Introduction

Currently, in today’s world, fashion brands are getting pretty loud to make sure their identity gives people reasons to choose them. However, there’s one fashion brand that has surprisingly achieved all of this just in silence. The Bottega Veneta brand identity has made a lot of statements in fashion trends just in a simple but unique way.

When you talk about successful fashion houses in Italy, you should never fail to mention the Bottega Veneta brand. It’s amazing how this brand has maintained its tradition of crafting several unique pieces with leather. 

Initially dealing in leather bags and shoes, they have now expanded their art to many luxury goods. The company has grown to be so outstanding in fashion as they’ve been doing things no other fashion brand does. 

The Bottega Veneta brand identity is quite different from the identity other luxurious fashion brands have given themselves, primarily how they use their materials to show their identity. In this article, we’ll get to discuss what makes this brand stand out and why they’ve drawn so much attention over the years.

• History – The Creation of The Bottega Veneta Brand Identity 
• 3 Things About the Bottega Veneta Brand Identity
• Why is Bottega Veneta So Expensive?

History – The Creation of The Bottega Veneta Brand Identity 

In 1966, Bottega Veneta started out in Vicenza, Italy. The simple meaning of the name is “Venetian shop” and is no name of any person, especially the founder. The founders of this brand were Michele Taddei and Renzo Zengiaro. This brand major was initially all about crafting goods out of leather. 

The “intrecciato” design was a unique one this brand brought about. It is a special technique of weaving leather strips to make their luxurious goods. To date, this design has been an essential mark of this brand. An iconic design that helps you spot a Bottega Veneta when you see one. 

Interestingly, unlike other brands, Bottega Veneta doesn’t have a logo. So, the outstanding craftsmanship, internal labels, and luxury feel help expose the Bottega Veneta brand identity uniquely.

So, this makes sense why they go with the beautiful slogan, “When your own initials are enough.” It signifies that the company doesn’t rely much on branding its goods to draw attention. Instead, its unique craftsmanship does all the work.

Company Growth

New York was the first place Bottega Veneta built their store, and that was way back in 1972. The mid-1970s was the time the company started making shoes. However, one of the founders, Renzo, left the company in the late 1970s, which affected the brand. Later on, Michele passed on the company to his ex-wife, and from that time, she and her second husband ran the company. It was in the USA that they began to grow the brand.

Interestingly, a movie in 1980 helped to promote the brand. The movie starred an actress, Lauren Hutton, who held one of the popular bags. Also, a film in 1985 by Andy Warhol helped to promote the company. This film was just a short one about the industrial videotape of Bottega Veneta.

The Revival – Stealth Wealth

In 2001, the luxury brand was then in legal possession of the former Gucci group. As this group took over, it brought about their involvement in other aspects like jewellery, fragrances, clothing, and even furniture. Bottega Veneta then had a new CEO, Patrizio di Marco, and also a creative director, Tomas Maier, during May. Afterwards, Tomas Maier created the well-known Knot clutch bag. 

In the following years, he took the brand’s creativity to all other products, like the fashion and fine jewellery lines. Also, the first ready-to-wear runway shows for women came up in February 2005. Around June in the following year, they displayed that of the men. Also, they continued to launch new products and began fragrances for women in 2011. 

Unlike most fashion brands, Bottega Veneta bags and shoes they made brought about the need for clothing and other accessories. The display of rich outfits created a new style for the brand, bringing about the phrase “stealth wealth” for the company. Moreover, the creativity of Tomas Maier increased the fortune of the company a lot.

A New Bottega Veneta

Bottega Veneta is currently owned by Kering, a luxury group in France that owns so many others like Gucci, Qeelin, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, and others. Daniel Lee became a part of the company as the new creative director in 2018, after Tomas Maier, former creative director, left the company. 

Soon after his appointment, he then released the pouch handbags. They became the best-selling bags for the Bottega Veneta in history. Daniel Lee took the unique craftsmanship of Bottega Veneta to a more creative level.

Also, he continued keeping designs simple and still without logos, which was the company’s style. He took everyone by surprise with his substantial contribution to the company’s growth. With his touch of creativity, he brought Bottega Veneta back to life when it felt like everyone had forgotten about it. 

