Renzo Rosso, founder and president of the fashion brand DIESEL, was born on September 15, 1955, in Padua, northeastern Italy. He was born into a farming family and began making clothes at the age of 15. He studied economics at university and founded DIESEL in 1978 as part of the Genius Group. The Genius Group sparked the super casual fashion boom in the 1980s, which helped Italian denim become popular around the world. DIESEL has continued to expand its business since its founding, launching a men's collection in 1979, a kids' line in 1984, a women's line in 1989, and the sister brand 55DSL in 1994. Previously, the brand has collaborated with designers Karl Lagerfeld and John Galliano. Nicola Formichetti was appointed artistic director this spring. He currently owns OTB, a holding company that owns Diesel, Maison Martin Margiela, Viktor & Rolf, and Staff International (which manufactures and sells brands such as Dsquared2, Vivienne Westwood, and Marc Jacobs men's collections).