SuzyMFW Bottega Veneta: A Volcanic Eruption – Of Calm...Fashionweekly..On Fow24news.com

OH, THE NOBILITY of being a woman! One who is dressed spiffily in a tweed coat, swaddled in knits, stepping out in trousers, or swaying sensually on high heels with bars of three thin straps......
After a spell of sporty clothes at Bottega Veneta, designer Tomas Maier took a different route: a celebration of womanhood. It was neither "out there" nor timid, but just right."I wanted it to be sensual," said Tomas, who opened the show with plain, mannish trouser suits and ended it with brassieres built into soft dresses. From masculine to feminine, with the pendulum of the show falling straight and true with its leopard-patterned calfskin coat or gilded lamb trench.The concept was to soften firm lines, mostly by using variations of wool, until what might have been solid clothes melted over the body - never with obvious sexuality, but with a certain tenderness.Then there were the colours: plain and creamy; then brick followed by wine and violet. There were also patterns that even shocked - as in a burning orange skirt named "Vesuvius", after the fiery volcano.Tomas repeated the world "sensual" three times backstage, almost as if he had surprised himself with the gentleness in his collection. He also talked about knitting, explaining how it was working with wool that had made the collection look, and no doubt feel, different.

Various pieces in the collection seem to have been deliberately re- thought, like the subtle shrinking of Bottega's much-loved handbags, which had decreased in size.

Tomas Maier has been at Bottega since 2001, during which time he has built it up as far more than a brand of artisanal woven handbags. But I wondered if in this show he was reminding us of his nine previous years at Hermès. There was something of that spirit in this collection: the finest materials, the subtlety, the elegant discretion.Of course, like any fine designer, Maier has experimented during his time at Bottega. I remember especially the featherlight, vividly coloured nylon dresses that actually appeared on the red carpet. It was a surprise, even a shock; yet in fashion, change is good.

But at a time of turmoil in the industry - not to mention the entire world - a voice of sophisticated calm at this Bottega show seemed so right for now.