The childlike sense of wonder that Bottega Veneta’s Matthieu Blazy was talking about backstage at his spring 2025 show had its early stirrings with this resort collection, which precedes it in stores by several months. The intrecciato version of Richard Scarry’s Biggest Word Book Ever, which caused a stir on social media at the brand’s spring re-sees, makes an appearance here. Having listened to him wax nostalgic about 1980s films like E.T. and Splash in Milan, the mermaid perched on a rock on an embroidered aloha shirt now looks like an obvious reference to the Daryl Hannah movie. And there’s another top decorated with naive drawings of a chessboard, a hand of cards, and a magic 8 ball, among other playthings, that has the “personal touch” feeling that doesn’t really factor in much other luxury fashion today. The fish-print scarf dress is an homage to Gaetano Pesce, the artist and a Blazy collaborator, who died in April.
“There was no big concept,” Blazy said of this pre-season collection. “It was more about: How can we put things together and when it comes to the individual ingredients, does it make your heart beat?”
Bottega Veneta was a “bright spot” for Kering in the third quarter. Not being an analyst, I’d reckon that its success is down at least in part to that personal touch. It extends to this season’s bag offering, which in addition to new versions of its heart-quickening Sardine bag, includes a tote depicting a Venetian gondola and the Rialto bridge, and a hobo bag made from heavy silk twill scarves. Among the many different shoes, the most playful is a pair of heeled sandals with an apple bauble perched between the toes.
Elaborating on his approach, Blazy said, “I read a lot of books about elegance, about how to style yourself. And at the same time I rewatched a lot of Anthony Bourdain. There are a lot of parallels between the pleasure of cooking and the pleasure of putting things together on the silhouette. What I really wanted to do this season, it was pure pragmatically epicurean. I just took everything I like. It was like in Italy, when the ingredients are good, you don’t need to do too much with it.”
Only where Italian cuisine revolves around a few key ingredients, this Bottega Veneta collection ranged. Originality trumped consistency, though there were a few through-lines, like neckties for both men and women; head-to-toe color; experimental intrecciato patterns including one involving newsprint, and extremes of silhouette, from full New Look-ish skirts to minis, a first for Blazy here. Quoting from G. Bruce Boyer’s book, True Style, he said, “elegance is a dialogue between innovation, tradition, and individual taste.” If there’s one look that summed it all up, it was the guy in a shirt, tie, and long knit polo dress, with the Gaetano-fish scarf tossed over his shoulder, and the Rialto bridge tote in his hand.
