The first thing to know about Saturday night’s Bottega Veneta show is that Jacob Elordi was there, still sporting his newly grown goatee, prompting an immediate flutter of excitement across the venue. Along with those who live and die by social-media content, many normally blasé fashion editors leapt to their feet and rushed to catch a glimpse and some footage of the Australian heartthrob. Elordi cut a relaxed yet striking figure, wearing a dark olive Harrington jacket paired with loose chinos, and accessorized with a bright red intrecciato fold-over pouch that immediately caught the eyes of style commentators.
He didn’t take off his sunglasses in the huge white space, which was lit up like a scene from “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The minimalist setting featured crushed cardboard boxes lined up in neat rows across the pristine floor. Resting delicately on each imperfect white cube was a single parrot tulip crafted entirely from leather—a subtle yet striking detail that foreshadowed a collection destined to be remembered for its homespun touches and a natural, summery feeling.
Since arriving at the creative helm of Bottega Veneta, Louise Trotter has leaned heavily into the luxury brand’s signature woven leather. However, she also received a few critical barbs regarding the sheer heft and weight of her first two runway collections. Those early outings, while luxurious, sometimes felt weighed down by their own material ambition.
A few of the models in Saturday’s show were still occasionally swamped by voluminous, scooped-neck sack dresses and heavy satin pea coats. Yet, overall, the spring collection saw Trotter visibly loosen up. She accomplished this by utilizing lighter and crisper fabrics, introducing a broader spectrum of color, and incorporating an array of airy lace and crochet. This craftsmanship drew heavily on the rich array of traditional knitting and stitching techniques to be found throughout the Venice region, anchoring the high-fashion runway in authentic local heritage.
“We’re a house of craft,” she told a scrum of reporters after the show, reflecting on the philosophy guiding her design process. “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.”
Fringe, a major trend steadily gaining steam throughout fashion month, provided a lot of the visual fireworks and dynamic movement on the runway. It could be seen dangling playfully from hip scarfs, whorled into mesmerizing bubble skirts that bounced with every step, or finishing off a gargantuan straw bag whose long fringe nearly swept the floor, adding an element of dramatic scale to daytime accessorizing.
Trotter’s trim, elongated tailoring looked terrific when styled over simple chinos or gauzy pink silk trousers, offering a masterclass in effortless daytime dressing. She also mostly reined in the excessive volume on shirts, even allowing a tasteful glimpse of a bra to peek out from under a short-sleeved white number, striking a balance between structure and nonchalance.
“There is this sense of being a little bit undone,” she offered backstage, describing the delicate tension of “a language between things being quite polished and a language with things being a little more organic.”
The menswear offerings accompanying the womenswear collection were likewise much improved. They appeared lighter, trimmer, and distinctly bohemian—styled just shy of a goatee, perfectly echoing the relaxed, artful spirit that dominated the entire evening.
