Bottega Veneta’s Harrods pop-up is a luxurious ode to ‘intrecciato’, its signature woven leather

This year, Bottega Veneta celebrates the 50th anniversary of ‘intrecciato’, a leather weaving technique which was first introduced in 1975 and has since become a central part of the Italian fashion house’s design vernacular (favouring understatement, the distinctive intrecciato has taken the place of more overt branded logos or monograms).

It has also become symbolic of Bottega Veneta’s longstanding veneration of craft: an intrecciato handbag, for example, can take days to construct, relying on a process of weaving whereby individual strands of leather (the ‘fettuce’) are braided together around a frame of wood. ‘Interconnectedness, exchange and [a] collaborative ethos,’ say Bottega Veneta of intrecciato’s symbolic significance to the house.

Inside Bottega Veneta’s Harrods pop-up

Festivities begin today in London, whereby an ephemeral space in historic Knightsbridge department store Harrods is dedicated to the technique (the ground-floor, street-level space has been the site of numerous recent pop-ups, from a Miu Miu ‘gymnasium’ to a summer store from Celine). Previewed this morning, the space – unsurprisingly – is one of luxury and refinement, with nods to intrecciato in the custom furnishings (a set of armchairs in jumbo intrecciato is particularly appealing).

At the centre, though, is an impressive console table constructed from contrasting walnut wood and concrete – titled La Tavola, it references the workshop tables at the Bottega Veneta atelier – which houses a series of intrecciato products, including handbags, wallets and even dog-shaped leather bag charms (as part of the display, some are left ‘in process’ in order to see the complex weaving it takes to create each one). Elsewhere, alongside the house’s recent introduced fragrance line, is a small selection of ready-to-wear – including an intrecciato shirt and trousers, the spoils of hours of artisanal handcraft.

The opening comes at a pivotal moment for the Italian house: later this month, British designer Louise Trotter will present her debut collection as creative director at Milan Fashion Week. The much-anticipated show – Trotter is a rare woman designer in a male-dominated field – will take place on the evening of 27 September, with so far only a handful of hints as to what to expect from the former Lacoste and Carven designer’s tenure.

These include a series of custom looks for actor – and recently confirmed brand ambassador – Vicky Krieps, including an asymmetric handkerchief-cut dress in black grain de poudre worn with intrecciato earrings at the premiere of Father Mother Sister Brother at the 82nd Venice Film Festival last month (the film festival also provided the first glimpses of Jonathan Anderson’s Dior haute couture and Dario Vitale’s Versace).

Meanwhile, an initial campaign – titled ‘Craft is Our Language’ and marking the intrecciato’s 50th anniversary – saw a number of notable figures photographed by Jack Davison with a particular focus on the hands, many of which were interlinked as a nod to the intrecciato weave (participants included Krieps, Tyler the Creator and Julianne Moore, among others). ‘[These] hand gestures that connect people across generations, cultures, backgrounds, and contexts,’ said the house of the poetic campaign, which now adorns Harrods’ iconic Brompton Road windows.

Bottega Veneta Harrods pop-up, entrance Door 9, Hans Road, SW1X 7XL.

bottegaveneta.com