King of cool

But then again,the 55-year-old is not your everyday,garden-variety multimillionaire. He belongs to that rare breed of multi-millionaires who’ve got their get-laughs-quick formula down pat.

“I got to where I am by being stupid,” says Rosso about Diesel’s ‘Be Stupid’ campaign—a precursor to the brand’s official launch in India with two stores opening in Mumbai at the Palladium,Lower Parel,and Juhu. Over the next few months,Diesel will have stores in Delhi,Bangalore and Hyderabad too. This season,Diesel’s infused their clothes and accessories (rather restricted in variety,we felt) with a heightened sense of the Bohemian with neon micro-mini frocks with ruffled inserts,snappy little belts,sculpted military jackets and,of course,an avalanche of their signature distressed denims.

“Naming the brand Diesel was itself stupid as people thought I was selling some sort of fuel,” laughs Rosso. The ad campaign is drenched with irreverent references to the “stupidity” of its founder who,in 1978,drove around in a Ford Transit trying to convince shop owners to sell stone-washed (the scientific nomenclature today is ‘gorgeously dilapidated’) jeans.

Of course,in his lexicon,being stupid might also mean sparking off a denim revolution and then clicking his heels and doing a volte-face. After distressed jeans snowballed into a pandemic of unholy proportions,Rosso went on a buying spree acquiring Staff International in 2000,the Italian manufacturer and distributor for designers like Martin Margiela and Vivienne Westwood.

He also launched the high-end Diesel Black Gold line which recently tapped Sophia Kokosalaki as its designer.

Now the fashion magnate’s on a mission to “de-premium-ise” the brand and go back to the original strategically-slashed-hole-revealing-knobby-knees appeal of Diesel. “Diesel is more than a brand. It’s a kind of lifestyle in which a man like me can get a young,beautiful girl,” says Rosso referring to his 30-something girlfriend.

He has the air of a man who still has to pinch himself to believe his good fortune. “Ultimately,I’m just a very lucky man.” Somehow,that’s difficult to believe. It’s near-impossible to get to the top of the pile sponsored solely by luck and for all his freewheeling effervescence and charming gimmicks,Rosso does play the game. And play it with consummate skill.