The Creative Director’s Spring/Summer 2026 collection for the brand drew on the label’s legacy and delivered a fresh vision.
In a season of creative director shake-ups, Louise Trotter’s Spring/Summer 2026 Bottega Veneta debut was one of the most hotly anticipated.
The British designer, who took the reins in December last year, succeeds Matthieu Blazy. Her predecessor’s trompe l’oeil designs and leather interpretations of everyday clothing renovated the Italian label with a dynamic take on luxury. And with Adolescence star Owen Cooper, Tramell Tillman, Jeremy O’Harris and former Bottega Veneta Design Director Edward Buchanan in attendance, all eyes were on Trotter as Milan Fashion Week entered the final leg.
So how do you kickstart your tenure at one of Italy’s most storied craft houses? Menswear-wise, you dish up a palette cleanse, with oversized, popped collar white shirts worn with knee-length white shorts and flat, low-profile loafers in the house’s signature Intrecciato weave. To top it off, you arm your protagonist with a pom-pom bag carried under the arm – a clean start, with a punchy vision.
Next-up: outerwear. Trotter flexed her muscles with indulgent, double-breasted top coats, with models wielding grey leather weekend bags. It’s the uniform of the Milanese city escape; easy, refined and able to be dressed up or down for the occasion. This considered reinvention also saw a number of looks layering outerwear, think trench coats and bomber jackets, with shorts and boots. The takeaway? Wear your big coats with shorts, folks, especially in this transitional season.
Suits were roomy and loose. Some came in expensive Barolo hues. Others were pinstriped and layered with leather trenches, packing the drama of 1980s Wall Street. Together they felt like a combination of her SS26 collection research where she looked to Venice, Milan and New York. Sure, this style of tailoring wasn’t dissimilar to Blazy’s era – and we have a feeling that’s the point, instead building on what was left before, rather than removing it entirely.
This approach could be felt in the leather work, too. Trotter showed her mastery in Intrecciato – which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year – seen through woven leather trousers, and intricate patch detailing on leather shirts. She also updated the Cabat tote with redesigned proportions and a zippered pouch (it was designed by Tomas Maier, who was Creative Director of the house from 2001-2018), as well as the Lauren bag. The leather clutch was worn by actor Lauren Hutton in American Gigolo, and will look just as good in Jacob Elordi’s collection in 2025.
Rather than tearing up what has come before, Louise Trotter delivered a continuation of previous codes. It feels fresh and in-tune with the house’s past. Her Bottega debut was fluent in the label’s legacy. She understood the past, and the house’s focus on craft, and nodded to this while carving her own vision, stamped with a new design language.
Images are courtesy of Bottega Veneta.
