Bottega Veneta: from fashion to interior influence

The world of Bottega Veneta Home has subtly blossomed from a series of one-off pieces into a healthy full-scale collection that can easily cover every square inch of one's house. The metamorphosis, like all things under the careful watch of creative director Tomas Maier, has occurred with slow and smooth calibration. The Italian studio will unveil its latest tableware accessories line, including its Sterling Silver Flatware cutlery featuring the brand's geometric ‘intrecciato' engraving and showcasing its new ‘brunito' finish.

The brand's Murano smoked wine glasses will also be launching in a new color, while an entirely new lighting collection is also expected to go on display.

The designs, which will be revealed during the Salone del Mobile design fair, embody the label's modern yet luxurious aesthetic, with a focus on rich colors and textures.

One could walk by and miss it—a crisp, white door set back from the street, tucked between walls layered thick with twisting ivy. Save for the clean, stacked “Bottega Veneta” inscribed just below the windows, and above the door, little might tip you off to the latest addition to Melrose Place. Then again, this is a brand that eschews branding, at least in the commercial sense, having returned to its logo-less heritage when German-born Creative Director Tomas Maier took charge in 2001. Instead, classic design and extraordinary craftsmanship are the calling cards of Italian luxury house Bottega Veneta, which opened its boutique doors in West Hollywood last month to the delight of fashion lovers and interior designers alike.

More gallery than retail outpost, the light-filled space was conceived by Maier and finished in white painted steel and hardwood floors. Finely cut leather shoes and handbags command full attention on spare white shelves, behind sliding transparent doors, and under glass cases. Ever the essentialist, Maier’s concise collection at the Melrose location (more quietly appointed than its Rodeo Drive counterpart) “reflects the lifestyle of the client who lives and shops in the neighborhood,” he says of the men’s and women’s leather goods, ready-to-wear, shoes, jewelry and fragrance interspersed throughout the shop. In addition to several pieces from the fall collection that will be exclusive to both this and the Fifth Avenue store in New York, Bottega’s home line allows a glimpse into Maier’s streamlined world: a “floating” glass and leather desk; Murano glassware; hand-painted porcelain created in collaboration with royal German maker Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur; a director’s chair that unfolds in cuir leather and a black matte finish; and a sumptuous daybed from the Tassello collection with Poltrona Frau (newly upholstered in a slate hue).