Daniel Lee’s Bottega Veneta Resort 2020 collection was a season of sober reflection rather than irreverent statement-making. “This season… we stepped back and analysed what had worked so far, what was strong and also where I felt we needed to improve.” The result was a cool, calm and collected edit of Bottega Veneta’s new house codes presented with resonant yet approachable modernity.

At the heart of this range was subtle reinvention that intrigued but didn’t offend. Classic pieces such as little black dresses, trench coats, and day-to-night suiting upheld clean tailoring with sophisticated design twists such as intertwined knit necklines, skewed panels of leather, and asymmetric wrap tops that tied snuggly at the chest. To give the expected BV colour palette a dose of novelty, neutral greys and browns were lifted by touches of balmy orange, yellow, pale blue and pistachio green.

A calculated emphasis on substance over superfluous decor was most obvious in the functional parkas and the predominance of wardrobe basics, but more impressively executed in the accessories category. Here, new Intrecciato weave clutch bags appeared with knotted straps that slung around the wrist; oversized shoppers boasted a rounded but structured body that held its shape; leather sandals with spiral ankle straps worked to cinch in wide-leg pants. These ergonomic designs presented a softer variety of Lee’s vision of BV, which perhaps landed on the more serious side at his debut collection.

“I didn’t think it was so successful when things became too cool and hardened,” Lee said of his previous season. “I don’t think that really reflected me. Bottega Veneta, and Italian culture in general, is something that feels very warm, friendly, and inviting to me.” Thus, gone were the biker influences, armour-like bodices, and chain-link leather coats of past season. And in their place was a relaxed, clever elegance that felt relevant but indelibly rooted in the house’s heritage.