Diesel's founder loses race against LVMH

Diesel's founder Renzo Rosso has compared the

competition for fashion designers with that of football stars. "Fashion is like soccer, only champions make a difference," said the Italian fashion entrepreneur. Rosso has recently lost the pulse with LVMH over two coveted British designers.

"We also considered investing in them but we never expected LVMH to move so quickly," Rosso told in an interview with Reuters about J.W. Anderson and Nicholas Kirkwood.

Right before the Margiela show at Paris Fashion Week, Rosso recognised he has been following both brands for over two years, just to see how LVMH took over.

Rosso not only owns Diesel but also runs Viktor & Rolf and Marni through his OTB (Only the Brave) holding company. Additionally, his Staff International unit makes and distributes clothes under license for brands including Just Cavalli, Dsquared and Vivienne Westwood.

"What groups like LVMH are doing, is preventing young designers like Anderson from working for somebody else," Rosso said.