Milan Fashion Week

Bottega Veneta, Spring/Summer '09 (scroll down to read the review)
Bottega Veneta
Tomas Maier showed a collection with what he called ‘a gentle architecture’, his structures created in cloth and flowing with movement. In some cases it was the garment that determined the fabric and in other cases the fabric was the starting point, like double-faced lambskin or dense silky jersey.

In other cases he made his own fabric, by laser cutting ribbon and manipulating it to create three-dimensional details and even entire garments. Right now while a lot of designers are attempting volume, Maier is one of very few that masters it, partly because he first manipulates the raw material, either cloth or leather, before pleating, folding, tucking or cutting into garments. The results have that effortless understatement that gives them years of mileage.