Wilbert Das spent his formative years working on his parents dairy farm in the small village of Riethoven in the southern Netherlands.

[1] At age 19, he left Riethoven to study fashion design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Arnhem, where he received his diploma in 1988.

[2] Das was intrigued by the revolution that was taking place in Italian fashion; after graduating from Arnhem, Das travelled to Italy for an interview with clothing manufacturer Renzo Rosso, the owner of the fashion brand Diesel.

[7] Throughout this time, Diesel used many techniques to age jeans and give them a more vintage feel; this included experimenting with dyes, destruction, movement of pockets, reshaping and introduction of curves.

[10] The influence of Diesel's communications campaigns, published under the umbrella label “For Successful Living”, have won Diesel and Das the Grand Prix, Gold, and ‘Advertiser of the Year’ awards at the International Festival of Advertising at Cannes.