Bottega Veneta immersed New York Friday in the art of Italian living, transforming the American Stock Exchange Building into a chic home with a roaring fire, as models sashayed down the runway in pajamas and sipped wine.
The Italian luxury label’s Big Apple show, to celebrate the opening of its largest boutique in the world on Madison Avenue, was one of the most coveted tickets in an otherwise flailing Fashion Week as top US talent decamps to Europe.
It was the first runway show in the historic Renaissance Revival building, the ex-headquarters of the American Stock Exchange, reimagined as a cozy chic luxury apartment that advertised understated Italian elegance — precisely the wares now on sale on Madison.
“The Italian art of living begins and ends in the home,” advised the program notes. Guests were given a fake newspaper feting the new store, referred to as “Maison,” just to make sure they got the point.
The set was complete with fireplace, easy chairs and elegant dining room, where at the end of the show, models poured into the living area, chatting and sipping wine.
The show itself pulled out all the stops, sending out 65 models in different looks, headlined by Kaia Gerber and Gigi Hadid.
Actresses Priyanka Chopra and Julianne Moore sat front row, Moore making it a fashion hat trick after attending Tom Ford and Tory Burch.
The fall/winter 2018 collection was very sleek, sophisticated and luxurious — a masterclass in understated European elegance at the expense of headline- grabbing bling with not a puffer coat in sight.
