From denim to DJs: Diesel’s radio station returns

London – Not content with producing clothing, fashion label Diesel is once again venturing beyond the clothes rack and has relaunched its internet radio station. Diesel:U:Radio, which will go live on 14 May, will showcase emerging talent and include a variety of live music and talk shows. Following the recent launch of Diesel’s soft furnishing range and a design contract with Fiat, Diesel:U:Radio marks another step in the fashion brand’s move to use the strength of its name to diversify and emerge as a fully encompassing lifestyle brand.

It’s a strategy being undertaken by many in preparation for an age of cataclysmic change, as brands, looking to ride out this time of uncertainty, lend their name to new product categories, play the chameleon and spread their bets in time for the Fifth Scenario. Brand historians will recall, for instance, that Nokia started out as a forestry company.

Shows on Diesel:U:Radio will include ‘Dump Him, He Doesn’t Love You’, a sardonic counselling show hosted by Akiko Matsuura from London band The Big Pink; ‘Dalston Oxfam Show’, which will feature a selection of the finest tunes from the East London charity shop; and the ‘Diesel Unsigned Show’, hosted live by former Channel 4 Radio DJ Tom Ravenscroft. The digital radio project will run until 24 June, then return on 18 September for another six weeks.