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Background:

Matthieu Blazy has been a quiet but powerful force in the fashion industry for years, having worked alongside powerhouse designers like Raf Simons and Phoebe Philo. But in 2021, he was named the creative director of Bottega Veneta and stepped into a leadership role on his own. Since then, he’s developed a reputation for pushing creative boundaries and experimenting with new technologies, while always putting craftsmanship first.

“When you make something by hand, it will always have a little mistake, which is not a mistake, which is part of the process,” he says. “So when you go to the store, you won’t find twice the same product.”

This week on The BoF Podcast, Blazy sits down with BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks at BoF VOICES 2023, where he opened up about his creative processes and work at Bottega Veneta.

Key insights:

• For Blazy, collaboration and a close connection with his teams are paramount for creativity. Before taking the creative helm of Bottega Veneta, Blazy spent four years at Maison Martin Margiela. “The way I work with the team is quite emotional… When I arrived at Margiela, I took my office out of the studio and I put it inside the atelier. It was nice because it was not just me thinking on my own. We were actually making it together,” he shares.
• Whilst Blazy champions the unique role of artisans in creating unique pieces. “One artisan cannot finish the work of another artisan,” he says.
• On technology, Blazy believes that balance is essential. “Sometimes we need to use technology to support the craft, but it cannot come all from the machine, especially at Bottega Veneta.”
• As a global brand, Blazy hopes customers around the world will be able to see themselves in Bottega Veneta under his creative direction. “Fundamentally I want [global customers] to also find something where they also recognise themselves in the story that is not just Italian.”

Additional resources:

• Who Is Matthieu Blazy, Bottega Veneta’s New Creative Director? The former deputy of Raf Simons and Phoebe Philo was promoted to the brand’s top creative role days after Daniel Lee’s surprise departure.
• Bottega Veneta: Everything Old Is New Again: In the driver’s seat after the abrupt exit of his predecessor, young Belgian Matthieu Blazy aims to reconnect the brand with its Italian pedigree, elevating emotion and handcraft over ‘obsession with technology and newness.’
• Bottega Veneta’s Everything, Everywhere Essence Strikes Fashion Gold: Matthieu Blazy’s collection was a joyous and ingenious celebration of pure craft, writes Tim Blanks.