A new dawn is upon us at Bottega Veneta MFW FW 22/23 – text by Leticia Dare

 

Dear Shaded Viewers,

 

It was a new dawn, a new day, a new Bottega and it felt good. With Matthieu Blazy‘s debut collection presenting a softer more elegant approach to the brands codes that felt traditional compared to his predecessor Daniel Lee. As a huge fan of Lee’s work I was dying to see where Blazy would take the brand to next and I wasn’t disappointed.

Like wiping the slate clean, the show opened with a simple white tank top and jeans and evolved to showcase many of Blazy’s skills and talents he has developed over the years working under some of the greatest designers of all time, including Raf Simons, Margiela and Phoebe Philo. It felt feminine, unfussy, artful and very wearable.

The devil was in the detail with each piece upon closer inspection reveling intricate curved cuts on the back of jackets, leather fringing peeping out under full skirts, metal highlights upon a shearling coat and embroidered shapes on dresses. Also, in the textures and fabrics particularly, the sequin looks including one dress that looked like a tropical fish skin. Boots were thigh high and woven tight using the infamous Bottega intrecciato technique right through to smooth reflective metallics in silver, green and gold. Leather played a large role -a key code of Bottega- within the collection and was seen in full suiting looks in red, black and brown.

There were many characters on display, and it felt as though Blazy was making the point that a new era of Bottega was upon us. It was a strong first show that had great depth and warmth to it. There was a lot to take in and that was exciting.

 

Later,

Leticia

Leticia Dare

Leticia Dare is the Fashion Director for ASVOF.