Bottega Veneta Opens Expanded San Francisco Flagship
Bottega Veneta has expanded its flagship in San Francisco.
The Kering-owned luxury brand has enlarged its Maiden Lane store, creating an entrance at 124 Geary Street. Now 3,355 square feet, the space features concrete flooring, hand-knotted merino carpet and leafy plants in vessels made by Chicago-based ceramicist Anders Ruhwald.
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Artist and skater Raphaël Zarka, who is known for his modular wood sculptures resembling skate ramps, designed the oak shelving and furniture, as well as the black metal blade sign on the stone-clad facade.
Bottega Veneta has launched a denim Brick Casette bag exclusively at the store, to celebrate.
The project is a vote of confidence in the city’s Union Square neighborhood amidst the prolonged pandemic recovery, a record number of vacancies and public safety concerns after retail thefts in San Francisco at the nearby Neiman Marcus and Louis Vuitton stores, among others.
Despite the drama over former creative director Daniel Lee’s departure, in 2021 Bottega Veneta logged a 24.2 percent increase in revenues compared with 2020, surpassing the 1.5 billion euro mark. Compared with 2019, revenues rose 32 percent.
In an interview with WWD, chief executive officer Bartolomeo Rongone attributed the success to the “exquisite design with extraordinary craft” of the products and the company’s ability to maintain a strong, intimate relationship with clients and customers alike throughout “the challenging period and despite the impact of the pandemic,” creating different physical “moments of contact.”
Matthieu Blazy was named creative director of Bottega Veneta in November, and debuted his first collection for the house at Milan Fashion Week in February. In March, Ilaria Icardi was appointed ready-to-wear design director. The Victoria Beckham, Celine and Yves Saint Laurent vet is in charge of pre-collections.
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