The fashion brand Bottega Veneta has finally returned to the media world. Recently, the brand’s online fashion magazine “Issue” officially debuted, with creative director Daniel Lee inviting nearly 30 individuals to participate in its production, presenting interesting ideas and creative inspiration through rich multimedia content. At the same time, it also explained the reasons behind the brand’s earlier complete departure from all social platforms.
The online magazine recently launched is named “Issue” and is an exclusive multimedia platform founded by Bottega Veneta. Wait, what is the difference between an online magazine and a multimedia platform? This time, Bottega Veneta established “Issue”, which conceptually is actually a quarterly collection and similar to Instagram Stories as a real-time dynamic expression. The content still revolves around everything in the creative cultural box, from fashion, photography, to music, art, and lifestyle culture, even the cover design appears: at first glance, it even looks a bit like modern paintings by Picasso, George Condo, paired with the tagline “LOSE YOUR HEAD NOT YOUR MIND”, making the direction of the content in the first issue quite clear.
On the cover, in addition to illustration designs and theme sentences, there are actually several names written – Barbara Hulanicki, Missy Elliott, Masayoshi Matsumoto, Jonathan Frantini, Storror, Walter Pfeiffer – these figures are also special figures mentioned or collaborated in the first issue of “Issue”. Different from the print magazine, the advantage of online magazines lies in the inclusiveness of their content media, and Daniel Lee, the editor-in-chief, is also quite visionary, taking advantage of this advantage to bring in creators from different fields, such as inviting rapper Missy Elliott to produce new music and showcase fashion styles under the lens of brand’s new photographer Tyrone Lebon; inviting the legendary designer and artist Barbara Hulanicki, who is credited with introducing high-end fashion lifestyle to the UK, to share some top-secret fashion design sketches with “Issue”; even inviting different visual artists to create different interpretations of Bottega Veneta’s classic designs and creative concepts, such as Walter Pfeiffer’s V Bag, Intrecciato Weekender, etc. Of course, “Issue” also includes a collection of Spring 2021 fashion styles.
The launch of “Issue” is not only of concern as to whether there will be hints of a new season release, but what the outside world is most concerned about is undoubtedly Bottega Veneta’s return in the form of an online magazine after completely withdrawing from all social media earlier this year. What is the intention of Creative Director (or should we say Editor-in-Chief) Daniel Lee this time?
This Tuesday, “Issue” was officially released, and Daniel Lee also gave an interview to The Guardian, finally responding to the decision to delete all social media accounts. He shared: “Social media represents the homogenization of culture. In this world, everyone is basically looking at and accessing the same information flow. The massive influx of ideas has invaded what I create and what I do, and the influence of social media is to overly simplify everything in it.” Two years ago, becoming a popular designer who won multiple awards in a row, Daniel Lee once shared that he rarely spends time on smartphones and he doesn’t really like the ecosystem of social platforms: “There is always a bullying atmosphere of bullying the weak in the playground here, which I don’t really like. I want to do something joyful. We (Bottega Veneta) are not just a brand, but a team that works together every day, and I don’t want to be involved with negative atmosphere or emotions.”
With the fatigue of the pandemic, it is evident that major brands this season are also trying to showcase concepts, creativity, design, etc. in different forms. Taking the example of three other brands under the Kering Group, Alessandro Michele conceived a short film “Seven Days Birth” for Gucci, Demna Gvasalia created an otherworldly online game world through Balenciaga, and Anthony Vaccarello let the spirit of Saint Laurent spread again in the Paris night sky and the Gobi Desert under lockdown. However, for Daniel Lee, fashion is still inseparable from reality. Therefore, at Bottega Veneta under his leadership, there is a strong emphasis on real experiences. Just as he believes that the founding of “Issue” can bring a real and meaningful experience: “I hope that its content can make the audience sit down patiently, like watching a movie.”
Image source: issued by Bottega Veneta
