The story of the current it-brand, Bottega Veneta

We all have heard about the trendy luxury brand, Bottega Veneta. And you probably have many of their gorgeous bags on your wishlist. But what do we exactly know about it? What's the story behind their meticulously well-crafted designs? 

Its origins

Bottega Veneta was founded by Michele Taddei and Renzo Zengiaro in 1966 In Vicenza, Venice, and is now based in Milan, Italy. The name directly translates as “Venetian Shop”. How cool right?

The luxury brand started as a simple leather goods company by only focusing on quality and design without any logo. They adopted the slogan "Your initials will be enough" to support this concept. This is an interesting way to brand a company, but it works.

Photo: Pinterest

The rise of Bottega Veneta

Bottega Veneta is best known for its signature woven leather design, which is called “Intrecciato”. Artisans weave together strands of delicate leather by which they are able to craft pieces with strength and beauty.

In 1980, Bottega Veneta had its own spotlight in the fashion world. Even stars like Lauren Hutton carried the Veneta Intrecciato Clutch bag in the movie American Gigolo, and Andy Warhol made a short movie titled Bottega Venetta Industrial Videotape. 

Unfortunately, the success of this brand declined. However, they stood strong and decided to expand their products. They added jewelry, sunglasses, perfume, suitcases, clothes, shoes and other leather goods.

Photo: Pinterest

In 2001, Bottega Veneta was sold to the Gucci Group Holding, which is now known as Kering. As a result, Thomas Maier was appointed as the new creative director. The German designer played a huge role in the development of the brand. He transformed the brand back to its roots and brought more and more public attention to its heritage.
Under the leadership of Maier, the company didn’t only double, but tripled its profits and became Kering’s second-largest brand source of income, next to Saint Laurent. 

A new start for the brand

After 17 years of success as creative director, Thomas Maier announced his resignation. But luckily, another amazing creative director took his place. We're talking about the young designer: Daniel Lee. With his fresh ideas, Lee created a whole new look. He still kept Bottega Veneta’s focus on well-crafted logo-less and simplicity-driven products but gave it his own twists.
Lee designed the Pouch Clutch bag, which became the best-selling bag of the brand. His transformation of Bottega Veneta was named as New Bottega Veneta. 

In 2021, Daniel Lee announced that he was leaving his creative director position. After his decision, Kering’s appointed the former creative design director Matthieu Blazy. Who knows the company better than its own designer?

Photo: Pinterest

Nowadays, Bottega Veneta has become one of the hottest fashion brands in the fashion industry thanks to its calm modern elegance.

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