SILENT NO MORE: Unless shielded from a Wi-Fi connection for the past 24 hours, many Instagram users know by now that the official account of Bottega Veneta has been reactivated, in a move that set the fashion world wondering about its implications.
After a simple Instagram story stating “Ciao” broke the profile’s five-year social hibernation, the brand went into full posting mode on Thursday, sharing 60 images all at once with its 2.4 million followers.
As hinted in the account’s new bio, these are intended to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the company, which was founded by Michele Taddei and Renzo Zengiaro.
Contacted to further elaborate on the strategy, the brand said the move marks “a new chapter on Instagram with 60 posts celebrating 60 years of the house, its heritage craft, and the artisanal spirit of Montebello,” where the company is headquartered.
“Conceived as a visual Intrecciato, they weave together six decades of people, places and perspectives, where past and present sit alongside one another. Each post represents an element of the house’s distinctive vision of beauty, with creativity as the common thread,” read the concise company statement.
The images were shared in no chronological order, each flanked by a brief caption and the respective date. They ranged from a 1980 image of a shopping bag and the brand’s motto “When your own initials are enough” to this year’s advertising campaigns photographed by Chris Rhodes. In between, posts included plenty of close-ups of archival leather clutches; images of Andy Warhol and Lauren Hutton holding Bottega Veneta shoes and bag, respectively; a 1992 shot of a red car parked in front of the brand’s Beverly Hills store; advertising imagery from the same decade by Peter Lindbergh; a black-and-white picture of the New York store opening in 1972; and brief videos testing the shaking impact of Intrecciato tote bags or quality-control tests on footwear, to cite a few.
Among the most poignant images, a portrait of a young man was flanked by the caption “19?? Renzo” as a reference to the company’s cofounder. It was followed by a 1972 picture of his credo, stating: “We believe that only what man builds with his own hands has a real value.”
While the posting activity offered a snapshot of the varied references in the brand’s universe, it was also telling of the new direction the company is taking communication-wise under creative director Louise Trotter — one poised to regain direct contact with its community and more control of its narrative.
Yet the company abruptly erasing its Instagram account in 2021 marked a disruptive strategy that turned out to be rewarding in the long term as it set Bottega Veneta apart from its competitors, positioning it at a healthy distance from social media clutter under Trotter’s predecessors Matthieu Blazy and Daniel Lee.
As reported, at the time parent company Kering and its chairman François-Henri Pinault explained how the company was not “disappearing from social networks — it’s merely using them differently. Bottega has decided, in line with its positioning, to lean much more on its ambassadors and fans by giving them the material they need to talk about the brand through various social networks, by letting them speak for the brand rather than doing it itself.”
Cue the rise of myriad fan sites and pages, such as @newbottega.