The first thing to know about Saturday night’s Bottega Veneta show is that Jacob Elordi was there, still sporting his new goatee, drawing an immediate and audible stir from the crowd. Even alongside those who live and die by social-media content, many normally blasé editors leapt to their feet and rushed to catch a glimpse and some footage of the Australian heartthrob. Elordi arrived at the venue wearing a dark olive Harrington jacket and loose chinos, accessorized sharply with a bright red intrecciato fold-over pouch that immediately caught the eyes of street-style photographers and brand loyalists alike.
Remaining true to his signature enigmatic style, he kept his sunglasses on inside the huge white space, which was lit up brilliantly like a scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The venue itself was set up with crushed cardboard boxes lined up in remarkably neat rows across the pristine floor. Resting delicately on each imperfect white cube was a single parrot tulip crafted entirely from leather, a subtle and poetic detail that foreshadowed a collection destined to be remembered for its homespun touches and a natural, deeply summery feeling.
Since arriving at the creative helm of Bottega Veneta, designer Louise Trotter has leaned heavily into the brand’s signature woven leather, though she had received a few critical barbs regarding the sheer heft and weight of her first two runway collections. Those initial outings, while praised for their uncompromising luxury, occasionally felt weighed down by their own material ambition.
A few of the models in Saturday’s show were similarly swamped by their oversized, scooped-neck sack dresses and heavy satin pea coats, but overall, the spring collection signaled a distinct shift. Trotter clearly decided to loosen up, utilizing lighter and crisper fabrics, introducing a richer splash of color, and incorporating an array of airy lace and crochet. This intricate handiwork drew deeply on the rich array of knitting and stitching techniques to be found throughout the traditional Venice region, anchoring high fashion in local heritage.
“We’re a house of craft,” Trotter told a bustling scrum of reporters after the show, pausing to reflect on the season’s overarching design philosophy. “Craft really is our logo, but there was a lot of work this season on trying to find techniques that brought lightness and wearability, but still have all of the incredible handwork that this house is capable of doing.”
This dedication to artisanal lightness translated into some of the most dynamic fashion moments of the evening. Fringe, a trend that has been steadily gaining steam throughout the current fashion month, provided a lot of the visual fireworks on the runway. It was seen dangling daringly from hip scarfs, whorled into mesmerizing bubble skirts that bounced with every step, and finally used to finish off a gargantuan straw bag whose dramatic fringe nearly swept the floor, blurring the line between accessory and wearable art.
Trotter’s trim, elongated tailoring looked terrific when paired over simple chinos or gauzy pink silk trousers, offering a masterclass in relaxed proportion play. She also mostly reined in the volume on shirts—even letting a bit of a bra peek out playfully from under a short-sleeved white number, adding an effortless, everyday sensuality to the garments.
“There is this sense of being a little bit undone,” Trotter offered backstage, describing what she termed “a language between things being quite polished and a language with things being a little more organic.”
This delicate tension between meticulous polish and organic ease defined the entire presentation, ensuring that even the most structured pieces carried a breath of fresh air. The menswear in the collection was also much improved, following the same overarching ethos: it was lighter, trimmer, and carried a slightly bohemian edge that felt entirely at home alongside the crowd’s collective fascination with Elordi’s new goatee.
