From the Chiasmus archive: "Bottega Veneta. Fall 202" Posted September 5th, 2021 by CHIASMUS MAGAZINE BLOG

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(Images: Bottega Veneta 2021)

With Spring/Summer 2021 opening with gusto throughout Europe, America and the U.K., on the back of vaccine roll outs, and one has to be honest here in this discussion of vaccinating the world against COVID-19. It was the wealthiest nations, say, America and U.K., which did indeed horde vaccines in preparation to allow the masses to enjoy a summer break at the expense of the rest of the world falling behind vaccination shots, so at the end of the day, as the technocrats and political pundits revelled on stock markets gauges as future indicators; was entirely set to resume mass consumption. And It was always just about the economy, not the small retail corner shop that closed because of the pandemic, but the mega players to come back on line after 2020 lockdowns. This misalignment and asymmetrical coordination to vaccinate the whole world at the same was only to avoid further economic lockdowns, that for their intended purpose, actually work very well in stemming the spread of a new virus sans the frustrations it can being to a society. A sloppy and greedy rush job to open the Northern Hemisphere for its shut-up-and-dance celebrations has assisted, by neglecting these languishing poorer countries, such as India, in the light of this new global viral outbreak, is the mutation of the dominate Delta strain. And we could all be back to square one again in 2022.

So, why correlate this to Daniel Lee’s Bottega Veneta? Well, as much as I admire his stance, depending on its sincerity, of removing the brand’s social media presence in lieu of it, to which I agree, diluting creativity, probably more so individuality via the digital relays. As creative director of the Italian leather brand, his expectations is to deliver the seasonal goods to the holding company Kering (which also owns Gucci), a public company did quite well, in reference to its share price, with the pandemic, able to shift its business to on-line sales, while increasing the prices of its leather goods and ensured that the maintained a presence in China’s strange autocratic process of allowing its citizens to buy luxury Western brand names. Lee did however fall down, when at the cusp of lockdowns easing throughout Europe and U.K., held a private Berlin party in April 2021 for celebrities and the like, flouting the German Covid-19 rules. It was indeed a poor showing, which stands now as a faded critique of the designer, when U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson offered to the English people, aware of their grumping at the inconsistency of locks downs for the rich and poor, their “Freedom Day”. And they sure did get it, Delta is now surging across the U.K. 

Anyway, lets have a look at Lee’s latest collection. As noted with his Pre-Fall 2021 presentations, he is very much influenced by Hollywood costume designers who have worked on mostly science fiction themed productions. Yet, despite his influences or desire in reflecting Hollywood costume design, Lee has showed a knack for the accentuation of opulence as almost rightist in its exclusivity, which ironically or maybe not is very much like a dystopian SCI-FI drama of the upper echelon, a detached hyper consumption world, which has, for the most part, fallen apart. This is more of a avant-garde take on the modest pose that the Pre-Fall collection had, rather Lee’s latest ensemble is representative of a shaper delineation whilst proffering a starker flamboyance. The Avant-grade has returned to the runways at the tail end of 2021, which can be seen with other designers who had emerged out of quarantine, reinforcing a need to delivery excess to the runway, with shortfalls in materials – these excesses maybe reworked and cut down into postmodern stylizations. However, Lee’s collection holds both a simplicity and intricacy of the Bottega Veneta benchmark, with its leather wares evident throughout, it is, like I mentioned the inspired usurper styles which offer clues to Lee’s direction.  

Despite the precision of the tailoring and the avant-garde on display, Lee’s Fall 2021 collection doesn’t reveal a distinction that could have lifted it above other brands that are also experimenting with stark, modernist and sleeker militarist styles. Rather there is a cold, maybe not intentional, sex appeal with the collection, which feels aimlessly nihilistic.

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(A.Glass 2021)