Louise Trotter - Designer, Creative Director of Bottega Veneta

[Olaffo]

BV just released their Pre-fall 2025 products without lookbook online. Very odd…is it Trotter’s design or just team’s?

 

[KilltheLook]

BV just released their Pre-fall 2025 products without lookbook online. Very odd…is it Trotter’s design or just team’s?

Pre-fall was technically Matthieu's last for the brand but my friend who works there said he practically checked out lol. So maybe the studio?

 

[Olaffo]

But is it any visual recording of it ? Like lookbook or something ? It’s just a random odd stuff has been on website with link „discover pre fall 2025”…

 

[KilltheLook]

There's an internal look book to help the sales associates merchandising and selling the products. But not sure if they will publish it.

They also killed Spring Summer 2025. Most products were produced in such a limited quantity and size (the bunny shoes only came in 36 and 37). They want to erase him fast (typically Kering) but it's ironic because Louise will have to build on his language as her assignment (no 180 degree brand cleaning).

 

[PDFSD]

There's an internal look book to help the sales associates merchandising and selling the products. But not sure if they will publish it.

They also killed Spring Summer 2025. Most products were produced in such a limited quantity and size (the bunny shoes only came in 36 and 37). They want to erase him fast (typically Kering) but it's ironic because Louise will have to build on his language as her assignment (no 180 degree brand cleaning).

You mean Louise will have to build on his & Lee´s language because he (Blazy) also continued where Lee left off and this goes beyond the green packaging of course.

Lee stated the new bottega we know of today and Louise is so Phoebe Celine coded /clone so i suspect BV to look even more waterdown version of Lee/BLazy efforts , maybe its a good middle ground commercially ...but New BV does well with hype around it as much as people speak about its quality and craft its verry hype brand coded.

speaking of (typically Kering) erasing........ this is going to happen at balenciaga only the close group that will go with demna to gucci will be safe rest will have a spring cleaning moment lots of employees are lawyering up and aligning with work union its more messy at the brand then Kering want to admit of course as business is shaky af ...speaking with folks there that don't want to say much more but time will tell .

 

[Deleted member 164735]

You mean Louise will have to build on his & Lee´s language because he (Blazy) also continued where Lee left off and this goes beyond the green packaging of course.

Lee stated the new bottega we know of today and Louise is so Phoebe Celine coded /clone so i suspect BV to look even more waterdown version of Lee/BLazy efforts , maybe its a good middle ground commercially ...but New BV does well with hype around it as much as people speak about its quality and craft its verry hype brand coded.

speaking of (typically Kering) erasing........ this is going to happen at balenciaga only the close group that will go with demna to gucci will be safe rest will have a spring cleaning moment lots of employees are lawyering up and aligning with work union its more messy at the brand then Kering want to admit of course as business is shaky af ...speaking with folks there that don't want to say much more but time will tell .

similarly to you I suspect she will very much quote her predecessors aka Lee lol. I mean i only hope her British solidarity with Lee will somewhat allow her to heavily quote his work aka the Bottega we know and love today. She kinda can’t have it any other way can she? I’m hoping to see some parakeet excitement, boisterous Lug boots and cool slg!

I don’t like Blazy at all but pretending like he never existed is typical Kering aka so toxic..

I’m also wondering if the majority of the bv design team will stay or move to Chanel with Matthieu

 

[Lola701]

You mean Louise will have to build on his & Lee´s language because he (Blazy) also continued where Lee left off and this goes beyond the green packaging of course.

Lee stated the new bottega we know of today and Louise is so Phoebe Celine coded /clone so i suspect BV to look even more waterdown version of Lee/BLazy efforts , maybe its a good middle ground commercially ...but New BV does well with hype around it as much as people speak about its quality and craft its verry hype brand coded.

speaking of (typically Kering) erasing........ this is going to happen at balenciaga only the close group that will go with demna to gucci will be safe rest will have a spring cleaning moment lots of employees are lawyering up and aligning with work union its more messy at the brand then Kering want to admit of course as business is shaky af ...speaking with folks there that don't want to say much more but time will tell .

I think they were (in that case) quite clever as she is in the same design language. Yes indeed it’s maybe less challenging from a fashion perspective but she won’t have to stretch herself to follow Lee and Blazy’s path.

I suspect that resort will be her first collection even if SS2025 will be her first official outing. They will probably go for an early release of her resort to capitalize on the impact of her debut collection.

One thing that Louise has always been great at is knitwear and outerwear so it will be interesting to see if she will still focus on that.

