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You try telling Matthieu Blazy that fashion is no longer fun. Creative director of Bottega Veneta since 2021, the Franco-Belgian designer has curated every collection, runway show, and campaign with the utmost care. Only Blazy could make us believe that a shirt made entirely of leather was made of flannel or that a glitter dress was layered with sequins.
Earlier this year, Blazy astutely enlisted internet heartthrob Jacob Elordi as an ambassador, where he mimicked a bunny rabbit—suggestively nodding to his critically acclaimed role in Emerald Fennell s Saltburn. Continuing the playful theme at the brand’s latest SS25 fashion show, Blazy replaced ordinary seating with 60 beanbag chairs inspired by Zanotta s Sacco and the animal world.
The true act of genius? Naming the collection The Ark and sectioning off seats in pairs. Blazy’s magical appetite for creativity is not only captivating but also translates to the most refined and meticulously crafted products. This is what makes Bottega Veneta great.
Hot on the heels of this moment, Blazy unveils his first-ever Bottega fragrance collection. Five fragrances with a distinct soul and strong personality, but united in a single narrative. Indeed, it is Venice and Intrecciato, Bottega Veneta s famous leather-working pattern, that inspired these olfactory creations. Each perfume was imagined as a blend of ingredients from different countries, the same ones that originate, and still meet, in Venice, the Maritime Republic. The desire, stated by the brand, is to “tell a global story, distilling essences from every corner of the globe to create evocative scents that awaken the senses and capture the imagination.”
Sunstroke is one of Blazy s first olfactory inspirations. He wanted to replicate the smell of skin after a day at the beach. The result is a scent with a Mediterranean allure that combines the relaxing notes of French angelica oil and the sensuality of Moroccan orange blossom.
A fragrance created with notes from afar that work to draw in memories up close. A fate shared with another protagonist of the collection, Acqua Sale, designed to evoke the scent of salt water on the body through an olfactory pyramid centered on woody labdanum from Spain and juniper oil from Macedonia.
Come with Me, contraility, marries the citrus notes of Italian bergamot and the powdery accords of French Iris butter. Then, the scenery changes. Déjà Minuit and Alchemie, the two fragrances that complete the collection, draw inspiration from the night. They smell of darkness, seduction, and mystery by combining Geranium from Madagascar and cardamom from Guatemala. On the other hand, Déjà Minuit conjures up pink pepper from Brazil and myrrh from Somalia on the other.
Each fragrance represents the depth that Blazy is willing to go, to stretch his imagination. It doesn’t merely contain but represents the Maison s own craftsmanship and heritage.
The packaging is made of translucent glass, with a fluid and sinuous shape. Polished, the bottle reproduces the aesthetics of artisanal blown glass and encloses ever-changing air bubbles. The air bubbles, typically considered imperfections, become the hallmark of a series of absolutely unique objects, where not one is like the other. And it doesn t end there. The bottle rests on a base made of Verde Saint Denis marble, the same marble that characterized the design of the Maison s stores in the Blazy Era.
A sort of pedestal that not only elevates the perfumes far beyond their function, but also evokes the walls, floors, and marble facades of Venetian architecture. And it is also in the Lagoon that one finds the showstopper of Bottega Veneta s fragrances, made of wood and inspired by the foundations of the palaces that rise above the water. An Objets d Affection, a treasure chest, to be preserved since it is reusable and made of eco-sustainable materials.
