"THIS season, we wanted to make clothes with a sense of freedom and high spirits," said Tomas Maier of his latest line-up for Bottega Veneta this morning. "There is a certain joy in this profusion of colours and textures, a strength that comes from unusual pieces that are beautifully made and not easily categorised."
It started with corseted dresses of petrol green or deep purple, with shark's teeth stitching and narrow bra straps, before shirt dresses of fine, gauzy matt silk interspersed with leather panels and pockets set a younger, super cool mood.
There was a multitude of ideas here: black leather apron dresses slashed with brown and blue swipes; smart black trouser suits that had black leather lapels and were wrapped in large tasselled blue scarves; wide mesh day knits of blue, cream and black that had an air of early Sixties casual about them, and elegant silk dresses printed in geometric patterns of black, white and red and embellished at times with glittering seed pearls of the same colour. Or overlaid in transparent PVC.
Black leather skirts had strips of stiff ruched silk wound horizontally around them and the same details were applied to dresses that were shiny and matt, tailored and casual - somehow all at the same time.
There were loose tunic dresses for a touch of hippy in the mix, while a rich colour palette of indigo and fuchsia, orange and red combined with an organic feel to the fabric treatments that implied, if not a homespun appeal, at least that the beauty of these clothes lie in their handmade precision.
Ruched muslin dresses in rough stripes of pink and orange or black and blue - that were tied and twisted about the body before falling to full length skirts - were incredibly elegant and sumptuous in their sophistication - even better shown off by Natasha Poly and Jourdan Dunn looking breathtaking but slightly casual, with their still-wet hair pulled in to a rough bun.
The show notes called the show "an exuberant" romp and it was just that - no rules seemed to apply and yet the lofty style reputation of this Italian house kept it very high on style.
SEE THE BOTTEGA VENETA SHOW ARCHIVE