Bottega Veneta Welcomes VICs to New Manhattan Home
MILAN — From Venice to New York, it’s a seamless journey for Bottega Veneta and one that is strongly linked to its history.
The luxury brand on Saturday unveiled a new Residence on Madison Avenue, with a book reading and brunch to celebrate the brand’s new Richard Scarry capsule collection. This followed a first such project, Palazzo Bottega Veneta, which was inaugurated last June in the Italian lagoon city housed in the 15th-century Gothic Palazzo Soranzo Van Axel, adjacent to the Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli.
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“It’s a magical space, and the spirit is very similar,” chief executive officer Leo Rongone said of the New York venue in an exclusive interview. “We have really tried to curate the space with objects we love, as the Residences embody our core values and create a dialogue between our two foundational cities.”
Rongone paid tribute to the curatorial achievement of creative director Matthieu Blazy in choosing the furnishings and décor of the Residence, which is located above the Bottega Veneta boutique at 740 Madison Avenue.
Reflecting the brand’s relationship with the two cities, the executive recalled how Bottega Veneta, founded in Italy’s Veneto region in 1966 by Michele Taddei and Renzo Zengiaro in 1966, opened its very first store at 635 Madison Avenue, just a few blocks from the new Residence, in 1972. Shortly after Zengiaro left Bottega Veneta at the end of the ‘70s, Taddei handed over the company to his ex-wife Laura Braggion, who headed the company with her second husband Vittorio Moltedo and traveled regularly to New York.
Braggion became an assistant of Andy Warhol, whose studios made the short film “Bottega Veneta Industrial Videotape,” which featured the Madison Avenue store in 1985, and she contributed to the expansion and the success of the brand in the U.S. She opened the first store in New York, where the likes of Orson Welles, Truman Capote, Diana Vreeland and Barbra Streisand were regulars.
“It was [successful New York-based advertising specialist] Peter Rogers [and writer Jane Trahey] who came up with the memorable ‘When Your Own Initials are Enough’ [tag line in 1975] that we still use,” Rongone pointed out. “This same attitude is reflected in the Residences. The New York space is a physical representation of our values, our ethos, and our brand story, with its very distinctive identity. It brings the spirit of Venice to New York,” continued Rongone. “This is a fantastic building, but it’s not just about aesthetics, it’s very important that everything starts from Veneto and Venice as a connection to the world.”
The brand, he mused, is shaped by its founding city of Venice, “an independent republic for more than 1,000 years, and a cultural crossroads where merchandise, ideas and aesthetics met from East and West.” It is “that spirit of encounter” that infuses the Bottega Veneta Residences.
“These are places where our most discerning community can encounter our products, our craft, our history and they help further elevate our service to our VICs. It is the spirit of the house reflected in a physical space.”
Rongone said the interiors are the “expression of a very-high level of design,” each piece selected by Blazy.
“I wanted the space to represent that story and reflect our foundational commitment to craft and creativity,” said Blazy. “It’s a Manhattan loft space that brings together the best of Venetian artisanship with iconic American design, from Murano glasswork to George Nakashima.’’
The designer also highlighted how “it was between Venice and New York that Bottega Veneta developed its sense of self,” with the “bold decision” to open its first store not in Italy but in New York. “It was from there that the brand built some of its key creative relationships and evolved its distinct vision for luxury.”
Incidentally, asked about the WWD report that Blazy has emerged as a top contender for the creative director post at Chanel, Rongone responded that “the company does not comment on rumors.” As reported, sources have said an announcement by Chanel of its new creative director could be imminent.
As for the new Residence, the interior features several icons of midcentury Italian design, and pieces made in or inspired by Venice, as well as artworks. Highlights include a Gino Sarfatti floor lamp, a radio and turntable by Pier Giacomo and Achille Castiglioni, a gondola-shaped sofa by Adrian Pearsall, and an impressive Murano glass chandelier. Blazy drew on archival images of the inaugural Bottega Veneta store, which was fitted out like a classic Venetian palazzo, including a similar chandelier.
Last week Bottega Veneta launched a lamp developed with Italian lighting design brand Flos to create a special edition of Sarfatti’s Model 600 table lamp. Born in Venice in 1912, Sarfatti is one of Italy’s most celebrated lighting designers.
On an appointment-only basis for private clients, the New York loft apartment offers exclusive services, including dressing consultations, collection previews, made-to-order and red-carpet custom pieces, while hosting a regular program of cultural events that builds on the house’s history of cultural engagement and nurtures dialogue, exchange and community-building across artistic disciplines, genres, and generations. There is also a bar and the possibility to dine at the venue.
Rongone, asked if The Square concept, launched by Blazy as a cultural exchange series that has traveled from Dubai to Tokyo and São Paulo last year, could also be hosted at the New York Residence, admitted that there were similarities. This kind of attitude, “infused by the same spirit,” was also reflected earlier this month, for example, in a collaboration between Blazy and Lebanese architect Carl Gerges for the “Waves” immersive experience of music and sound and installation in Dubai.
The New York Residence also offers a temporary space to artisans from the Veneto in an extension of the “Bottega for Bottegas” initiative, launched in 2021 to give visibility to small-scale artisans. Bottega Veneta translates into Venetian artisanal workshop in English.
In addition, a new category for the brand, fine jewelry, launched last month and is available at the New York Residence and at the Venice Palazzo.
Asked about a potential third Residence, Rongone said “ideally” he would consider a venue in Japan, given the strong business and relationship Bottega Veneta has developed over the years in the region, a key market for the brand. The company, in fact, by the end of the year will open a store in Tokyo Azabudai Hills, as well as in Sydney Castlereagh and Las Vegas Fontainebleau.
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