BOTTEGA VENETA HOSTS WINTER 23 SHOW IN BEIJING THE FIRST SHOW FOR THE BRAND IN CHINA
2023.07.20 Thursday
2023 BOTTEGA VENETA WINTER SHOW at Red Brick Art Museum
“The truest luxury is to be yourself.” Matthieu Blazy
Through its vicinity to Venice, the origin of Bottega Veneta is closely tied to the city.
The global view of Venice resonates through its position in the arts and as an epicentre
for the cross-cultural exchange of craft and creativity across hundreds of years. The
house’s founding principle, Labor et Ingenium, expresses the unique connection
between craft and creativity. This alliance motivates innovative, timeless craft for
Bottega Veneta. Since 1966, the house’s founders looked to realise products of the
highest quality that stood the test of time. A sense of motion and the ability to go places
with products was central to the design, and for bags to be unmistakably recognisable
without a logo. The founders and their artisans counted days, not hours, to realise soft
leather bags that moved with and moulded to the wearer, transferring an emotional
quality. Today, the woven craftsmanship of Intrecciato continues to be the house’s
signature, symbolic of innovation and timelessness.
This summer, as Bottega Veneta returns to Beijing, everything feels natural and harmonious. The unique architectural style at Red Brick Art Museum resonates with the brand’s iconic Intrecciato leather weaving craftsmanship. “The alchemy of the street is in the difference; who will you meet? What is around the corner? Who will amaze you? It is the surprise of the encounter that has importance.” ——Matthieu Blazy
Bringing to a close his ‘Italia’ trilogy of shows, Matthieu Blazy celebrates the country’s
past, present and future with his concept of craft in motion. The odyssey of the cast
continues, yet they are now characters in transformation, travelling from the ordinary to
the extraordinary. There is an exploration of what it means to be chic and when it starts
– from a transparent white chemise and bed socks (knitted leather shoes) to a pinstriped
nightshirt or ‘grey flannel’ pyjamas, all fully realised in soft leather. Craft is reconfigured
as innovation. Botticelli’s Chloris and Flora from ‘Primavera’ (c1482) are reformed for
today with their intricate silk hand embroideries. Through shaggy fil coupe jacquards,
chimerical creatures emerge, transformed by splicing volumes and techniques. Murano
glass gains added malleability as a medium as the new luminescent handles of Sardine
bags.
These transformations point to the end of one part of the Bottega Veneta story and the
beginning of another, of a new mythology. It is about the joyful, emotional, and personal
pleasure of dressing up, of gaining the confidence to be whoever the wearer wants to
be through clothing. In the absence of logos, Bottega Veneta centres on how products
feel, rather than just look, for the wearer. This emotion of clothing and the wearer’s story
that is passed down expresses the concept of quiet power. For Blazy, the truest luxury
is to be oneself.
Author: Jia Yujing / Images provided by the brand
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