Bottega Veneta's Daniel Lee -- Britain's 'Quiet Radical' -- Can Soar Higher

Bottega Veneta designer Daniel Lee was the focus of an editorial ‘The Quiet Radical’, featured in the October 2019 issue of British Vogue. Jamie Hawkesworth captured a quintet of black beauty models including Mammina Aker, Niko Riam, Nyarach Abouch Ayuel, Roughy Faye and Sabah Koj, styled by Joe McKenna.

Designer Daniel Lee is lensed by Jamie Hawkesworth for British Vogue October 2019.

Sarah Harris interviewed the 33-year-old Daniel Lee as they departed a Mayfair restaurant in London where Lee didn’t meet the dress code. Putting his overcoat back on, while quietly scoffing in his Yorkshire lilt, Lee tells Harris “This is why I live in east London.”

Rules are rules, but 33-year-old Lee is intent on rewriting them. Take one of Bottega Veneta’s famed intrecciato woven handbags, for example, a staple of the brand since it was founded in 1966. His first move on taking over from Tomas Maier, who had helmed the house for 17 years, was to blow it up, supersizing the technique to dramatic new proportions. That single design spoke volumes about his Bottega Veneta: Lee respects its heritage but has the guts to do things his way. “With a little bit of thinking you can do so much with the weave,” he says. “I liked the idea of enlarging it because I like things that are bold and quite direct. I like things that are straightforward.”

Before showing his Fall 2020 ready to wear collection in Milan last month, Daniel Lee scooped up four statuettes and London’s Fashion Awards, more than any other designer in a single year. Lee was named designer of the year and Bottega Veneta brand of the year.

See highlight’s from Bottega’s Fall 2020 show and Nicole Phelps’ observations about both designer and brand, after ‘The Quiet Radical’ images.

Daniel Lee’s Bottega Veneta Fall 2020 Collection

Fashion heavy Nicole Phelps sat down with Daniel Lee in advance of his third showing in Milan on February 22, 2020. We share 12 key looks from the Daniel Lee’s Bottega Veneta Fall 2020 collection and agree with Phelps’ final commentary:

This was a confident outing, one that leaned into controlled repetition to drive its points home. Lee has quite handily established his Bottega Veneta as the coolest brand in town. He said he’s been spending a lot of time at La Scala watching dance performances; he likes all kinds, from ballet to modern. With the wind at his back at BV, going forward he should give himself freer rein to explore—to let go.