EAT YOUR SHIRT: Just in time for Bread & Butter by Zalando, which kicks off in Berlin today, Diesel is dishing up a surprisingly tasty new collaboration: Diesel x Mustafa’s Gemüse Kebap. The vegetable kebab stand in the city’s Kreuzberg district is legendary for its long lines of aficionados, often young tourists coming direct from the airport and willing to wait 30 minutes and more for what they claim is the non-plus ultra in döners. But don’t let the name fool you: unless you say “hold the chicken,” Mustafa’s Gemüse Kebap will be packed with spit-grilled poultry, fresh and roasted vegetables, feta cheese, garlic, herbs or hot sauce, a spritz of lemon plus a secret last ingredient. All for 3.90 euros, or around $4.50 at current exchange.
As for the consistently irreverent Diesel, the Italian brand sent out a cookbook instead of a look book for this limited-edition line, produced in a 4,000-piece run. Cookbook takeaways include “Creativity is a super important ingredient. [It] comes after fresh tomatoes on my list,” from Mustafa. Or Diesel’s suggestion that “This collection is the new avocado on toast.”
The drop is comprised of a cap, four T-shirts and two sweatshirts featuring both Diesel and Mustafa’s Gemüse Kebap logos, plus a men’s and women’s slim, dark and semi-distressed jeans style. Prices range from 45 to 199 euros. The collection will be available exclusively on Zalando for the run of Bread & Butter, from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2, and then also on diesel.com and selected Diesel stores worldwide as of Sept. 3. But just as long as supplies last. Once the pieces are sold out, the company said, “That’s it.”
Mustafa was in Turkey when he missed a call from Italy, and wondered what it could be about, as he said he knows no one there. Calling back and reaching Diesel headquarters, he asked the young woman on the other end, “Are you sure you wanted to reach me. I’m a döner seller in Berlin.” Which döner seller? she replied, and hearing Mustafa, assured him, “Yes, it’s you we want.”
The father of two teenage boys and a little girl, he was familiar with Diesel, having worn the brand’s jeans “in my youth.” The whole project, which took three months to cook up, “was not so normal, but really enjoyable. I could laugh [about it] out loud,” he told WWD. And will it make a difference to his business? “It’ll make us better known worldwide, and I’m happy about that.”