September 28, 2025 |
It was as self-assured a debut as you could get. With functional softness as her guiding principle Louise Trotter’s first Bottega Veneta collection married awe-inspiring artisanship with an utterly modern silhouette.
Witness lush ‘tinsel’ chubby coats and skirts worn with oversized tees that bounced joyfully down the runway. They were made with strands of recycled glass, (her tribute to Merano, said the designer) each one hand-applied. Or the floor-length leather cape, crafted from the house’s famous intrecciato woven technique which took 4000 hours to craft. “There’s not a single thing on that piece that wasn’t made by hand,” said the designer, likening it to couture. For that piece, Trotter used a 3mm x 3mm width of intrecciato, because the narrower the strips of leather in the weave, the softer the piece.
Leather is at the heart of this house, especially its woven intrecciato which she described as “The language of Bottega Veneta,” adding, “It is a metaphor. It is two different strips woven together that become stronger – the two things make a stronger whole.”
The woven intrecciato leather was used throughout not just for bags and shoes but for lapels and belts to full trench coats and skirts. Trotter revived the original width, 9mm x 12mm, introduced at the launch of the house in 1966. “I’ve come back to the beginning. I’m starting from the beginning and looking where I see a connection,” she said of her approach to the house’s heritage.
Acknowledging the huge expertise of her team, which she described as “a fantastic collective,” she praised the culture at the brand. “There’s a willingness and want to continue to push boundaries and continue to innovate,” she said.
Trotter showed off everything they could do, from basket weave bucket bags to mirror effect leather clogs and butter soft leather trench coats.
Everything was tactile. What looked like a cotton pyjama shorts set was in fact baby soft white leather. And that wasn’t a cotton stripe shirt tucked into a navy intrecciato skirt – each stripe was made from individual ribbons of leather.
These are some of the most expensive ready-to-wear pieces you can buy (those fibreglass skirts and jackets range between €15k-€25. And the quality of everything reflects that.
A special T-seam on the shoulders created a strong signature line for trenches and tailored jackets which tapered at the waist. Men’s and women’s pieces are made in the same specialist Italian menswear factory bringing an exceptional rigour to the women’s pieces. Precious they may be, but they’re built for today. “I want my wearer to feel ease and confidence. And I think that they’re on the move. If you think about it, when you pick up a bag, you’re going out. And so I want people to go places in my clothes.”
These are clothes that say ‘Now!’, built with Italian craftsmanship that goes back generations. “There’s a softness and there’s a joy, but the joy is really for the wearer themselves,” said Trotter.
Photography courtesy of Bottega Veneta.
