With a passion for fashion, The Blank Sheet Project presents Diesel founder and chairman, Renzo Rosso. D&AD’s Tim O’Kennedy interviews Rosso for the third in a series of international super-creative features on Arjowiggins Creative Papers’ inspiration platform, www.TheBlankSheetProject.com.

A video link to the interview can be found here.

Rosso describes building one of the world’s most successful fashion empires on the mantra “be stupid” and how it serves as a fundamental philosophy of the Diesel brand and its irreverent and spirited advertising. “When you did things before others,” he explains, ‘they think you are stupid… Smart people think how things are today, but stupid people are those who think how things could be.”

Rosso believes he is in good company, referring to Gandhi and Mandela as people who were, at one time, also considered out of kilter with the mainstream. He relates how the American’s thought he was “stupid” to launch a pair of jeans in the States for $100 when most were priced at $52 a pair. He elaborates to say that one must be brave, visionary, “an interpreter and a pioneer.”

The interview reveals a man who is, without doubt, single-minded; a self-confessed workaholic, yet, surprisingly, a firm believer in collaboration and communal effort. In Rosso’s words: “You have to work in a team. Me, alone, can be nothing… the team is very important.”

This respect for everyone, which comes, he says, from his family and his father, a hard-working and principled farmer, is the driving force behind his Only The Brave Foundation, a charity involved extensively in development work in Africa. The organization currently is building a village for 20,000 people in Mali, with a modern infrastructure, including water, electricity, and Internet; houses; a clinic; a secondary school complex for 600, complete with laboratories and a sports field; and, logically, fledgling businesses to ensure that his legacy is sustainable. This is just one of more than a 100 major projects Rosso’s foundation has in the region.

Rosso sits comfortably with other passionate leaders on The Blank Sheet Project, like Sir John Hegarty and Neville Brody, who hope to inspire the next generation to be pioneers. He clearly delights in energetic young people, particularly the “social interpreters,” who contribute brilliantly refreshing ideas to Only The Brave Foundation’s valuable work.

The goal of The Blank Sheet Project is to encourage individuals and businesses to be more innovative, thoughtful and sustainable. It asks creative professionals, given a blank sheet of paper “How will you leave your mark?” This inspirational inquiry now challenges a global audience. It is something that Rosso has thought carefully about. He says he hopes that “the day I die, people will say, ‘This was a good man.'”

Jonathan Mitchell, managing director of Arjowiggins Creative Papers says, “To effect change invariably means stepping out of your comfort zone, being willing to try, to fail and try again, learning by your mistakes. Renzo Rosso’s philosophy –- his approach to business and to life -– makes him an ideal ambassador for The Blank Sheet Project and an incredibly inspirational thought leader for creatives everywhere.”

Appleton Coated amplifies The Blank Sheet Project’s message as the exclusive North American distributor for The Curious Collection of fine papers and Conqueror premium identity paper brand, both manufactured by Arjowiggins.

Learn more about Appleton Coated’s innovative, sustainable and creative programs and products at www.AppletonCoated.com. Click here to read and download a copy of the entire news release.

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