Bottega Veneta Spring 2027: Lightening Up

The first thing to know about Saturday night’s Bottega Veneta show is that Jacob Elordi was there, still sporting his new goatee. Squee!

Along with those who live and die by social-media content, many normally blasé editors leapt to their feet and rushed to catch a glimpse and some footage of the Australian heartthrob, who wore a dark olive Harrington jacket and loose chinos, accessorized with a bright red intrecciato fold-over pouch.

He didn’t take off his sunglasses in the huge white space, lit up like a scene from “2001: A Space Odyssey” — with crushed cardboard boxes lined up in neat rows.

Resting on each imperfect white cube was a parrot tulip crafted entirely from leather, foreshadowing a collection that will be remembered for its homespun touches and natural, summery feeling.

Since arriving at the creative helm of Bottega, Louise Trotter has leaned heavily into the brand’s signature woven leather, and received a few barbs for the heft of her first two runway collections.

A few of the models in Saturday’s show were also swamped by their scooped-neck sack dresses and satin pea coats, but overall the spring collection saw Trotter loosen up — using lighter and crisper fabrics, a bit more color — plus an array of airy lace and crochet, drawing on the rich array of knitting and stitching techniques to be found in the Venice region.

“We’re a house of craft,” she told a scrum of reporters after the show. “Craft really is our logo, but there was a lot of work this season on trying to find techniques that brought lightness and wearability, but still have all of the incredible handwork that this house is capable of doing.”

Fringe, a trend gaining steam this fashion month, provided a lot of the fashion fireworks: dangling from hip scarfs, whorled into mesmerizing bubble skirts, or finishing off a gargantuan straw bag whose fringe nearly swept the floor.

Trotter’s trim, elongated tailoring looked terrific over simple chinos or gauzy pink silk trousers, and she mostly reined in the volume on shirts — even letting a bit of bra peek out from under a short-sleeved white number.

“There is this sense of being a little bit undone,” she offered backstage, describing “a language between things being quite polished and a language with things being a little more organic.”

The menswear was also much improved: lighter, trimmer and slightly bohemian — just shy of a goatee.