CASE 170 / Diesel / 2017
Go With the Flaw
The film made imperfect construction part of an argument against perfect-looking fashion.
AI-assisted research and analysis for the SNS Creative Fieldbook; published by SNS Media Tech. No named human reviewer is claimed.
Sources reviewed 2026-11-05
Campaign credits belong to the original creators. They did not write or endorse this analysis.
Credits: Publicis Italy / Milan and Diesel; director François Rousselet; production Division Paris; editing Nicolas Larrouquere.
Recognition: The One Show 2018: Merit, Moving Image Craft, Craft–Direction / Single, annual ID OS_MI18063M.
Launch / edition: 2017. Award years: 2018.
The problem. The idea. The experience.
Diesel’s first work with Publicis Italy in September 2017 challenged the expectation that fashion images should present polished perfection. It positioned visible individuality as something to inhabit confidently, although the campaign’s own language of flaws deserves critical handling.
How the idea came to life
A young editor constructs a film from energetic scenes of people whose appearances depart from conventional casting norms. Abrupt transitions and the framing story make the film’s construction conspicuous. François Rousselet directed the work, with Publicis Italy credited for creative development.
How it reached people
The original was a fashion film for the fall/winter 2017 season. This record groups its related imperfection platform and the later DEISEL / Go With the Fake extension together to avoid counting successive executions as unrelated strategic inventions.
Supporting sources: Primary award archive → Campaign archive → Contemporary reporting → Contemporary reporting →
Read the data in context.
The numbers below describe different kinds of outcomes. Their date, scope and reporting source are part of the result.
The One Show’s 2018 archive records a Merit in Moving Image Craft for direction. This specific recognition should not be described as a Gold Pencil. The reviewed sources provide no defensible campaign-level sales lift or independent change in body-image attitudes.
The creative mechanism.
The execution’s editing mirrors its message rather than merely illustrating it
Let form carry part of the argument
A message about accepting imperfection gains coherence when editing does not hide every seam. Identify a formal choice that demonstrates your idea, such as an honest repair, a visible revision or an unpolished process. Keep comprehension intact. Deliberate roughness still needs craft, and a confusing error is not automatically a persuasive expression of authenticity.
Avoid naming other people’s bodies as defects
The original campaign’s vocabulary can reproduce the judgment it attempts to challenge. Ask participants how they want to be represented and whether they want particular features discussed at all. Let casting show varied people without making everyone a lesson. Inclusion is stronger when ordinary agency survives beyond a close-up selected for difference.
Build a platform with clear family boundaries
A durable idea can move from a film into another format while keeping the same tension. Map which elements must remain and what each new execution teaches. Evaluate the total platform without presenting each sequel as independent proof. This also helps teams avoid spending on repetition that changes the setting but offers audiences no new reason to care.
Check whether recognition travels to the product
An attitude film may make a brand feel distinctive while leaving the collection unexplored. Test the link from creative recall to a specific product page, store visit or informed conversation. Preserve a conventional comparison and track qualified interest. A craft award verifies jury recognition, not that the audience accepted the message or bought more clothes.
The intended behavior loop
- 01Recognize familiar fashion polish
- 02Notice deliberate irregularity
- 03Interpret the brand’s stance
- 04Explore the associated collection
Growth job: Challenge category sameness → express a point of view → renew brand consideration. This is an interpretation of the mechanism, not an audited attribution model.
A direction to take into the room.
Original editorial interpretation and proposed adaptation. This is a proposed adaptation, not historical campaign execution or a forecast.
The transferable principle
Choose a formal storytelling device that enacts the proposition instead of relying on a slogan alone.
Keep these boundaries
Do not label customers’ bodies as flawed, imitate the film’s sequence or mistake performative roughness for product quality.
Turn the lesson into a test.
Illustrative adaptation, not a historical campaign fact
A small-team experiment
A repair-focused clothing shop makes an original short film in which visible mending is shown as skilled, intentional work.
Build the test
- Invite adult makers to choose what process they want shown.
- Film one repair clearly, including the decisions behind it, without disparaging an owner’s appearance.
- Compare the process film with a simple before-and-after service explanation.
Measure the right thing
Track accurate service understanding, consultation requests and participant comfort; separate film appreciation from bookings.
Know when to stop
Stop if subjects feel reduced to a feature, repairs are misrepresented or viewers mistake a decorative treatment for a structural guarantee.
How this reading fits your brief
Start with the useful part.
Best for: Challenge category sameness → express a point of view → renew brand consideration
What to adapt: Choose a formal storytelling device that enacts the proposition instead of relying on a slogan alone.
Prerequisites: Original creative development; Rights and accessibility review; A defined measurement comparison.
Smaller-team route: A repair-focused clothing shop makes an original short film in which visible mending is shown as skilled, intentional work. Constraint: Do not label customers’ bodies as flawed, imitate the film’s sequence or mistake performative roughness for product quality.
Budget: Not established by the cited sources. No cost-fit claim is made.
Trade-offs and evidence: Read the limits below before choosing a test. There is no guaranteed reach, sales lift or ROAS.
Questions for your next brief
- Which customer behavior would make form mirrors message useful?
- What evidence would separate attention from qualified collection interest?
Sources & further reading.
Brand and award-entry results are attributed claims, not independent causal audits. Source links open the original third-party pages.
- The One Club: Go with the Flaw →Primary award archive · Supports: 2018 Merit category, annual ID, framing narrative and contributor credits.
- Ads of the World: Go With The Flaw →Campaign archive · Supports: September 2017 publication and full production credits.
- The Drum: Go with the Flaw →Contemporary reporting · Supports: Publicly readable 6 September 2017 introduction and film description; gated remainder not used.
- La Réclame: Comment Diesel crée ses contrefaçons →Contemporary reporting · Supports: 9 February 2018 report explicitly links Go With the Fake to the Go With the Flaw films; supports family grouping only.
Independent educational analysis of external campaigns. These are not SNS client projects, endorsements or claims of involvement. Campaign facts and reported outcomes are attributed to their sources. Explanations, adaptations and test plans are original analysis and hypotheses, not proven causal findings.