In a move that I personally loved, Bottega Veneta suddenly departed social media back in 2021 and has been Instagram-free ever since. In its place, Bottega devised a special app and experimented with tangible press but, finally, Bottega Veneta is back on social media. Kinda.
Specifically, Bottega Veneta has quietly returned to its account on Sina Weibo, the popular Chinese social media platform.
Bottega's sole posts are the same teasers for its Fall/Winter 2023 Milan Fashion Week runway show that're currently playing on its website but it's already received thundering approval, with its teasers receiving over 2.5 million views, 2.2k "Likes," and nearly 250 fawning comments, mostly admirers repeating a similar line about looking forward to the FW23 show, currently scheduled for March 2.
From where I sit, it seems unlikely that Bottega Veneta will suddenly appear on Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter, as the move to Weibo is very much capitalizing on the specificity of the Chinese market.
Therein, KOL (Key Opinion Leaders) and activity on platforms like Weibo and Little Red Book make or break big luxury brands.
In the West, brands may simply emanate an aura of austerity, comfortable in knowing that people tend to flock to Hermès, Chanel, and Goyard boutiques whether or not they've been briefed on new goods via Instagram.
On top of all that, though, Bottega went dark under former Bottega Veneta creative director (and current Burberry overseer), I doubt that current BV artistic director Matthieu Blazy will reverse course wholesale.
Bottega has maintained mystique by emphasizing an IRL shopping experience and it'd be a big 180 to reverse course.
Who's to say what the future holds, of course. But Bottega's Kering peers (like Balenciaga, especially) enjoy a relevance stranglehold thanks in no small part to an spartan social media presence, so it makes sense to hold course.
Bottega Veneta's hands-off approach to Western social media has fostered a cottage industry of fan accounts and hashtags. Fans quickly powered by #NewBottega hashtag, which boasts over 120k posts on Instagram and a whopping 22.6 million views on TikTok.
In Bottega's place, journalists, bloggers, and devotees (yours truly included) have filled the void by reporting on new releases, designs, campaigns, and runway shows.
There's been ample media attention given to everything from Bottega Veneta's It-bags to new stores to even the lifetime warranty certificates so, really, it seems like social media is practically redundant to Bottega.
Weibo fills a different role than something like Instagram so that's more of a promotional tool than a proper social media revival. But, then again, it is a return of sorts, which is itself worthy of adding to the well of third-party Bottega coverage.
