Under tropical cacti lights, the wooden front row seats at Bottega Veneta’s Fall/Winter 2024 show on Saturday were swiftly filled by the likes of Kate Moss, Raf Simons, Julianne Moore and the label’s viral paparazzi campaign star, A$AP Rocky. Contrary to its starry attendees, the venue’s industrial backdrop was subdued, especially in comparison to previous seasons (during which attendees were ushered to crushed metal seats and kaleidoscopic Gaetano Pesce chairs on colorful floors). Here, the focus was on the sheer artistry behind Matthie Blazy’s next-season creations, which gleamed on their march from a distant orange hue.
On the catwalk, the designer put forth an evolved fashion manifesto defined by big, well, everything. Proportions were enlarged to engulf models under billowing overcoats that came with monochromatic finishes, patterned personalities and feathered textures. The color story was roomy, making just as much space for a vast neutral palette as a bright wheel of reds, yellows, greens, blues and more. Materials had range, spanning warming wools and stiff leathers to free-spirited fringe and pleated cotton blends. But movement became the brand’s grandest gesture, as models’ walks illustrated just how fluid Blazy’s constructions could be.
Fancying the eye, tasseled jackets and skirts elegantly bounced and danced in step, while more linear, multi-dimensional sets glided with calculated strides. The liberated cadence of those red-carpet-ready designs found equilibrium with the structure that practical outerwear — double-breasted blazers, minimal leather jackets, layered trenches and staple overcoats — provided. While functional, Blazy’s consumer-friendly constructions still possessed boisterous personalities: snakeskin leather ties complemented PVC pants, dresses combined myriad colored textiles with visible buttons and several double-take-worth ensembles were covered in chaotic, scribbled prints. The throughline was the brand’s signature woven leather bags, which put the final touch on Blazy’s monumental vision.
See Bottega Veneta’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection in the gallery above, and stay tuned to Hypebeast for more Milan Fashion Week coverage.
