Bottega Veneta . Resort 2020 - Milan

(Images from the designer and the public domain. Credited to the photographer/company where applicable: Bottega Venetta)

Daniel Lee for Resort 2020 in Milan, promoted his pre-spring showing for Bottega Veneta, was able to deliver a solid and very well presented array at Milan Fashion Week.  As noted for his Fall 2019 collection, the newly appointed creative director for Bottega Veneta was struggling to define a market concept.  In contrast to his pre- season collection, which verifies the profitable ready-to-wear styles to which Bottega Veneta thrives on, so Lee has expanded the Spring collection to embrace the vast accessories also on offer; leather bags and shoes, sunglasses to compliment Bottega Venetta' s RTW inspired clothes.  

The clean and refined lines of Lee's stylization have shone through with this collection, with its  corporate high-end feel, which his fine as the brand maintains its exclusivity within the VIP clientèle.  This is obvious when collections step back from a runway expose to a studio setting, as the showroom can distinguish and portray clothing under its personal mise en scène. 

Lee has laid down a large ensemble at 55 pieces, including all the accessories, although  it is the clothes on display that set the tone of his progression from Bottega Veneta's Fall 2019 show.  Fine wool with synthetic overlays, layered and outlined as a firm statement for the brand.  It is a very sleek affair, which I like, yet it also holds a formal appeal.  A structural verbosity to the collection, mixing in some street/industrial styles.  The intensity of some of the cuts, particularly on the formal styles are somewhat offset with the more casual looks.  Lee has also crafted and pressed out the more bunched up styles he showed with his last collection, layering the pieces carefully, whilst playing with some of the more heavier styles but keeping it confined as a well devised  array.  As he is dealing with some of the finest Italian weaves one can utilizes in fashion, which in turn can be seen with the silhouettes on show.  

Undoubtedly the collection viewed in its studio setting has a post-industrial feel, with Italian Futurist hallmarks written onto Lee's concepts, whether deliberate or not, the influence of the early 1900s art movement still resonants today in fashion.  Particularly Italian, the modern and its machinery, reverberates the visual narrative of future ideas – within industrial design of the now, this can be seen in this collection.  The sleekness and at times asymmetrical cuts, the colors muted yet radiate a fixture of movement.  Lee's latest collection delivers the impression of strength and power.