February 26, 2023 |
It was everything and more than we had hoped for from a Bottega Veneta collection – high on great looks, new lush Intriccato bags carried as doubles, Murano glass as translucent handles, bold woven shoes and all fairly thrumming with the exceptional BV craftsmanship. Mobbed backstage after the show Matthieu Blazy said it was about “creating fashion as a way of transforming into different creatures… about chance encounters with people that you maybe meet on the street and are amazed by.” His intention was to create something ‘uplifting’.
It was uplifting alright. The parade of characters in this collection each had a unique personality and they came hard and fast and full of ideas. “This parade is a place of priests and playboys, sleepwalkers and streetwalkers with sirens of the screen and ancient seas…” Each one was a standout with looks balanced between the lightest of delicate bias-cut gowns exquisitely twinkling and sharply tailored coats. AW23 is all about a major coat.
Blazy’s knock-out worn ‘denim’, made from supple leather, was here too again – with the addition of clever red sock boots and sweaters that were made from the finest of leather too. Exciting resolved experiments included the whirls of rubber edging dresses and the new chunky jelly shoes. The casting intended to mirror the sense of different people on the street was beyond – including Tarlisa D Gaykamangu debuting all the way from Arnhem Land, Australia. With the show space including Roman Herculean Runners and Italian artifacts this was the third and final part of of Blazy’s Italia Trilogy. God it was good. Three shows down now as creative director and he is on fire, delivering craft in pure adrenaline filled motion.
Photography courtesy of Bottega Veneta.
