Bottega Veneta : behind the iconic brand's revival

• Bottega Veneta takes the lead in the luxury leather goods category.
• With the iconic pouch bag, Bottega Veneta is one of the few brands to have a wide assortment of clutch bags.
• "Bottega Green" is one of the most recognizable aspects of the brand and makes up a significant portion of its color palette.

One of the hottest brands today  is none other than Bottega Veneta. With Daniel Lee at its helm, the brand became one of the most talked about brands in the industry. With Lee’s revival and reinvention of the brand, keeping its sophisticated nature intact, Bottega Veneta made its way back on the fashion scene and has had some of the hottest products in the industry throughout the past year . The brand reported impressive revenues in 2020 despite the global pandemic, with over 1.2€ billion in annual revenue. However, with Daniel Lee’s exit and Matthieu Blazy taking over as creative director, what’s in store for the brand that Daniel Lee made relevant once again and what lies behind the strategy that made Bottega Veneta a leading luxury brand? Dive into the following market analysis that has been created using Retviews, the automated benchmarking solution for fashion. Leading fashion retailers are using Retviews’ real-time data to monitor their competition, and optimize their assortment, pricing, and discount strategies.

Taking a closer look at where leading brands’ revenue lies, key brands such as Gucci,  Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta’s revenues mainly come from leather goods. Whilst leather goods made up only 55% of Gucci’s revenue, 74% of Bottega Veneta’s global revenue in 2020 was attributed to leather goods, the highest among the three Kering brands. Unsurprisingly so, as Daniel Lee’s creations for Bottega Veneta are among the most “recognizable bags”  in luxury, that are coveted worldwide and that brought the brand back on everyone’s radar. So does the brand’s assortment reflect the popularity of its leather goods?

Retviews data indicates that over 42% of Bottega Veneta’s assortment consists of leather goods, which is significantly higher than its competitors’ share of leather goods. Attributing nearly half of its assortment to its most profitable category indicates that Bottega Veneta has been focusing on the right category - the iconic bags that came to be in Daniel Lee’s revival of the brand.

It-bags are a major part of some of the most iconic brands in luxury today and Bottega Veneta is no different. The most prominent part of Bottega Veneta’s success are the popular bags that we have seen for the past several seasons, on every fashion lover’s arm. From the Bottega Pouch Bag, to the Cassette Bag and the Jodie Bag, all of which have been among the hottest products in the industry throughout the past years.

Taking an in-depth look at Bottega Veneta’s leather goods assortment, a key category stands out within the brand, when compared to other popular luxury brands. Bottega Veneta has a significant presence within the clutch category, making up over 22% of its leather goods assortment. The Bottega Veneta Pouch bag, a clutch bag, put the brand back on the industry’s radar. Clutch bags being minimal in competitors’ assortments, could have given Bottega Veneta the competitive edge when bringing out a new style, allowing it to soar in popularity.

A big, easily recognizable part of Bottega Veneta’s identity with Daniel Lee at its helm is the vibrant “Bottega Green” color that has been a valuable part of the brand’s past few collections. The stand-out color became one of Bottega Veneta’s key differentiators, so iconic that it has trickled down into countless mass market assortments throughout the past seasons. Green being one of the most popular colors of 2021, how much of Bottega Veneta’s assortment actually includes the shade?

Retviews allows fashion brands to pinpoint the hottest products and colors every season, get the right market strategy and enhance their performance whilst monitoring competitors. With regards to Bottega Veneta’s assortment, Retviews data indicates a strong presence of the iconic “Bottega Green” color within the brand’s assortment. Making up 13% of the brand’s assortment, Bottega Veneta holds the largest share of green in its collection, when compared to other leading luxury brands such as Gucci or Balenciaga. The vibrant color, having become a staple in the minimalist brand’s collection and becoming one of the most popular colors of 2021, could be what shoppers have been looking for lately, and the luxury brand that delivers is Bottega Veneta.

Although leather goods take the lead in Bottega Veneta’s assortment in terms of revenue, footwear comes in a strong second, making up 16% of the brand’s revenue in 2020. Not only has Daniel Lee’s reinvention of the understated brand brought about a number of popular bags, it has also introduced some of the most talked about shoes in the fashion industry.

Retviews data showcases that Bottega Veneta takes the lead in several different footwear categories. The brand has the largest assortment of boots, high heel sandals and pumps, all of which happen to be the shoes that have made headlines over the past seasons. From the brand’s lug sole boots and “puddle boots”, both of which contributed to this season’s trend of rubber shoes, as seen in Retviews’ recent analysis on footwear trends, to the brand’s padded sandals and mesh sandals, Bottega Veneta’s shoes are another key contributor to the brand’s popularity. The brand has however kept its focus on these key categories and has opted out of a popular footwear category, sneakers. Whilst other brands have large sneaker assortments, Bottega Veneta keeps it very minimal. Will this continue with its new creative director?

Leather goods being Bottega Veneta’s most popular category and the item that brought the brand back on the radar, taking a look at how the brand prices it’s iconic bags and how this strategy differs from competitors’ pricing is essential. Retviews, the automated benchmarking solution for fashion retailers allows brands to access this real-time data anytime, anywhere, and monitor their competitor’s strategy.

Retviews data showcases that Bottega Veneta’s leather goods are priced on the higher end of luxury, in terms of most frequent price, standing above Kering’s leading brand Gucci. Bottega Veneta also keeps a slightly higher entry price for leather goods as opposed to other leading luxury brands. The leading brand remains on the more expensive side of luxury whilst keeping a small price range, in comparison with Gucci’s extensive range.

With Daniel Lee’s exit, Bottega Veneta may be headed towards an entirely new chapter and brand identity. One thing is for sure, the brand’s current strategy of focusing on leather goods and footwear is proving to be a success with those same categories bringing in the most revenue and having the most popular products in the fashion industry. Looking to the future, will Bottega Green keep its identity and become a signature brand color like “Tiffany Blue” or “Louboutin Red”, or will the brand’s new creative direction go for something different? Also, will there be an increased focus towards the ready-to-wear category? 

Access this kind of real-time data on your competitors anytime, anywhere with Retviews and get the perfect retail strategy for your brand. Leading fashion retailers are using Retviews, the automated benchmarking solution for fashion to get an in-depth look at competitors’ strategies, and optimise their own collections.