Starting off as an offshoot of the Diesel brand in 1994, 55DSL has become its own unique fashion company under the creative direction of Andrea Rosso. The company recently released ROMA, a short film directed by David Antobelli meant to capture the youthful spirit of the company’s roots in Italy. We spoke to Rosso as well as 55DSL International Marketing Manager Charla Caponi about the meaning behind ROMA, as well as what the brand has in store for summer 2012.
YRB: What inspired the ROMA short film?
Andrea Rosso: We wanted to focus on our roots in Italy. We wanted a wider international reach. The video is based on Italian heritage and viewpoints from people that are from different countries. We are focusing on a lot of “What’s Italy?” David Antobelli, our director from L.A., brought a lot of his ideas of what to shoot in Rome for the outsiders. It has the Italian flavor done with a fresh mindset, which was a good mix.
YRB: How long was the filming process?
Rosso: About a week. Short time. With the scenery we had, you could tell that something good was going to happen. The end product was very good. We got very lucky with our location, which included an Olympic swimming pool. The models were very good. Everything happened very naturally. It wasn’t really acting, just people doing things naturally in Rome.
YRB: What are some plans for the 55DSL summer ’12 line?
Rosso: New patterns. Lots of focus on floral patterns. Very different from the Carribean style. We separated the color with a white filter, so its not as bright. We’ve got new chino pants with elastic on the bottom, so you can tie them up when bike riding ands ouch. Overall, the line is not as black, I’d say. Lots of colors in the collection,I think graphic part of collection is very important.
YRB: What are your plans for distributing Roma?
Charla Caponi: We launched on Vimeo, Youtube, Hypebeast and 200-plus blogs. The plan is to keep moving forward and keep working with directors to do exciting things like this. Roma is the first video like this, but we’re doing a lot more. We’ve got a 10-minute short film for fall/winter that’s turning out really, really nice.
So this is the standard for 55DSL going forward?
Caponi: This is our platform. Our way to promote our Italian heritage. We’re doing a lot of projects to emphasize the Italian look and feel. It’s a different approach. Usually the video is the afterthought,. We make it first and foremost. We review directors then shoot. We’re supporting new directors that might end up as the new Spielberg. I mean, Antobelli is 25 and he’s already part of the Director’s Bureau. It’s great to work with new artists and see how their minds work.
