Matthew Blazy has a knack for setting the mood. His animal-shaped lounge chairs, arranged as audience seating, instantly uplift guests. Michelle Yeoh, Kendall Jenner, and the maison’s new face, Jacob Elordi, were each seated in a ladybug, horse, and rabbit-inspired chair. The spectacle was like a playroom full of children eagerly awaiting the start of their favorite TV show, with everyone in the room sitting cross-legged. In just two and a half years, Blazy has transformed Bottega Veneta into a Milan Fashion Week highlight. He started by commissioning Zanotta, an Italian interior brand, to create leather lounge chairs, strengthening the brand’s connection to the art and design world. The resulting chair collection, named “The Ark,” is a limited-edition version of the brand’s iconic Sacco beanbag chair and is available for purchase on Bottega Veneta’s official website. The choice of front-row guests was also carefully considered. Jules Lebron, an influencer who has become a TikTok sensation as a “demure” trendsetter, and Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer who faced online hate speech over her gender during the Paris Olympics, were just two of the many notable faces featured this season. But ultimately, it was Blazy’s clothing that made the maison the season’s highlight. Blazy is one of the few designers who can blend abstract concepts with everyday life, and he has cemented his place among today’s leading designers, making his every move the subject of intense scrutiny.
This season’s concept is “childhood.” “I was intrigued by the sense of wonder and excitement you feel when experiencing something new as a child. It’s a collection that evokes the memory of the first time you encountered fashion, like playing dress-up with your parents’ clothes,” Blazy explained. True to his words, he showcased looks that resembled a child’s freewheeling combinations, featuring oversized jackets, layered styles with one-leg bottoms and asymmetrical wrap skirts, and crumpled tank dresses and shirt dresses.
Blazy describes the animal-shaped chairs as inspired by a scene from the film *E.T.* (1982), where E.T. hides among stuffed animals in a closet to avoid being caught by Elliot’s mother. Blazy incorporated this world view not only into the chairs but also into the clothing, creating dresses and shoes adorned with frogs, a leather coat with a rabbit-shaped lapel, and a scarf top printed with a giant fish.
For a brand as prestigious as Bottega Veneta, the collection could be considered too lighthearted. In fact, most of the designs presented on the runway exuded a playful charm. Blazy took a gamble that the humor embedded in the clothing would resonate with the audience, that there would be a connection on a deeper level. And his gamble paid off.
Today, the fashion scene is filled with brands that play it safe, brands that simply recycle past designs, and brands that have stagnated and stopped evolving. This is especially true in Milan. But the fashion Blazy creates is unbound by any constraints. He sharpened the focus on craftsmanship with sharp leather wigs, elevated staple items like flannel shirts and denim to a higher level of wardrobe sophistication, and added metal matchsticks to tops and skirts. It’s as if he’s saying that there are no rules in fashion, allowing his imagination to run wild.
The collection also featured stunningly chic pieces like a vibrant orange draped jersey dress, a pristine white three-quarter-sleeve coat, and impactful bags. Among the bags, particularly impressive were the one-of-a-kind bags crafted from test leather by students at Bottega Veneta’s artisan training school, Accademia Labor et Ingenium.
Blazy’s passion is palpable, contagious even. The audience was so enthusiastic because the show stirred up the very reasons they entered the world of fashion, reminding them of their original aspirations. There is simply no other word to describe it than “inspiring.”
