Bottega Veneta Launches New Creative Director Daniel Lee’s First Collection

We may be in the depths of winter, but fashion, as you know, is always thinking ahead.

While we’re living in HeatTech and pulling on 80 denier tights, the industry’s skipped ahead to the tail-end of next summer. With the SS19 shows wrapped, it’s time to think about Pre-Fall 2019.

While Pre-Fall collections are drip-fed to us, rolled out slowly and often via static images rather than shows, they’re no less newsworthy than those hitting the runways in New York, London, Milan and Paris.

Bottega Veneta is a case-in-point, launching new creative director Daniel Lee’s first collection last week.

Why is that a big deal? Lee comes lauded, having come to the brand from Céline (avec accent), where he worked as director of ready-to-wear under Phoebe Philo. Before that, the 32 year old Brit worked at Maison Margiela and Balenciaga; he comes with the combined creative kudos of those esteemed labels.

There’s generally much buzz about incoming creative directors, with the expectation that their first collection will lay the foundation for what comes next (look at the buzz around Riccardo Tisci’s debut at Burberry, and Hedi Slimane’s at Celine).

That’s par for the course. But let’s be honest, SS19 Celine (sans accent) is quite the departure from previous seasons; there’s been a camel-coat shaped hole in the industry since Philo left and Hedi Slimane stepped in. Naturally, Lee is expected to fill it.

It’s early days, but the 69 look Pre-Fall collection that launched last week carries the same clean, covetable aesthetic as #oldceline. The difference is that Lee has cleverly crafted separates that honour Bottega Veneta’s heritage, with its signature Intreccacio weave blown-out into XL proportions, worked into leather skirts, patchwork trousers, and totes that are classic, but just a little ‘off’ with subtly skew-whiff handles.

That’s no doubt Bottega Veneta by Daniel Lee’s early-established USP: classic with character. Scoop necks, on ribbed ‘basics’ and tailored jackets, push the boundaries of what’s conventional. They’re wide enough to feel new; distinctive but ‘everyday’.

The same goes for the matelassé and leather ‘scale’ skirts. There’s something refined – quite bougie – about the midi-length and butter soft fabrics. Yet they sit boxy at the waist, squared-off at the knee, styled with sumptuous silks to take the edge off. The shoes, too, are squared-off, like a latticework Platypus beak, with delicate chains. Those will be hot on the street-style circuit.