Milan Fashion Week | An ode to childhood at Bottega Veneta, Madonna at Dolce & Gabbana

(Milan) Milan Fashion Week ended Saturday night with its share of surprises. At the highly anticipated Bottega Veneta show that closed the calendar, guests were invited to curl up in huge animal-shaped leather armchairs, after a tribute to Madonna at Dolce & Gabbana.

At the Dolce & Gabbana show, Madonna was front row, covered in a veil that barely revealed her face. On the catwalk, every look was a tribute to the Material Girl: the models all wore blonde wigs reminiscent of Madonna’s Vogue period and the repertoire ranged from corsets with pointed breasts to black men’s suits with suspenders.

The Bottega Veneta show was an ode to childhood. “For this show I started from this scene from the film AND by Spielberg when the mother opens the closet and we discover a world of stuffed animals where ET has mimicked himself. The surprise of an imaginary world, that of childhood where everything is possible, where everything is a game, joyful, an adventure,” said the artistic director, Matthieu Blazy, backstage.

“Childhood and its moments of primordial fashion experiences, that of the first time you try on your parents’ clothes… That of the first day of school.”

Dresses that are a bit too big, pinched on the chest in an unprofessional gesture, skirt pants with only one leg, overlays, crumpled. As for the dress embroidered with matches? “It’s the object of childhood’s forbidden game, intrepid and dangerous!” he comments.

“I was also interested in the very simple fashion acts that happen every day, but which we don’t pay attention to. A man in a perfect suit accompanies his daughter to school and carries his horrible pink backpack on his shoulder,” he adds, showing the photo of the look in question, a pink bag with a big rabbit. The room seems conquered, from fashionistas to investors.

Founded in 1966 in Vicenza in Veneto, the house, famous for its leather goods and excellent craftsmanship, joined the Kering group in 2001. And as the Gucci locomotive is experiencing difficulties with a 20% drop in its sales, the group intends to make the most of this asset.

But all things considered. While Gucci’s turnover, although down, was 4.1 billion euros (6.9 billion CAD) in the first half of the year, Bottega Veneta’s was a more modest 836 million euros (1.3 billion CAD) over the same period, with growth of 3% in comparable data. A drop in the ocean for Kering.

Being cult without social media

Bottega Veneta is pulling out all the stops by playing on discreet hyper-exclusivity, masterfully led by its artistic director, Matthieu Blazy, who took over as head of the house’s creation at the end of 2021.

Franco-Belgian living between Antwerp and Milan, he began his career in fashion as a men’s designer for Raf Simons before moving to Céline and then Calvin Klein.

His vision is based on the power of the know-how and craftsmanship of the Venetian house. The materials used flirt with trompe-l’oeil and iconic pieces, like these jeans-like pants made of calfskin, which sell in stores for 5,200 euros (nearly 8,000 Canadian dollars).

The cult is then fueled by sharp choices: a logo never affixed to the products, preferring the distinctive signs of its “intrecciato” – the famous braided leather signature of the house or its “nodo”, a large brass knot affixed to bags, shoes and other accessories.

In 2021, the house deleted its Instagram account, which was followed by millions of subscribers – that was without counting on the responsiveness of fans who took over the unofficial account “newbottega” to not miss any of the house’s news and continue to identify the brand at all costs.

She multiplies the “arty” initiatives – like the publication of a fanzine every six months, printed in a very limited edition and distributed drop by drop, but free in the stores. It has of course become a cult object since its first issue and sells out in less than an hour after its arrival in stores.

Passionate about contemporary art and design, Matthieu Blazy fuels the brand’s projects by working with photographers, artists and designers, with important collaborations often revealed during fashion shows: the 400 chairs, each one different from the other, by Italian designer Gaetano Pesce (who died last April), the reinterpretation of Le Corbusier’s 1952 Cabanon Stool with Cassina during the house’s Winter 24 fashion show.

Until the recent opening of Palazzo Van Axel in Venice. A hybrid project of a super exclusive experience for VICs, Very Important Clients, invited to discover the brand’s universe in a completely restored palace in the heart of the Serenissima. There, personalized services are offered to them: the possibility of choosing among fine leathers not available in stores, of ordering unique pieces, of accessing the best of artistic craftsmanship. The Palace will also host exhibitions, special projects and in November, the presentation of the Haute Joaillerie collection.