Tyler the Creator Is the Face (& Hands) of Bottega Veneta
Bottega Veneta’s new campaign, titled "Craft is our Language," is all about intrecciato. The interwoven handcrafted leather technique has long been the brand's trademark and as it turns 50 this year, a dedicated campaign is deserved.
But Tyler the Creator steals most of the spotlight.
Bottega Veneta's "Craft is our Language" campaign is both a callout of its crafty heritage and the debut of Tyler the Creator as its latest famous face.
You’ll also see lots of hands in the black and white imagery — one is doing a peace sign, others are creating a love heart, and a couple of them are interweaving their fingers between each other — in a subtly clever reminder of how all this leatherwork comes to be.
And, yes, you'll see lots of Tyler, too. Tyler clad in intrecciato hats, intrecciato gloves, intrecciato jackets, all the rest.
Pure Bottega.
This is a brand that entirely eschews logos, meaning you can normally only spot a Bottega item through small touches like that intrecciato weave or its rounded triangle motif (one of the brand’s slogans, “when your own initials are enough,” speaks to BV's approach of sidestepping big logos).
And as if that doesn't make it lowkey enough, the brand famously removed itself from social media in 2021 (although, it has since joined Sina Weibo, the popular Chinese social media platform).
This campaign is an understated luxury brand doing what it does, even with one of the world's most famous musicians sitting pretty.
Newly hired Bottega Veneta creative director, Louis Trotter, knows what she's doing.
Her first Bottega designs reflect a continued application of Bottega's typically understated elegance while Tyler's appearance in the campaign, subtly reflected in the first-look imagery of the hands alone, reflects the future of Bottega Veneta celebrity.
This is surprisingly crucial stuff for a brand that doesn't use social media, perhaps even more because of it.
With A$AP Rocky the male face of former Bottega overseer Matthieu Blazy's oeuvre, Bottega needs a new leading man. Tyler knows Trotter from her tenure at Lacoste and, with a shared sense of classic style, it's almost too perfect a pairing.
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