Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/56249
Looks from the Bottega Veneta Spring/Summer 2012 collection. rious leather goods on Madison Avenue. Unable to bring the storied brand back from the brink of bankruptcy, the Moltedo family sold the business to French lux- ury-goods kingpin François Pinault in 2001. It was Tom Ford, then the head of Gucci Group, who had the brilliant idea to hire Maier to reinvent Bottega Veneta. Famous for his pristine, modern aesthetic and his impeccable taste, Maier imme- diately cleaned up the product assortment and introduced a series of beautifully crafted classics like the soft leather Intrecciato Cabat bag and the Knot clutch. He took the brand's famous slogan, "when your own initials are enough," and single- handedly dismissed the whole notion of the seasonal "It" handbag. Maier re- vamped the ready-to-wear for both men and women and introduced fine jewelry, tabletop and home collections. The Bottega Veneta aesthetic of discreet luxury became a beacon of sophistication in a sea of logo-laden luxury products. Last October he launched the first Bottega Veneta watch—a unisex titanium timepiece made by the prestigious Swiss watch movement maker Girard-Perregaux. And in cooperation with Coty Prestige, Maier introduced the brand's first perfume, Bot- tega Veneta eau de Parfum, a leathery floral Chypre inspired by a beautiful house in the countryside in the Veneto region of Italy, where the brand originated. Maier envisioned the smells of the house—its old wooden floors, the library, breezes coming in the open windows—as the inspiration of the fragrance. I t's easy to forget how far Maier has brought Bottega Veneta from its late '90s slump when two British stylists were mucking up the famous glove-soft leather goods with graffiti, tacky disco-inspired embroideries and garish colors. Their mandate was to somehow recapture the brand's ineffable '60s and '70s glam- our when people like Jackie Onassis and Andy Warhol shopped for the luxu- Architecture has always interested Maier, he calls it his "big love." He re- members watching his father, an architect, at his drawing table and going on site tours with him to learn how things were built. Now Maier is bringing his pas- sion to his homes, too, working on a new residential project with the Japanese architect Toshiko Mori, who has designed exhibition spaces for MoMA and The Cooper Hewitt Museum as well as boutiques for Issey Miyake. "I've been think- ing about this for 10 years and now finally I'm doing it," he says. Maier's other extracurricular project is a Bottega Veneta book about the collaboration between design and craftsmanship. Due out in October, the three-year project involves specially commissioned works by various photographers. "We didn't want re- hashed images, we wanted to create something unique," Maier explains. Robert Polidori, known for his architectural and landscape images, shot clothes that were very much inspired by Maier's interest in structure and form. Other col- laborators have included Nan Goldin, Robert Longo and Jack Pierson. This season he tapped Brazilian photographer Mona Kuhn who is known for her nude images. "I knew about her because I saw a show of hers in Munich," says Maier. "She does a lot of nudity but it's beautifully done, very soulful. For us she made Kasia the model look so pretty and natural and profound." M BAL HARBOUR 151 aier has applied a similar approach to the advertising images he creates for Bottega Veneta. Each season he handpicks a different photographer—often someone from the art world who has never shot fashion images before—and usually the chosen photogra- pher's work corresponds to the mood of the collection. Last fall,