Future Proof

For Bottega Veneta’s new creative director Matthieu Blazy, harnessing history and heritage is the only way forward

- NATHAN HELLER

On a Thursday night in spring, the lobby of the Hotel Danieli, near Piazza San Marco in Venice, stirs awake and, with twilight at its windows, comes to life in a dazzling evening dress. Women weave between the furniture in yellow suits and beautifully draped dresses. Men tread the stone floors and Old World rugs in interesting shoes. The travellers are glamorous and restless, with a charge of misbehaviour spilling out on to the edge of the canals. Venice, the unchanging city, seems in the thrall of energy that is brand-new.