The Retail Fuel, Issue 14, 2007, page 13
  10. ^ Rich Thomaselli, Advertising Age, June 2006, page 19
  11. ^ Cannes Lions Archive 2011
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