Bottega Veneta originated in Vicenza, Italy in 1966. The founders of the Italian luxury fashion house, Renzo Zengiaro and Michele Taddei, surprisingly have no name relations to the brand. This is surprising as so many historic brand name's align with the founder.

Bottega is known and recognised worldwide for its signature weaving design style - more professionally known as the “Intrecciato”. In fact, you will never see a Bottega product with the brand's logo plastered across the front as you may see with many other brands nowadays. The founders of the label expressed that their historic slogan is, “when your own initials are enough”. This statement represents the Bottega design style.

Towards the end of the 1970s, both founders parted ways from the brand. Then, the reins of Bottega were handed to Zengiaro’s ex-wife and her second husband. It wasn't until the 1990s that the brand launched its first ready-to-wear collection. 

In the early 2000s, Gucci, a subsidiary of Kering Multinational Corporation, obtained Bottega. When Gucci sales began to drop in 2019, Veneta became Kering’s ‘next big thing'.

Daniel Lee Takes Bottega Veneta to New Heights

In June 2018, Bradford born Daniel Lee was appointed as the new Creative Director of the Bottega Veneta brand. He is the figure who is praised for the Italian house’s exceptional success in the last few years. He aimed to bring a new incentive to the brand by redeveloping its ready-to-wear collection, whilst also having other innovative plans such as creating a home line. The decision to make Lee the helm of the brand was a huge opportunity for Bottega to grow. 

Lee became an iconic figure during his time at the fashion house. He was admired for keeping the simplistic history of Bottega apparent through his designs, whilst also infusing industrialism into his collections. He is responsible for launching the pouch clutch bag which became the brand's fastest-selling bag in its history. The bag has a price point of just under £3000 (which works out just over $3500). However, it is renowned for its solid frame and immense quality. The oversized accessory is an asset to any outfit. Alongside continuing to target the simplicity and minimalism of the brand, Lee also avoided any branding/logo features on his collections. However, after finding his feet in the Italian house, he is responsible for several successful products that all notably scream Bottega Veneta - a few can be seen below. These design styles assisted the brand in targeting a millennial demographic - an unusual target market for the house. However, with styles as bold and unique as these ones, a younger consumer base is unlikely to resist. 

Lee was held accountable for many designs that became an instant success. So much so that fast fashion retailers across the globe began to expeditiously replicate his designs for their younger demographic to allow them to secure almost identical items at a lower price point. However, one aspect of Daniel Lee’s legacy at Bottega that took the world by storm was the signature “Bottega Green” colour. Lee introduced the colour at his SS21 runway collection and it eventually became the most popular colour of 2021. It is still is admired to this day!

His contribution in providing Bottega with a signature colour has been honoured worldwide. Much like Tiffany has their signature blue, Hermes - orange, and Valentino - red and pink, Bottega now has its very own recognisable brand colour. The BV green paired with the brand's towelling effect is the ultimate Bottega design!

Lee and the fashion house announced, at the end of 2021, that a joint decision had been made for Lee to depart from the brand. Although many people have speculated that Lee faced controversy due to making bewildering decisions whilst working within the brand, including deleting their Instagram profile, he is forever known to have created a 'New Bottega'. Lee has been the Creative Director of British luxury fashion house Burberry since 2022. He is expected to make huge moves within the British brand.

BOTTEGA VENETA EYEWEAR

Bottega eyewear is anything but simple. In recent years, the brand's eyewear collection has featured bold and unique frames in various frame shapes and sizes - including round, rectangle, oversized, and, square - the options are endless. With a combination of classic everyday silhouettes to bold, colourful and futuristic designs, BV has a pair of shades to suit everyone. The Bottega green shade is also extremely apparent in their eyewear collection, adding a pop of colour to any outfit. Here are some of our new favourites…

 SUNGLASSES

 SHOP BV1176S 003                                               SHOP BV1189S 001

SHOP BV1198SA 002                                         SHOP BV1086S 007

 To access Bottega Veneta's full sunglasses collection click here.

OPTICAL GLASSES

                     SHOP BV1196O 002                                             SHOP BV1190O 002                        

                         SHOP BV1193O 001                                      SHOP BV1200O 002                            

 To access Bottega Veneta's full glasses collection click here.

Bottega Eyewear is a huge favourite amongst some of the most popular a-Listers. Check out our Bottega Veneta - As Seen on Celebrities page here!

KYLIE JENNER, CARDI B, JACOB ELORDI, ROSIE HUNTINGTON-WHITELEY, HAILEY BIEBER & BURNA BOY ALL SPORTING A PAIR OF BV SHADES.

Au revoir, 
PRET A VOIR