STYLE Edit: Why Bottega Veneta’s Daniel Lee is in the mood to celebrate his first men’s collection
Creative designer raises wow factor with compact men’s collection in his first show for luxury Italian house
Bottega Veneta’s new creative director Daniel Lee unveiled his vision for the Italian luxury house in the Fall 2019 show. It marked Lee’s first show for Bottega Veneta since his appointment in June 2018. Previously, he headed the ready-to-wear collection at the “Old Celine”, under Phoebe Philo.
Acknowledging this, a men’s collection might seem like new terrain for the 32-year-old British designer. There’s enough to get excited over despite having only 11 looks.
Interspersed with the broader women’s collection on the runway, the men’s collection followed the same theme, with Lee drawing on Bottega Veneta’s traditional techniques, design heritage and house motifs to derive something modern and celebratory for the new era.
For that one coat you’ll need in autumn: the hooded anorak in matt water-resistant calfskin, “Hidrology Calf”, is a sleek, functional and stylish piece of outerwear, alluding to Bottega Veneta’s authority in leather goods. The anorak features leather drawstrings and heat-sealed tape on the front zip and pockets to weather the elements.
On the runway, the look was paired with tapered trousers in heavy double compact wool. The design featured no waistband or belt loops, for something cleaner, minimalist and contemporary.
Similarly, a double-breasted wool coat featured no collar – Lee honed in instead on dramatic, exaggerated shoulders and the side-slits that allow the piece to be worn as a cape, too. The wool blend is a modern exercise in textiles: with neoprene bonded cashmere wool flannel.
Like the women’s collection, knitwear makes its own sartorial statement. Jumpers feature with distinctive cut-outs on either the neckline, the chest, or hip bones. A navy jumper in ribbed compact cotton has a “foldaway” polo neck, where the fabric is designed to be worn on the neck or flipped forward.
The same stacked lug sole of mid-calf boots can be seen in the women’s shoe collection. The Mid-Calf Boots in Storm Cuir, made from vegetable tanned calfskin, feature elasticated side panels and leather tabs – like a more aggressive Chelsea boot.