Tanking Up: Diesel Display

According to the company, it only takes about 15 minutes to buy a pair of Diesel jeans. Paying off the credit card bill, however, is another story. Diesel's dream denim, which rings up at an outrageous $150 a pair, has quickly become a status symbol among Harvard's label-conscious thanks to the recently opened boutique on JFK Street. Feigning practicality, some buyers cite the jeans' just-right fit and trick male, female and unisex models.

Insisting that no customer-or their no-limit platinum card-should be turned away, Diesel has added "the Kratt" to their unisex collection this season. The Kratt is the upwardly mobile blue-jean.

Signified by a low waist, tight torso and straight leg, this gender-neutral garment builds bridges. According to Diesel, the jeans deliver consumers from baggy-jean-blah to snug-Euro-style. Female shoppers, raving about the loose comfortable feel, have done everything but hold the Diesel distributors hostage for this designer denim.

Want to join the Diesel-clad clan? Good luck. Sales racks only offer novelty items like rubber pants and furry tee-shirts, and now that the sole Diesel outlet store has closed shop, the only hope for the Diesel junkie is to kick it on over to the local Marshalls where savvy shoppers have been known to salvage up a pair of these magical dungarees on occasion. Of course if they don't show up there, there is always Alitalia. How much more could a trip to Italy possibly be?