Stepping into the Bottega Veneta showspace on Saturday evening (21 September 2024), it took a moment for your eyes to adjust to quite what you were looking at. In lieu of the usual rows of benches, stools or bistro chairs that one might usually find at a fashion show were instead 460 animal-shaped beanbags for guests to sit on, a surreal menagerie that creative director said hoped would evoke a feeling of childhood wonder – a mood which continued through the fantastical collection itself. ‘I was interested in the power of “wow”,’ said the French-Belgian designer after the show.
Comprising fifteen different animals in total – mine was a black dog, though there were also bunnies, killer whales, foxes and otters – each chair was crafted from leather and based on the Sacco easy chair, an icon of Italian design created by Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini and Franco Teodoro for Zanotta in 1968. Blazy said the inspiration in part came from a scene in Steven Spielberg’s E.T., whereby the extraterrestrial hides in a closet amid a pile of colourful soft toys. ‘[With this collection] I started to see it like a kid. In a kid’s world everything is possible,’ he said. ‘You can really approach reality in a different way.’
Bottega Veneta’s beanbag chair menagerie is now for sale
Zanotta’s Sacco easy chair, there are fifteen animal-shaped designs in total – including this chicken (€6000, available from bottegaveneta.com)
Now, Bottega Veneta have announced that the various chairs – part of a collection Blazy has titled ‘The Ark’ – are available for sale on the Italian house’s website in limited-edition numbers (befitting the collection’s title, there are just two of each animal, with a further drop arriving at Design Miami in December). Priced from €6000 to €8000, they are crafted from nappa leather, come with an intrecciato leather handle, and have Bottega Veneta and Zanotta logos inscribed on a leather plaque, while some – like the horse – have detachable snap-button tails.
‘Last season was maybe more contemplative But at the same time, we need beauty,’ Blazy said of the uplifting collection, which alongside plays on everyday garments (the designer’s signature at the house), featured tasseled wigs, animal motifs, moments of vivid colour and an irreverent attitude. ‘We need joy. We need this moment for ourselves, and continue to play.’
‘The Ark’ collection of limited-edition beanbag chairs commissioned by Matthieu Blazy for Bottega Veneta and inspired by the Sacco Zanotta are available from the brand’s website
Read our review of Bottega Veneta’s S/S 2025 show here.
Matthieu Blazy said he wanted both the show’s set and the collection itself to evoke a feeling of childhood wonder
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