Matthieu Blazy explains the beginning of the collection before the start of the fashion show: he thinks of the street and reflects on the idea of encounter, exploring the people we randomly pass on our way who really surprise us, perhaps because it is something unexpected. He compares the street to a parade where there is no hierarchy and where everyone feels they belong. Closing the trilogy of “Italy” fashion shows, Bottega Veneta celebrates the country by reconnecting it with its history: past, present and future come together to create techniques, motifs and characters that travel through space and time. The Creative Director draws inspiration from ancient Roman bronze corridors and Boccioni’s futurist sculpture Forme uniche dalla continuità nello spazio to create the collection for Winter 2023, drawing on both mythology and futurist vision. Each look presented is completely different from each other, adapting the garments to different occasions, starting with the morning wear: a transparent white chemise with socks, actually knitted leather shoes.
“A parade: the alchemy of the street is in the difference; who will you meet? What’s around the corner? Who will surprise you? It is the surprise of the encounter that matters.”
The characters described by Blazy transform themselves as shifting, moving figures, travelling from the ordinary to the extraordinary. It analyses what it means to be chic and especially when one starts to be chic, exploring in depth the idea of changing oneself for the different occasions of the day, starting from the everyday use of clothes and moving on to imaginative situations where different narratives take shape. The parade of which the brand speaks is the place for those who walk in their sleep and those who walk in the street, but above all where one feels joyful, emotional pleasure, where one feels like dressing up and being whoever one wants to be through clothing. Layered dresses with sweet floral embroidery alternate with knitted models that follow the body or with deconstructed shapes reminiscent of those of 1950s film stars. Forgetting gender diversity, Bottega for the coming season creates garments for sophisticated men and women, paying special attention to the leather: long mackintoshes, midi dresses and skirts. A crowd from different places seems to have gathered on the Bottega Veneta catwalk, purposely bringing together the classicism of the past and the urgency of evolution. Light materials and plays of transparencies gently envelop the silhouette, while skirts rolled up at the waist combined with tight knits covered in scales seem to recall the enchanted world of mermaids. Clori and Flora, protagonists of Botticelli’s Primavera, are rethought for today through intricate handmade silk embroidery. Chimeric creatures emerge from the défilé, transformed at the combination of different codes, volumes and techniques: Intreccio work remains fundamental for the brand, proposing it on maxi bags, exaggerated boots up to above the knee, tight gloves and pumps with round toes. People find their place within the typical chaos of the parade, marking the end of one part of Bottega Veneta’s history and the beginning of another, of a new mythology.
“I liked the idea of the parade in Italy: a procession, a strange carnival, a crowd of people from everywhere, and yet somehow they all find their place and go in the same direction. I wanted to understand what drives people to gather in a place without hierarchy, where everyone is invited.”
