Book Review: Fifty By Diesel

The gold box alone is a precursor to the treasures inside – once opened
you are greeted with a heavy-duty plastic binder in which the actual
book is enclosed. It’s a fantastic thrill to finally get your hands on
it but once you do your senses get another shock as the white on the
cover is actually felt.

From the very personal introduction by Rosso, through to the five
chapters covering the graphical breadth and historical personality of
brand, and all the while being weaved through its many contributors,
which include: Dalai Lama, Vivienne Westwood, Paul Smith, Alexander
McQueen, Martin Margiela, Terry Jones, Dazed & Confused, Vogue etc.
- the book is compelling and if it weren’t so big you wouldn’t put it
down.

It’s a book about a man, about a brand, about a journey and about
literally showing off (in a very un-arrogant manner) how ‘gorgeous’ a
brand story can be.  The pure visualness and narrative is subtlety
brilliant and I literally just kept turning every page with a ‘wow’.

Also included is a double-sided DVD crammed full of all the Diesels
retro-flavoured, cultural/religious/sexual mashed-up quirky ads.  This
is a total collectors item and too good for coffee tables and reception
lounges – keep this in a dark room under lock and key and only on the
darkest of nights get this bad boy out.

I’m a HUGE fan of this book. 

A triumph of print which you simply couldn’t get on a website or
interactive CD-Rom – this is how books should be: unapologetically
visual, ludicrously expensive and delicious to devour.

Fifty On Amazon