\n\tLouise Trotter has fallen in love with Bottega Veneta\u2019s signature Intrecciato leather weave, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and winning a starring role in the British designer\u2019s solid debut.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe most beautiful thing about Bottega Veneta<\/a> is that it\u2019s really a workshop,\u201d she said during a preview ahead of her fashion show Saturday afternoon. \u201cCraft has been the way we innovate\u2026 Artisans and creatives working together to find solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tAnd no shortage of dazzlers. These included a regal gown with an attached cape that wore its labor lightly: 4,000 hours to hand-weave the 3-millimetre strips of brown leather.<\/p>\n \n\tTrotter and Bottega\u2019s artisans also found a way to assemble colorful strands of recycled fiberglass into otherworldly furry chubbies \u2013 they seemed lit from within \u2013 and fuzzy skirts in magnified butterfly patterns that shuddered and swished in mesmerizing ways.<\/p>\n \n\tThe designer did not stray far from the grown-up chic and textural wizardry plied by her predecessor Matthieu Blazy, who faces his own debut at Chanel on Oct. 6 during Paris Fashion Week.<\/p>\n \n\tYet she brought her knack for austere yet voluptuous tailoring, and fresh appreciation for Milanese style, having moved to the Italian fashion capital with her family over the summer. <\/p>\n \n\tSince taking up her role last January, she\u2019s also been spending time in the Venice and Veneto regions, letting \u201cthe feeling\u201d of the area seep in, along with its colors and legacy of glassmaking on the small island of Murano.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cA slight feel of dolce vita. But my version of that,\u201d was how Trotter described her approach in her studio, packed yet tidy \u2013 a signifier of her work ethic, and a meticulous approach to design.<\/p>\n \n\tThe show unfurled in a minimalist set bifurcated by arches, the guests settling in on colored glass stools after inspecting the woven leather sculptures suspended here and there.<\/p>\n \n\tThe collection\u2019s loose narrative was the story of Bottega Veneta itself, told via some of the prominent female protagonists.<\/p>\n \n\tFirst up was Lauren Hutton, who famously carried one of its leather clutches in \u201cAmerican Gigolo,\u201d the 1980 film that also famously put Giorgio Armani on the map by dressing Richard Gere.<\/p>\n \n\tTrotter paid homage by reworking the Lauren bag, and by revisiting a moment in fashion history when Italian and American sportswear enjoyed a strong complicity.<\/p>\n \n\tShe also invited Hutton to attend the show, the veteran actress gamely opening her clutch to show its contents, including a powder compact from her short-lived namesake cosmetics line, which she launched in 2002 at the age of 58.<\/p>\n \n\tWhy did she stop? \u201cI hated business,\u201d she said, waving her hands.<\/p>\n \n\tTrotter also acknowledged Laura Braggion, described in press notes as Bottega Veneta\u2019s first female creative lead from the 1980s to the early 2000s.<\/p>\n \n\tWhile founded in Vincenze by Michele Taddei and Renzo Zengiaro in 1966, by the late \u201970s Taddei handed over the company to his ex-wife Braggion, who traveled regularly to New York, famously becoming an assistant of Andy Warhol.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cLetting go, and freedom,\u201d is how Trotter sums up this period, her colorful fiberglass designs the kind of thing you could imagine strolling into Studio 54.<\/p>\n \n\tBut mostly, the designer elaborated on the \u201cclassicism of Milanese style,\u201d riffing on white shirts, handsome coats and full-legged trousers.<\/p>\n \n\tIt must be said that many of Trotter\u2019s designs seemed heavy, especially for spring, which was also often the case when Blazy was leading the house.<\/p>\n \n\tBut this is no doubt the product of her zeal for the intense craftsmanship capabilities at her fingertips. <\/p>\n \n\tTrotter rose to prominence helming Carven and Lacoste in Paris in recent years, but gained her reputation in the industry as creative director of Joseph from 2009 to 2018. A fashion design graduate from Newcastle University, she also worked at contemporary British label Whistles before moving Stateside to design for\u00a0Calvin Klein<\/a>, and later Gap and Tommy Hilfiger.<\/p>\n \n\tDuring the preview, she spoke of her affinity for the \u201csoft functionality\u201d that Bottega pioneered in handbags, and admiration for past designs like the Lauren, which she enlarged and stretched.<\/p>\n \n\tShe\u2019s also celebrating one from the Tomas Maier era, the Cabat, which she re-proportioned and added a zippered pouch, and introduced a clutch version with a zipper.<\/p>\n \n\tNow that she\u2019s proven her mastery with Intrecciato, it would be great to see Trotter elaborate more on soft functionality in the ready-to-wear, and indulge herself more with playful designs, like her injection-molded clogs and those fiberglass coats, as much fun as a mirror ball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Louise Trotter has fallen in love with Bottega Veneta\u2019s signature Intrecciato leather weave, celebrating its 50th anniversary this…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[33304,146,11062,85,46,26701],"class_list":["post-41547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-bottega-veneta","tag-entertainment","tag-fashion-show-reviews","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-milan-fashion-week"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}