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“There are things that you do with your hands that no book can teach you.” – Patrizio Di Marco, CEO Bottega Veneta

It has been some months now that I have been tracking the ins and outs of Bottega Veneta, keeping tabs on their progress within PPR group (getting ready to dump major funds into the house to facilitate brand growth,) the Thomas Maier write-up in Vanity Fair, and many wistful moments staring new arrivals through the shop window on Geary Street. All of these bits and pieces of the company have been coming at me and weaving themselves into a composite of utter admiration, exoticism, and more than a little bit of envy, much like their signature leather weaves. Sumptuous and indulgent pieces for the spoiled little girl in all of us, they have an organic beauty that seems just a teensy bit edgy, naughty, and sophisticated in this world of boring “It” bags. Bottega bags don’t aspire to be the “It,” in fact, they just are…Much the same way as the girl at the party whose style so confidently exemplifies the next thing before anyone else ever thought of it; the girl who gets death stares from the no-personality princesses in their tired, trendy, tube tops and Seven Jeans.

Bottega inspires bag envy like nothing else. And I should know, since I immediately begin salivating at the sight of one, and have even had very evil thoughts of neatly lifting one from the shoulder of another girl shopping at Neiman’s. I imagined myself having such light fingers that she’d never notice that the luscious woven leather was no longer on said shoulder, but on mine.

And now, I am truly tortured. An article in Women’s Wear Daily from August 7^th, 2006 has completely destroyed me. As an artist, designer, craftsperson, and lover of all things beautifully made, I have been brought up short with the knowledge that people are actually sent to school to make bags for Bottega Veneta. Actually, Bottega Veneta is starting a school where craftspeople can go to learn to make bag patterns, pleat leather, weave snakeskin, and play all day long with shapes, textures, and exotic skins. The Scuola d’Arte e Mestieri di Vicenza is partnering with Bottega Veneta to create a three-year program for future artisans. The goal is to educate the next generation of craftspeople, while giving back to the Veneto region – the homeland of the Bottega Veneta house. The Scuola, training artisans since the 16^th century, is providing courses on cutting, hand-stitching, skin selection, pattern making, and theory. The first group of students in the Bottega program will number at only fifteen people.

I visited my own company’s manufacturing workshop last year, and marveled at the complete bliss on the faces of the artisans who spent their days stitching handbags in an airy light-filled atelier. The moment I set foot into the chamber, I knew this would be enough for me, this is what a job in fashion should be all about. Instead, I sit at a desk all day, making sure our staff is trained and sales are on track. It’s a job, but a far cry from what I had in mind when I learnt draping and pattern drafting in fashion school. Oh, how I wish I were Italian, and living in Venice, and learning about how to make really expensive handbags! Actually, I would just like to travel the world and learn to make things – knits and weaves in Ireland, jewelry in Bali, glass-blowing in Venice – wherever there’s a craft, I want to go there and learn it. Then maybe I’ll be the one opening a school for artisans!

Comments

[Randall]

My god, I just realized we've never 'done' union square. My old friend Daniel has worked at BV for aeons, it would be a delight to hit a few shops with you, in a very 'we love you but we're not buying thank you, we just sorta know too damn much' kind of way. Let's!