Review of Bottega Veneta Fall 2023 Fashion Show
Bottega’s Winter Carnival Celebrates Getting Dressed Up Again
By Angela Baidoo
How to talk about Bottega Veneta in the context of mere fashion, when what Matthieu Blazy has been doing for the past few seasons seems to transcend the overly simplistic term of ‘clothing’, for to wear a Bottega Veneta piece now is to revel in a rare moment in time, akin to the Phoebe Philo Celine era, Alexander McQueen at his height, or the late great Vivienne Westwood in her heyday. And what binds them all? The commitment to the craft.
On his third run for Bottega Veneta, there is now nothing to prove as the clothes (or craft) is all there is to focus on, and with each new season the designer continues to reveal a new side of his creative strength.
Above all, it is a place where there is the joyful, emotional and personal pleasure of dressing up, of gaining the confidence to be whoever the wearer wants to be through clothing
Matthieu Blazy, Creative Director, Bottega Veneta
Referring to “Craft in motion” in today’s notes, the show space was adorned with museum-loaned bronze art which embodied these notions. Both Boccioni’s ‘Unique Forms of Continuity in Space’ from 1913 – whose kinetic energy belied the bronze material it was rendered in – and ancient Roman bronze runners from 1BC, represent the inanimate past, while today’s show set in the present, represents “the shape of things to come” with a slant towards Futurism.
For fall 2023 there was a new form of geometry at play, with silhouettes cut with mathematical precision or cosy enough to curl up in. Blazy has established a regular rhythm of craft technique, and in this designers world he never wants anything he puts out to be taken at face value, a deeper dive is necessary each season as discovery is rewarded with unexpected innovation. Seeking to understand when rituals of dress (or getting dressed) begin, there was an opening set of looks that were too cool to be described as cosy. Exploring the morning customs which take place in slips or pyjamas and nightshirts, before moving to the bathroom – here he proposes a new take on the humble dressing gown in brushed wool. With each model donning a pair of knitted socks, when referring to the notes, it is revealed they are in fact “knitted leather shoes”. The aforementioned nightwear too was confirmed as realised in the most unexpected of materials ‘nappa leather’. A surprise we should have seen coming as with Blazy nothing is as it seems, and we are all the better for it, as the industry nurtures so few who want to elevate true craftsmanship.
As the Bottega Veneta customer starts their day, an expansion happens, and luxe options are available for the designers cast of characters who add to the “alchemy of the street”, partaking in surprise encounters. Such as those between a priest, playboy, sleepwalker, or streetwalker’ as outlined in todays notes. The art of dressing up again, which the designer sees as a “joyful, emotional and personal pleasure” is made easy when these are the wardrobe options on offer. Historical silhouettes shake off their old world connotations and are reinvented – a lace slip and camisole in acid green, an 80s power suit as a tunic and trouser set, draped goddess dresses with all-over beading and layered over a cotton button-front slip dress, and eighteenth-century pannier skirts are recreated with gathering and structural support around the hips in maxi gowns and leather midis.
Botticelli’s Chloris and Flora from ‘Primavera’ were also a welcome addition to the designers graphic handwriting. Embroidered across delicate daywear and layered up in lightweight knits comprising of country-style henley’s, bralettes, and maxi length button-up dresses.
Leather as a key malleable material choice was utilised for several looks, from the ultra-luxurious ostrich and crocodile leather trenches to an A-line skirt set and wide-leg trousers. While the house’s signature Intreccio formed a “new kind of skin, becoming cascading scales and feathers, finding new configurations in clothing and leather goods “according to the designer. It also found a new home in a series of mint green and soft yellow variations which featured enlarged embossed florals.
I wanted to look at what makes people gather together in a place without hierarchy, where everyone is invited
Matthieu Blazy, Creative Director, Bottega Veneta
The expected hyper-craft textures did not disappoint, jacquard knitted skirts came with linear fringing and feathers were angled to outline the neckline of a dress spliced with boning. And anything but ordinary, the show closed with Blazy proving that the new Bottega Veneta is a place without hierarchy, doubling down on how even everyday items can surprise, his trompe l’oeil white tank and denim-cum-leather combination was back, turning the everyday task of getting dressed into a moment of “personal pleasure”