Dizelaši

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The Dizelaši (Serbian Cyrillic: Дизелаши, literally "Diesel Boys") were a popular youth subculture in the former country of Yugoslavia, particularly in Serbia. The subculture itself originated during the late 1980s in Belgrade, but didn't become popular until the 1990s, when the Yugoslav Wars started. They were stereotypically described as low class teenagers during the Yugoslav Wars who would engage with crime, due to the political climate of the era. The term "'Dizelaši" is derivated from the word "diesel", which could either refer to the Diesel brand, which was highly valued in Serbia at the time, or the subculture's alleged relationship with crimes involving fuel^[1]. The Dizelaši subculture was characterized by its distinctive fashion style, common music taste (particularly Turbo-Folk, Hip-Hop and Eurodance), common activities and social attitude.

The Dizelaši community was mainly made up of men; however, the feminine variant of this subculture was known as Dizelašice, whose fashion style was characterized by exaggerated makeup, dyed hair, provocative/sexy clothing, high heels and other glamorous attire.

History[]

The Dizelaši subculture first emerged in Belgrade during the late 1980s, but didn't become popular until sometime around 1992. The spread of this subculture is often attributed to the infamous Serbian gangster Aleksandar Knežević (more known as Knele), who passed away the same year, as well as the movie Rane (English: The Wounds), which was released in 1998. The Rane movie was an important influence for many rebellious teenagers of the time, even outside Serbia, and many liked to act like some characters from the movie, Pinki (a character played by actor Dušan Pekić) in particular. This included mimicking the way the characters speak, dress and walk.

The Dizelaši subculture was relatively associated with criminal youth. They glorified luxury brands and rich lifestyles, but the country of Serbia was economically sanctioned by the United Nations, so obtaining these goods was really hard, and crime was their only option. In fact, foreign brands were associated with the high class. As such, crime, smuggling and black market economy flourished in Serbia during the 1990s. However, some people weren't necessarily criminals and just wanted to mimick the style of young gangsters.

In recent times there's also been a nostalgic phenomenon in Serbia labelled as "Neo-Dizelaši", which like its name implies, celebrates the legacy of the subculture in the country and reincorporates it into modern fashion. The Neo-Dizelaši style is pretty similiar but has some minor differences. Neo-Dizelaši fashion is characterized by some modernized elements like camouflage hoodies, hoodies without zippers, tracksuits with tapered ankle cuffs, bootleg Air Max sneakers and various types of sunglasses. Notably, many people who are into the Neo-Dizelaši subculture like acquiring dangerous pets like pit bull dogs. Additionally, there's also some nostalgic events in the country like Volim Devedesete.

This subculture was also the predecessor of another Balkan youth subculture known as Gaseri (translated as "Gassers"), which emerged during the late 2010s and reached infamy through the former countries of Yugoslavia.

Fashion[]

Some common elements of Dizelaši fashion included:

Colorful tracksuits
Sneakers
Oversized clothing
Baggy jeans
Sunglasses
Golden jewelry
Golden necklaces
Hoodies
Hoodies without zips
Brand logos
Diverse patterns
Weaponry

Attitude[]

The members of the Dizelaši subculture had various distinctive interests and behaviors.
For example, they were often huge fans of Turbo-Folk music^[2], which is a Serbian musical genre that combines Serbian folk music with other modern musical styles. Turbo-Folk songs are usually about love and sexuality, but more importantly, they idolized the rich lifestyle, much like the Dizelaši subculture itself. Other popular musical genres within the subculture included Hip-Hop and Eurodance (particularly Đogani/Giogani Fantastico, a Serbian duo).

Because of their glorification of rich lifestyles, they highly valued clothing from foreign brands, as the nation of Serbia/Yugoslavia dealt with many economical sanctions during the Yugoslav Wars and they were very hard to obtain in the country. Some brands related to the subculture included Diesel, Robe di Kappa, Nike, Fila, Reebok and Levi's.

Their typical appearances also reinforced their stereotypical mentality of being tough and criminally-oriented. They would often shave their heads, participate in sports and carry weapons, and were often involved in trouble related to violent crimes.

Given the political climate of Yugoslavia and Serbia during the early 1990s, they relatively also had a sense of hatred for Western influence and culture. Consequently, many of them would attack people who were into Punk, Hippie, Rocker, Raver or Metalhead fashion, because they saw them as symbols of the West.