‘There was a song in every heart; and if the heart was young, the music issued at the lips. There was a cheer in every face and a spring in every step.’ Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
“An Odyssey: a journey that is both free and hopeful. A connection to who you once were, who you would like to be, and where you want to go. The odyssey is both external and internal, physical and through the imagination. It is a journey of transformation and escape.” Matthieu Blazy
The journey of Bottega Veneta continues with creative director Matthieu Blazy, and here the collection travels literally and metaphorically. Encompassing an array of influences from all over the world, both manmade and natural, there is a global sweep to craft in motion this season.
Models traverse the world of the show, walking across continents and oceans, spread before them. In the collection, there is a quest for inspiration through dislocation, through travel and imagination, from joys to tribulations. Once more character archetypes are on-the-go, in transformation, mutable and moving; travelling from the ordinary to the extraordinary, no longer bound by the manmade they begin to encompass the primal, natural world in what they wear.
From the initial silhouettes, and the simplicity of knitted swim costumes almost from another time, there is once more the notion of ‘getting changed.’ There is the shedding of the clothes of previous seasons that they carry in their oversized, basket-woven intrecciato bags and vast duffles, with the business-like becoming something altogether more subversive. From the city commuter dreaming on a train to the castaway’s existence on a shore; the strong, constructed shoulder, tailored suiting give way to the homespun, natural and primal. Notions of ‘national dress’ become ‘international dress’, a blending of archetypes from all over the world, nomadic in mood and meaning, at times wearing flags of imaginary places. The apotheosis of the travel trinket exists in accessories: leather newspapers from around the globe that morph into Foulard bags; tropical leaf, pool blue, raffia and rope shoes and bags are far from disposable, all startingly realised in highly crafted leathers; while ceramic and over-sized intrecciato Sardines take on an almost novelty aspect in this context.
The simple wonder of dressing without boundaries is utilised in the collection; of cactus and nautilus shell dresses, of flowers, fireworks and rock formations. The personal pleasure of dressing up, of being whoever and whatever you would like to be, of travelling in the imagination as much as in the world through clothing, is what is sought and won.
“There is a need to reconnect to a primal world of animals, minerals, and plants. It’s like collecting seashells – beautiful, meaningful, or meaningless. It’s linked to the beauty of small marvels and natural wonders. It’s embracing something freeform: these are clothes without codes.” Matthieu Blazy
