Jacob Elordi had a camera in hand. Tyler, the Creator and Solange Knowles were seated nearby, alongside Julianne Moore and other familiar faces from Bottega Veneta’s expanding cultural orbit. That crowded room in downtown Milan felt less like a traditional fashion crowd than a gathering of people who might belong to the same creative world, however differently they arrived there. Then the lights shifted.

For Spring/Summer 2027, Louise Trotter presented her third collection for the brand in Milan with an atmosphere built as carefully as the clothes themselves. 

British artist Mark Leckey provided the show’s soundtrack, moving across genres and eras from the 1960s through the 1990s, while German artist Florian Hecker created a site-specific sound installation, Scintillations 20, using suspended speakers and stainless-steel reflectors – while guests sat on sculptural, resin-coated cardboard stools by artist Illya Goldman Gubin, each topped with a small handcrafted leather flower. 

Even before the first model appeared, craft, art and sound had already become part of the presentation.

Lightness and movement sits at the centre of the collection’s central idea. Trotter described SS27 as an observation of the transition between seasons: the gradual shedding of winter’s protection as spring becomes summer. It is a simple premise, but one that gives the clothes an unusually clear progression. The collection begins with coats and outerwear before gradually revealing more skin, more texture and more air.

The opening looks still carry some of the architectural language that has defined Trotter’s Bottega so far. Coats arrive with padded shoulders and slightly exaggerated proportions, but hems are knotted or pulled aside, disrupting their formality. Tailoring is relaxed rather than rigid. A tiny intrecciato leather scarf is wrapped around a waist, turning Bottega’s most recognisable house code into something almost weightless.

And then, gradually, the collection opens up. Butter-yellow trousers meet lilac and striped shirts. Floral prints appear through draped fringe. White handmade lace, chunky openwork crochet and large-scale intrecciato take over as the show moves deeper into summer. A vivid red cotton dress is ruched at the waist and layered over a matching pleated skirt, while black dresses are sliced through with long strands of silk fringe. The effect is tactile without always feeling heavy – a distinction that matters when considering where Trotter has taken Bottega over the past year.

The intrecciato, Bottega Veneta’s signature woven-leather technique, remains central, but SS27 is less interested in simply showing off the house code than expanding what it can become. The weave appears across accessories, clothing and even smaller details, while raffia, crochet, lace and fringe give the collection a distinctly handmade quality. Bags remain important, including oversized woven and raffia shapes, but they feel integrated into the clothes rather than positioned as the inevitable stars of every look.

The shoes follow the same instinct toward ease, with artisanal-looking sandals and a new rubber ballet flat offering a softer alternative to the more eccentric footwear Trotter introduced in her debut, a shift perhaps most revealing about this collection.

Trotter’s Spring/Summer 2026 debut announced her arrival through abundance: oversized silhouettes, dramatic fringe, sculptural fiberglass, vivid colour and deliberately conspicuous leather. Her Fall/Winter 2026 collection doubled down, exploring Milan through the tension between brutalist architecture and sensuality, with enlarged shoulders, imposing coats and increasingly elaborate material treatments. Both collections established a designer fascinated by what Bottega’s artisans could make.

SS27 asks what happens when she stops trying to show all of it at once. The answer is a Bottega that feels less burdened by its own craftsmanship. The clothes move. Fringe swings behind the body. Crochet lets light through. Lace exposes what sits underneath. Even the heavier coats seem to be preparing to disappear. There is still plenty of technique – perhaps more than ever – but Trotter has become more selective about where she lets it speak.

The final word belonged to Kendall Jenner, who closed the 62-look presentation in a dramatic black, asymmetrically draped gown, carrying a small bag and wearing the collection’s artisanal sandals. Though it was Jenner’s return to the Bottega runway after first walking for the house in 2016, but this moment felt more sentimental as Elordi, her beau seated in the frow, watched her pass and was seen capturing the moment on camera.

After two seasons spent building volume, texture and authority, Louise Trotter’s third Bottega Veneta collection ends not with more, but with the suggestion of less. Less weight. More movement. And, finally, more room to breathe.

Cover Image Credit: Bottega Veneta

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