Credit: Bottega Veneta
In 2025, Bottega Veneta celebrates 50 years of Intrecciato, the iconic leather technique that has defined the aesthetic of the maison. But there is another technique that characterizes Bottega Veneta and that is often confused with that of Intrecciato, namely Intreccio. Used as synonyms, Intreccio and Intrecciato are actually two distinct techniques, both of which have become symbols of the brand's artisanal excellence.
Intrecciato is the distinctive feature that has made Bottega Veneta bags famous around the world, as recognizable as a logo. Developed in the 1970s, it responded to the need to make leather more flexible and soft.
The technique starts from a perforated leather base, in which strips are manually woven following a diagonal pattern, using a needle. The result is a fluid surface, almost textile, but incredibly resistant. Today this technique is also reinterpreted to create visual effects, using different colors for the base and the ribbons.
In 2002, with Tomas Maier as creative director, the Cabat bag was born and with it the weaving took shape: a technique that abandons the perforated base and in which the ribbons are woven directly together, by hand, on a wooden frame. This process allows experimentation with patterns and greater three-dimensionality. As in the Foulard weave, where the wider ribbons create soft folds, or in the padded versions, which add volume.
Even today, in each collection the maison continues to reinvent these techniques, demonstrating that innovation can also arise from respect for tradition.