I can’t wait for BV to move on from that green though. If there’s one thing that is not needed from Lee’s legacy, it’s that. What should stay from Lee are the designs: the Pouch, the Jodie, the Lug boots, the Stretch pumps. What should stay from Blazy are also the designs: The Hop, the Sardine, the orbit sneakers. I’m not a fan of the Andiamo and Ciao Ciao.
Im glad however that the Cabas and the Knot clutch from the Tomas Maier days are still part of the catalogue.

For me BV is the best brand at Kering in terms of transactions from eras to eras. I like when brands and CD have a sense of legacy, particularly when it’s not a relaunch but a continuation.

 

[jeanclaude]

Lee stated the new bottega we know of today and Louise is so Phoebe Celine coded /clone so i suspect BV to look even more waterdown version of Lee/BLazy efforts , maybe its a good middle ground commercially

Great...I can already picture an oversized coat with crocheted random ornaments here and there... 😓

 

[PDFSD]

I think they were (in that case) quite clever as she is in the same design language. Yes indeed it’s maybe less challenging from a fashion perspective but she won’t have to stretch herself to follow Lee and Blazy’s path.

I suspect that resort will be her first collection even if SS2025 will be her first official outing. They will probably go for an early release of her resort to capitalize on the impact of her debut collection.

One thing that Louise has always been great at is knitwear and outerwear so it will be interesting to see if she will still focus on that.

I can’t wait for BV to move on from that green though. If there’s one thing that is not needed from Lee’s legacy, it’s that. What should stay from Lee are the designs: the Pouch, the Jodie, the Lug boots, the Stretch pumps. What should stay from Blazy are also the designs: The Hop, the Sardine, the orbit sneakers. I’m not a fan of the Andiamo and Ciao Ciao.
Im glad however that the Cabas and the Knot clutch from the Tomas Maier days are still part of the catalogue.

For me BV is the best brand at Kering in terms of transactions from eras to eras. I like when brands and CD have a sense of legacy, particularly when it’s not a relaunch but a continuation.

I don't see clever and Kering in regards to ceo´s going together in one sentence, BV since Maier has been positioned as the italian hermes this with Lee got an more fashion edge and Blazy kind of combined both via craft overload storytelling.

any way i think without some fashion hype the brand might have it bit hard unless she /they go after the idea of a leather loro piana type of vibe ...but collection and branding via storytelling & art direction should be on point from the start.

if not i see CK collection (whatever its called now) vibe version of BV happening we don't need another brand like that basically pouring water into the win type of thing

but again looking at the new drop on BV ecom i think she will do better than this at least lol

OMG ...i can't imagine they sell this stuff at those prices what the hell !!!!

 

[Deleted member 116957]

Is she another "intellectual" designer we're supposed to hate? I haven't followed her work. What designers are we actually allowed to like on tFS other than Donatella Versace and Galliano? I forget. Who does tFS approve of?

 

[youthinasia]

Is she another "intellectual" designer we're supposed to hate? I haven't followed her work. What designers are we actually allowed to like on tFS other than Donatella Versace and Galliano? I forget. Who does tFS approve of?

I don't think Louise is an 'intellectual' designer per se. She's very talented and I'd say she's adaptable to the brand she's designing for (Joesph, Lacoste). She definitely has a signature. It's very tongue-in-cheek, ironic, pragmatic but also very subtle which I can easily see transitioning from Mattieu's BV. Her Carven was very Celine-lite/voiceless so I'm glad she left. I feel she might be able to insert some heart/emotion into BV whereas MB was very disjointed from the product, art/craft, BV 'world'.

 

[Deleted member 116957]

I see... so she's not fully approved of by the tFS D&C hivemind...

 

[Lola701]

Is she another "intellectual" designer we're supposed to hate? I haven't followed her work. What designers are we actually allowed to like on tFS other than Donatella Versace and Galliano? I forget. Who does tFS approve of?

I love her. So I’ll support her. The same way I support Blazy, Philo, Lee. I actually prefer her Lacoste and Joseph to her Carven (even if it was decent) because it was too beige.
You can join me in the club if you want ahahaah.

Wait: Ghesquière is not part of « The intellectuals » right? He is recognized as a geek, into science fiction and all but not « The intellectuals »…

 

[PDFSD]

Is she another "intellectual" designer we're supposed to hate? I haven't followed her work. What designers are we actually allowed to like on tFS other than Donatella Versace and Galliano? I forget. Who does tFS approve of?

lol never solicit approval :-)

but she falls in the Celine Phoebe Cult & co designer category , not intelectual just the look of cool modern wannabe (oversized is stable element for this group )

 

[yslforever]

I love her. So I’ll support her. The same way I support Blazy, Philo, Lee. I actually prefer her Lacoste and Joseph to her Carven (even if it was decent) because it was too beige.
You can join me in the club if you want ahahaah.

