Image courtesy of Bottega Veneta
Less than 48 hours after Bottega Veneta revealed that its creative director of 17 years, Tomas Maier, was exiting, the brand has announced its new leader: Daniel Lee. The 32-year-old British designer is a Central Saint Martins alum who was most recently the director of ready-to-wear design at Céline. Prior to joining Céline in 2012, Lee held positions at Maison Margiela, Balenciaga, and Donna Karan.
“I’m both honored and excited to continue the legacy that has been created at Bottega Veneta over the last five decades,” said Lee in a statement released by Kering, the company that owns Bottega Veneta. “Maintaining the ingrained codes of the house, craftsmanship, quality, and sophistication, I look forward to evolving what has gone before, while contributing a new perspective and modernity.”
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Lee’s appointment continues Kering’s tradition of hiring relative unknowns for creative director positions; before him there was the appointment of accessories designer Alessandro Michele at Gucci and of buzzy Vetements upstart Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga. Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault had this to say of his newest employee: “I am very pleased to welcome Daniel Lee to Kering as creative director of Bottega Veneta. The singularity of his vision inspired by a very personal creative approach convinced me that he was best able to open a new chapter in the history of the house. His work is characterized by great rigor, a mastery of studio expertise, a true passion for materials, and an energy that I cannot wait to see take shape at Bottega Veneta.”
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