He has also placed the brand at a point where it captures the attention of many people. But the pieces and products of high value that make many continue to purchase in the brand.

Bottega Veneta’s surprising thing earlier in 2021 was to close down every social media account without exempting anyone. This happened on the 6th of January and left many in the luxury industry thrilled. 

Meanwhile, they created an online digital journal with editorial photo shoots and videos of their products. Despite this, they had many fan accounts that helped do the social work for them. 

3 Important Things About Bottega Veneta Brand Identity

The Use of Intrecciato Design

The “intrecciato” (intertwined) technique is the brand’s signature design and one that has done more of the work a logo would do. At a time, the machines in the workshop could not work with most leathers as they were too tough. 

So, the company then adopted the use of finer and simple leather to work instead. However, due to their concern for the quality of the materials they used, they had to intertwine strips of the fine leather. 

The careful interweaving of vertical and horizontal leather strips makes the product solid and able to last longer. Moreover, aside from durability, it contributed to the Bottega Veneta’s unique looks. One which has incredibly done the work of a brand logo.

Over the years, this weaving technique has been used to make much bigger products aside from bags and shoes. You’ll see them on most Bottega Veneta overcoats, suitcases, and luggage.

Their Specialized School of Craftsmanship

”La Scuola dei Maestri Pelletteri di Bottega Veneta” is a special school of the brand. The birth of this school was as far back as 2006. Tomas Maier was the brand’s creative director at that time, and he helped create the school.

This school only focuses on training artisans to work with leather. Also, in association with the University of IUAV Venice, the school trains students in a post-graduate program for three months. 

Here the in-house artisans train these students on product development, especially how to be very crafty with leather. This way, it assists in maintaining the brand’s tradition of building several pieces and products out of leather. 

Their Habit of Not Gifting Influencers or Celebrities

Though surprising, it’s true. So, if you ever saw any celebrity or influencer going around with a Bottega Veneta product, probably a bag or shoe, they definitely bought it. 

This explains that people aren’t purchasing into the brand because of the brand name, Bottega Veneta. Instead, they saw something new in their pieces and products that stirred up their interest in getting the product. For Bottega Veneta, it’s all about perceived value.

Interestingly, many celebrities and influencers have used Bottega Venetta products. These products have been seen on well-known people like Jacqueline Kennedy, Princess Charlene, Rihanna, Cameroon Diaz, and many others.

Why is Bottega Veneta So Expensive?

Bottega Veneta’s woven leather collections are still interesting and worth buying season after season. Daniel Lee’s highly demanded bags and shoe designs don’t seem to lose value season after season. The company always updates them with unique details that’ll keep making you not lose the taste of them. 

Bottega Veneta looks out to do the kinds of stuff no one else is doing. Also, if you look at the Gucci brand, their products can suit both the high and low-end markets pretty well. It’s a style that’s accessible all around. 

They can easily translate their products into quality that’ll suit the low markets and still look good. However, Bottega Veneta is made very well, and that’s why they cost so much. It’s not a fashion that can be accessible all around because of how it’s made. 

The handcrafting of their pieces using the “intrecciato” takes a long time. However, at the end of creating them, they appear very durable, versatile, and classy. And this is enough reason why they’re so pricey.

In addition, the idea of not having a logo also makes quality the only thing you can use to identify its products. You see, Bottega Veneta isn’t for the quantity. However, you should consider yourself lucky if you manage to get one. 

Conclusion

To sum up, the Bottega Veneta Brand Identity has placed the company at the thriving stage it is today. Using leather in production is just the brand’s DNA. Their identity is all about doing what they do best, and that’s getting pretty creative with leather.  

Even the investments they’ve made in training students, artisans, and unemployed women in craftsmanship is one way they’ve kept their tradition alive. Their diversity in making leather products looks as if a product is made for another product to be made. 

Daniel Lee is so much celebrated for his design and impact on Bottega Veneta’s identity. Also, his creativity has earned him four awards in fashion held just one night – a record that no other designer has ever achieved. 

Since his contribution, the brand has exceptionally made several leather products aside from their shoes and bags. Moreover, from the look of things, there’s no doubt this brand has a bright future ahead.