Wait: Ghesquière is not part of « The intellectuals » right? He is recognized as a geek, into science fiction and all but not « The intellectuals »…

I just don't understand why the love, her Carven has been a blip on my fashion radar, a mocktail of all the post-covid fashions trends, and her Lacoste bof (I prefer the current one by far).
I want Buchanan or Maier back.

 

[Deleted member 164735]

I just don't understand why the love, her Carven has been a blip on my fashion radar, a mocktail of all the post-covid fashions trends, and her Lacoste bof (I prefer the current one by far).
I want Buchanan or Maier back.

Her Carven was safe and ultra forgettable… I am still unbelivably surprised how she got the bv job to be honest …..

 

[yslforever]

Her Carven was safe and ultra forgettable… I am still unbelivably surprised how she got the bv job to be honest …..

She's one of this instagay white twink in disguise.

 

[Lola701]

I just don't understand why the love, her Carven has been a blip on my fashion radar, a mocktail of all the post-covid fashions trends, and her Lacoste bof (I prefer the current one by far).
I want Buchanan or Maier back.

Her Lacoste was fantastic IMO. I mean it was also the first time that Lacoste really sold the Runway collections. But I really loved Joseph. Joseph was really the brand for me at some point where I could go with eyes closed for elevated RTW.

The thing is that it’s really her school of design. If we look at Joseph, it’s all that. But yes today that aesthetic has satured the market maybe.

Her Carven was safe and ultra forgettable… I am still unbelivably surprised how she got the bv job to be honest …..

She is in Paris (it helps), she is a woman (it might have helped considering that Burton left) and she is very professional, respected by her peers and all those things work.
Technically she can do BV. It’s not out of the box for her and she is a safe choice.

I prefer a safe choice like Louise Trotter for BV than a safe choice that is Sabato for Gucci.

Christophe Lemaire was a safe choice for Hermes for example. Tomas Maier was a safe choice for BV. They took him when he was coming from Hermes. And maybe in some ways, Daniel Lee was a safe choice on paper coming from Celine. He revealed himself and showed a playful side there.

 

[Deleted member 164735]

She is in Paris (it helps), she is a woman (it might have helped considering that Burton left) and she is very professional, respected by her peers and all those things work.
Technically she can do BV. It’s not out of the box for her and she is a safe choice.

I prefer a safe choice like Louise Trotter for BV than a safe choice that is Sabato for Gucci.

Christophe Lemaire was a safe choice for Hermes for example. Tomas Maier was a safe choice for BV. They took him when he was coming from Hermes. And maybe in some ways, Daniel Lee was a safe choice on paper coming from Celine. He revealed himself and showed a playful side there.

I understand and I don’t doubt her professionalism for a second actually. But if I may - I doubt her capabilities in BV and BV only.
If we were talking about her getting a CD / DD position in something like The Row or Celine I would think it’s a match made in heaven because the design language is similar. But Louise in BV post Blazy? Is it a safe choice? But also what are our expectations of BV post Blazy as customers? Can she curate that for us generally speaking?
It’s an interesting topic because I actually think vice versa-Sabato was the furthest thing away from safety for Gucci post Michele

 

[Lola701]

I understand and I don’t doubt her professionalism for a second actually. But if I may - I doubt her capabilities in BV and BV only.
If we were talking about her getting a CD / DD position in something like The Row or Celine I would think it’s a match made in heaven because the design language is similar. But Louise in BV post Blazy? Is it a safe choice? But also what are our expectations of BV post Blazy as customers? Can she curate that for us generally speaking?
It’s an interesting topic because I actually think vice versa-Sabato was the furthest thing away from safety for Gucci post Michele

Bottega is a luxury brand. It’s maybe the only difference with her previous tenures. But essentially, it requires the same level of quality and design. What will be new for her will be the pressure to deliver It accessories but then again at Joseph the bags were great too.

For me Sabato was safe because I remember the AG of the time where Pinault talked about Quiet Luxury. Sabato was a choice of conformity, of a follower. Being bold would have been to choose someone with a vision as strong as Michele. The irony is that they went for that ultimately even if on Paper, Demna’s vision seems to be too on the decline side of the Zeitgeist. It’s up to him to re-invent himself now.
He loves Margiela so much and Margiela changed a lot in his 20 years.