It has only been a year since Matthieu Blazy first took the helm at Bottega Veneta, but when considering the assuredness with which he has imparted his creative vision so far, it feels like an alliance that was always meant to be. For FW23, the creative director drew on the stylish characters that fill the city’s streets, “I loved the idea of the parade in Italy; a procession, a strange carnival, a crowd of people from anywhere and everywhere and yet somehow, they all fit and go in the same direction. I wanted to look at what makes people gather together in a place without hierarchy, where everyone is invited.”

Exquisite and innovative. It seems to be a recurring theme here, in which Blazy takes the mundane – think corporate garb and shopping totes – and ushers in a sumptuous makeover. Underwriting the entire collection was a question of chicness; what does it mean to embody this? Striding down the runway – just like any other savvy commuter navigating the packed streets of Milan during rush hour – models sported a variety of familiar styles, reworked through Blazy’s singular vision. From signature woven-leather accessories to grey flannel pyjamas reimagined as supple napple leather, and the white tank top that closed the show; the Bottega wardrobe elevates wardrobe staples to the most luxurious versions of themselves.

That isn’t to say that some of Blazy’s characters weren’t occupying more extravagant and romantic identities, of course. A cascade of scales and feathers shimmied down the runway, as if en route to a glittering, quintessentially Italian party – à la The Great Beauty. Meanwhile leather trench coats embossed with crocodile print clothed Blazy’s “sartorially obsessed industrialist” – a character he paints vividly in the collection’s show notes. 

Accessories are a Bottega calling card, and Blazy triumphed in simultaneously respecting and evolving this aspect of the brand. From its iconic knotted leather bucket bags, now slung over the shoulder like a water pail, to the use of Murano glass as the translucent handle to its Sardine bags. Upholding the idea of the Italian parade as a manifestation of emotion and personal pleasure, we were also treated to what seemed like super cosy bed socks, but were actually soft leather boots, and frolicsome jellyfish-inspired clogs. 

At its core, the Bottega vision is a simple one, a celebration of past, present, and future through craft. We could be in for a shift next season though, with Blazy announcing FW23 to be the final chapter in his ‘Italia’ narrative. Whatever comes next, he has our undivided attention.