Bal Harbour

Opposite page: Bottega Veneta presented its Spring/Summer 21 collection, Salon 01, in London with a series of salon-like shows. COURTESY BOTTEGA VENETA BAL HARBOUR 165 QUIET RIOT W hen Bottega Veneta's creative director Daniel Lee was appointed to the label's helm, much was unknown. He was not a starry name pulled from another house; he was not an independent moniker graduating from eponymous line to major global brand. Industry-watchers and enthusiasts knew he had an impressive background—particularly with his time spent under Phoebe Philo at her much-loved (and, for many, much-missed) tenure at Céline—but what he would do remained anyone's guess. The hire, and the build-up, was all the more weighted considering Lee inherited a nearly 20-year track record of ultra-subtle yet equally luxe design vernacular, established by Bottega Veneta's former lead Tomas Maier. Lee's big debut—Fall/Winter 2019, after a smaller, testing- the-waters pre-collection—made it clear that he was putting the house on a new path. t also defined ees aesthetic as totall his own and, shortl thereafter, as huel inuential. es a knitwear specialist who demonstrated comfort in a sort of textural minimalism (enlarging Bottega Veneta's proprietary intrecciato weave, for example) along with an emboldened, sleeker air of sensuality. Square-toed, puff-effect leather heels, in one instance, took the world by storm. Unlikely color combos, like mint satin complementing rich deep brown leathers and heavy gold chains, were also introduced. Nowadays, Bottega Veneta's packaging is a commanding Kelly-esque green, a tone that Lee has kept in consistent play throughout his work so far. What makes Lee's vision so appealing is just how enigmatic both the maker and the product are. Known to be soft spoken, he doesn't seem to be looking for public persona clout. Bottega Veneta actually recently deleted its social media platforms entirely. (And yet, as testament to Lee's popularity, there is a highly-followed unauthorized account on Instagram called @newbottega that tracks the company's every move.) He's a graduate of London's rigorous Central Saint Martins School of Art and esin, where the sort of unofficial mantra is that the work always comes first this writer is also an alum, and Lee's focused and private tactics have yielded not only impressive outcomes, but also an air of conundrum. Who is this handsome, talented, eccentric mystery man? Lee is exemplary of the growing school of thought that some of the most inuential people do not need to show anything off, really, in order to shift the tides. Enter Spring/Summer 2021: a complex, thorough collection revealed as more of a multidisciplinary art house installation than a runway presentation. Given the year we've had, Lee, like everyone, had to pivot away from the traditional fashion show format. It suited him; he hosted a series of mini-shows at London's Sadler's Wells Theatre, which were documented by the photographer Tyrone Lebon. In tandem, Lee also released a book of inspirational photographs (some of artworks, some of models, some of muses) that fueled the collection and a special photo tome rendered by the German conceptual artist Rosemarie Trockel. A third book held documentation of the shows themselves. What is now most striking is Lee's acute interest in, and observation of, the human body; it may not immediately register, but there is a deep physicality in his work. From Spring/Summer, see the way a knitted coat-dress hugs the silhouette with just the right amount of tension, or the slouchy-yet-snug plunge of a knitwear tank top. here is nothin cliched aout these fits, either no hourlass, no ew oo-cinch, no decade-specific shoulder shape, no sinn leg. Instead, Lee has tapped into a gentler sartorial austerity, relying on the study of textile and tactility to create something super- Creative Director Daniel Lee

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