Bottega Veneta presents IL MIO, its first portrait series focused on bags and the people who choose them. Drew Vickers photographs the project, with Louise Trotter leading creative direction. The title takes its name from the Italian expression for “what belongs to me,” setting the tone for a series built around personal attachment, use and ownership.
BAGS
IL MIO looks at the bond between a treasured object and its wearer. Bottega Veneta frames each bag through the life around it: the way a person carries it, keeps it close and gives it meaning through time. The series places the house’s Intrecciato designs in a direct relationship with individuality and everyday movement, showing how a bag can gather memory and character through use.
The images focus on five designs: the Mini Andiamo, Lauren 1980, Madison, Baby Campana and Baby Barbara Tote. The series also offers a preview of the new Baby Campana and Baby Barbara, which launch later this summer.
The Mini Andiamo gives one of the house’s established silhouettes a smaller scale. “Andiamo” means “let’s go” in Italian, and the design keeps that sense of movement through a compact shape. The bag carries the key elements of the larger Andiamo into a lighter format, designed for close, daily use.
The Lauren 1980 connects the series to one of Bottega Veneta’s most recognizable cultural moments. The house first presented the Lauren clutch in the late 1970s. Lauren Hutton’s character Michelle Stratton then carried it in the 1980 film American Gigolo, bringing the bag and the house’s Intrecciato craft to wider attention.
Madison takes its name from Madison Avenue in New York City, where Bottega Veneta opened its first store in 1972. The bag reflects the house’s connection to city life and daily movement. Its design speaks to a wardrobe built for motion, carrying the idea of a personal object through the rhythm of the city.
Baby Campana draws from a Bottega Veneta archive design that the house introduced in Spring 2004. The baby tote has two handles, a rounded shape, supple construction and a generous interior. Its form gives the bag a soft presence while keeping a practical sense of space. Baby Barbara Tote introduces a new shape from Louise Trotter. The design balances structure and softness through a simple form and tactile finish. It carries a strong visual presence without losing the quiet quality central to Bottega Veneta’s bags.
Models Chu Wong, Selena Forrest and Sihana Shalaj bring the series into the portrait format, giving each bag a clear sense of character, use and personal attachment.
