Diesel appoints ex-Ralph Lauren executive to senior marketing role
Clothing company Diesel has appointed ex-Polo and Levi’s marketer Paul Polle as its marketing manager, the most senior marketing post in the company.
He takes over from Jethro Marshall, who is leaving the company with no job to go to. He reports to Panicko Philippou, md for Diesel UK.
Polle joins from Polo Ralph Lauren where he was merchandising and marketing coordinator responsible for the launch of Polo jeans across Europe. Prior to that he worked for Levi’s as brand marketing manager.
A spokesman for the company says: “The main reason he has been hired is because of his denim experience and because of his background in brand management.”
The jeans market has come under pressure and sales of jeans slumped by 14.3 per cent year on year. However Diesel, which manufactures other fashion lines as well as jeans, is well placed to capitalise on the increasing popularity of streetwear.
Diesel attracted controversy earlier this year when the company ran a series of provocative ads through Lowe Howard-Spink. One ad featuring four young women dressed as nuns attracted 83 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority and was banned from further use after complainants found the use of religious imagery deeply offensive. Other ads have featured a serial killer and a spoof of the soft porn industry.
