MATTHIEU BLAZY: A NEW ERA FOR NEW BOTTEGA
The departure of Daniel Lee from Bottega Veneta took the whole fashion crowd by surprise. Yet Matthieu Blazy, Lee’s successor, would provide that same crowd with collections to truly gasp at. Trompe l’oeil, maxi bags, refined flamboyant silhouettes and a certain sense of normcore coexisting impressive dress patterns, are all among the new legacy at Bottega Veneta.
Leather craftsmanship, at the epicenter of the BV history, remains active and revised through the different creative directors at the house. For Matthieu Blazy, the leatherwork of the brand translates further from accessories into impressive bends of the fabric, turning it into trousers that resemble jeans, among other pieces. A thus is the way Blazy does things: he creates referential pieces, from his very begining.
Born in Paris in 1984, Blazy has been responsible for some of the most noteworthy pieces in the past decade of fashion. His big breakout moment came under one of our other labels, Maison Margiela. When he was chosen as the head of the Margiela Artisanal line in 2014, his knack for creating cultural referents became obvious. Not undeservedly, editor Suzy Menkes named the article about his first collection for Margiela Artisanal: ‘’A Star is Born’’. His embroidered masks and overall theatrical atmosphere became an instant hit. But his stint in the fashion industry didn’t begin at Margiela. There were a number of compounded moments leading to the rise of his star.
While studying at La Cambre de Brussels, Matthieu interned at Balenciaga womenswear for three months. Upon graduating, he joined Raf Simons as a menswear designer, following him to Dior and later, to Calvin Klein until Simons’ departure. In the midst, he also joined the lines of Celine under Phoebe Philo before leaving for Calvin. Having also worked with John Galliano for a brief period of time, Blazy’s career developed through participating in a sequence of culture-defining labels. His own visionary talent combined with his stellar trajectory, no doubt became a subject of interest of the business of fashion. A who’s best to lead and turn around a brand than, one, the Design Director of the brand itself (under Daniel Lee’s leadership), and two, someone who’s shaped and experienced many of the fashion-slash-pop cultural references of today (who can forget those Margiela embroidered masks worn by everyone including Lady Gaga herself, inspiring the dreams of fashion students worldwide).
Therefore, with such a trajectory in mind, Blazy’s first two collections (thus far) for Bottega Veneta make sense. The right balance between innovation and ready to wear, wearable pieces with timeless appeal, synthetic volumes elevating fringes and feathers to stunning-moving pieces, and rebranding the Italian house’s hereditary intrecciato techniques into new shapes of accessories. His ready to wear must also be looked at with a magnifying glass, as his own love for trompe l’oeil makes many of these pieces an experience only livable in person. Most notably, headlines were made with the essence of his latest lines of ‘’jeans’’, creating his classic relaxed silhouette that, upon closer look and feel, was exposed as treated and painted leather. On video and in pictures, one could guess there was a different treatment to these trousers. Either a wax wash or a thicker texture, one could not guess (unless expert eyes) that these fabrics were actually solid leather.
Consecutively, in between iconic masks and a stint here and there at century-defining labels, Mr. Blazy is an expert in creating culture-changing moments. We can only expect to see more from the star that far from just being born, is now fully growing. His very first colelction for Bottega Veneta, a pivotal moment in fashion, is now available at Ottodisanpietro. Discover the colelction on our website and in our stores in A Coruña.
Sources: L’Officiel
Vogue Spain
Hypebeast
