After quitting social media, Bottega Veneta launches digital magazine
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Bottega Veneta has launched a new digital magazine called Issue.
The debut quarterly publication is an audiovisual feast and curated with a roster of luminaries including Barbara Hulanicki, Missy Elliott and Walter Pfeiffer. There is plenty of fashion editorial and catwalk footage, but also music, video and graphics.
The online publication is part of a digital communications strategy which saw the Kering-owned luxury house quietly exit Instagram and its social media accounts back in January. Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault said to WWD at the time: “Regarding its digital communication strategy, it’s not disappearing from social networks. It’s merely using them differently.”
Rather than directly posting social content and competing for likes and eyeballs, Bottega is relying on influencers and their extended audiences to do the talking. So far its decision to leave Instagram has been a success, with an ongoing and buzzing torrent of secondary content fresh in users’ feeds. The hype looks set to stay if fan account @newbottega, which has accrued over 500,000 followers, is any indication.
For a brand producing logo-less collections with only a triangle and leather intarsia as signifiers, Bottega Veneta has navigated the pandemic extremely well, posting a 4.8 percent growth over its previous financial year and expecting even greater profits over the course of 2021.
Social media oversimplifies
Creative Director Daniel Lee, who also has no Instagram account, told the Guardian: “Social media represents the homogenisation of culture. Everyone sees the same stream of content. A huge amount of thought goes into what I do, and social media oversimplifies it.”
“There is a mood of playground bullying on social media which I don’t really like,” continues Lee. “I wanted to do something joyful instead. We are not just a brand, we are a team of people who work together, and I don’t want to collude in an atmosphere that feels negative.”
Images: Bottega Veneta Issue