It was an internal promotion along the lines of the appointments of Virginie Viard at Chanel and Alessandro Michele at Gucci.
Words by Kerry Pieri
Just a few days after Daniel Lee announced his departure from the brand, Bottega Veneta has appointed its new creative director, Matthieu Blazy. Blazy’s current role is as the ready-to-wear design director for the Milanese label.
Blazy comes with an impressive CV. A graduate of La Cambre in Brussels, the 37-year old began his career designing menswear for Raf Simons, before heading to Maison Martin Margiela to design the ‘Artisanal’ line and the women’s ready-to-wear. In 2014, he was named senior designer at Céline where he worked alongside Phoebe Philo and Daniel Lee. Blazy then returned to work with Raf Simons at Calvin Klein from 2016 to 2019. He’s been with Bottega Veneta since 2020.
“Matthieu Blazy is an extraordinarily talented individual, whom I am proud and excited to entrust with the creative helm of our luxury House, Leo Rongone, CEO of Bottega Veneta, said. “Bottega Veneta has always been equated with signature craftsmanship and distinctive creativity. Matthieu’s appointment will further enhance the modern relevance of our brand and accelerate our growth, while preserving the values that are at the core of Bottega Veneta.”
Successful internal promotions have also happened in the last few years at Chanel, with Virginie Viard’s advancement to creative director after the passing of Karl Lagerfeld, and at Gucci with the successful appointment of Alessandro Michele, who began his tenure at the Italian label as a bag designer.
François-Henri Pinault, Chairman & CEO of Kering is confident in the appointment, saying in a statement, “Matthieu Blazy’s wealth of experience and broad cultural background will allow him to bring his creative impetus to the task of carrying on the legacy of Bottega Veneta.”
Blazy currently lives between Antwerp and Milan and will show his first collection for Bottega Veneta in February 2022.
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This article originally appeared on harpersbazaar.com