Bottega Veneta S/S 2010 / MFW / Day three

Designers often talk about stripping things down and putting the spotlight on the clean and simple. At Bottega Veneta, Tomas Maier took to that tabula-rasa notion quite literally, with a lineup anchored by a blank-canvas motif. Yet, for such a thematically focused collection, Maier managed to deliver a nice range of appealing clothes. There were sexy moments (e.g. the corset look), not to mention plenty of summer sportif: easy jersey jumpsuits, roomy jackets and cropped pants. Dresses? The runway was rife with styles of both romantic and architectural persuasions. Swathes of chiffon trimmed and edged the former, while the latter took hold in boxy smocks with off-kilter necklines, including several one-shoulder looks. And Maier handled it all in an artsy way, which, unfortunately, went over-the-top at times. An unwieldy case in point: that sashed poplin dress with a beefed-up cowl-neck.

As for the designer’s canvas concept, that was most obvious in the spare vibe throughout. But it also emerged in the fabrics (raw cottons and linens), as well as the palette, which lingered in the zone between beige and ivory. And just when one began to thirst for a little painterly something amid all that starkness, Maier kicked things up a vivid notch with a color story that began subtly — a pop of green beneath a collar here; a swipe of yellow tucked between folds there — before reaching a crescendo of intense violet and “fever-red” gowns. And then there were the company’s bread-and-butter accessories: terrific oversize bags and sexy espadrilles in rich, saturated hues. They shone all the more against Maier’s overarching blank-canvas theme.





































































© by WWD / Photos by Gianni Giannoni

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