Diesel is celebrating Pride by reuniting with Tom of Finland Foundation, the nonprofit organization established to preserve Finnish artist Tom of Finland’s catalog of homoerotic art.
On Tuesday, the Italian denim brand unveiled the 2024 Diesel x Tom of Finland Foundation Pride capsule collection specifically designed to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community. Through the partnership, Diesel aims to amplify the message of freedom of expression, sexuality and individualism—a message the has been a key pillar of the Diesel brand.
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The collection also marks Tom of Finland Foundation’s 40th anniversary. It is Diesel’s third collaboration with the foundation.
The 24-piece capsule features the work of artists including Stuart Sandford, Suzanne Shifflett, Tank, the Hun, Valentine, Henning von Berg and Tom of Finland.
Applied as prints and patchworks, the artwork reflects important voices from Tom of Finland Foundation’s four decades of preserving the work of queer artists, many of whom have faced discrimination and misrepresentation due to the nature of what they create, Diesel stated.
Spanning T-shirts, denim jackets, jeans, jockstraps and more, each garment is trimmed with a special canvas tape printed with a quotation from the artist. The collection will launch globally in late June on Diesel’s website and in Diesel boutiques.
Diesel is sponsoring a series of global events, including the annual Tom of Finland Art and Culture Festival, held for the first time in Berlin’s legendary Halle am Berghain on May 31-June 2. The program of exhibitions and performances continued last week in Fire Island, NY.
Other events will take place during Helsinki Pride and in Los Angeles later this year. Diesel will also have an exhibition at its art gallery in Tokyo.
Through its support of the events and exhibitions, Diesel said it “acknowledges the profound social and cultural impact Tom’s Foundation has made, in providing an open, unique space of freedom and love for this community of artists.”
