What's going on at Bottega Veneta? The major shake-up at the top of the Italian fashion house continues
When a powerful brand needs innovation, sometimes it has to shake up its foundations. That’s what is happening at Bottega Veneta, one of Kering’s crown jewels which, under the creative direction of Matthieu Blazy and the managerial leadership of Bartolomeo Rongone, has achieved fabulous results in recent years, but is now ready to turn the page. After the designer’s departure (now at Chanel) and the arrival in the atelier of Louise Trotter at the end of 2024, the Maison went through an apparently calm year despite the luxury crisis and all the issues that followed, from price increases to the resulting consumer distrust. This 2026, however, Bottega Veneta will also have to say goodbye to CEO Rongone after a full six years of collaboration. For Rongone, the change brings a new professional direction, as he is moving to Moncler. But what will this turning point mean for Bottega Veneta?
Bartolomeo Rongone’s leadership at Bottega Veneta
«I would like to thank Leo Rongone for his leadership and for the significant contribution he has made to Bottega Veneta over the past six years», commented Kering CEO Luca de Meo in an official statement. «During his tenure, he achieved important milestones with his team and supported the continued development of the house. I wish him every success in his future professional endeavors.»
Appointed CEO of Bottega Veneta in 2019, Rongone brought the brand into the spotlight first alongside creative director Daniel Lee, who remained in the atelier until 2021, and then together with Matthieu Blazy. In six years, the work of Rongone and the two designers transformed the brand from a niche label into a pop culture protagonist through an alternative approach, centered on communication that was completely absent on social media, yet fully present on the artisanal and artistic front. Betting on savoir-faire rather than logomania, the brand became a standard-bearer of quiet luxury, putting the spotlight worldwide, from Fashion Week to paparazzi-captured street style in Los Angeles, on the Intrecciato, the iconic woven motif developed by Bottega Veneta in the 1970s.
@rosaelordi jacob really is a bottega boy. i swear all he wears is bottega which is fair enough considering he’s an ambassador #fyp #xyzabc #jacobelordi #saltburn #felixcatton som original - H3IZT
The brand’s financial growth from 2019 to today has also been steady and solid, with overall revenue rising from €1.12 to €1.7 billion over five years. Throughout 2025, one of the most complex years for luxury brands, Bottega Veneta managed to keep sales stable, posting revenue increases of 3% by year’s end.
Bartolomeo Rongone will step down from the brand on the last day of March, before moving on to Moncler. It has not yet been announced who will take his place at Bottega Veneta, but a new arrival at the Maison’s Marketing and Communications leadership suggests a brand new future for the Intrecciato house.
A new marketing plan?
In recent years, Bottega Veneta’s strength has paradoxically been its communication. Even the introduction of ambassador Jacob Elordi has always seemed far removed from the mechanics of social virality: since the actor wore the Maison’s bags in his everyday life long before he started cashing checks from them, the collaboration has always felt organic.
Rather than focusing on quick social media stunts, the Maison has always preferred to showcase its products and wait for the industry (influencers, press, and the like) to do the rest. By emphasizing craftsmanship and collaborations with high-profile artists and designers such as Gaetano Pesce, Bottega Veneta has shown that sometimes the best advertising is simply knowing how to do your job well. With a little help, at times, from playful yet culturally rich projects like the animal-shaped seats inspired by the Zanotta Sacco for SS25.
The seating at Bottega Veneta: Jacob Elordi gets a rabbit, Julianne Moore gets a bear, Michelle Yeoh gets a lady bug and … I get a rooster. (They are actually very comfortable.) pic.twitter.com/H7X2Bdmdgu
— Vanessa Friedman (@VVFriedman) September 21, 2024
A new top-level appointment at Bottega Veneta, however, makes us think the brand is now seeking a new way to communicate its identity to the public. It has in fact been announced that Emilie Leblanc has become the Maison’s new Global Marketing and Communications Director, replacing Thierry Conrad Reutenauer, who moved to Loewe at the end of 2025. Before landing at the Intrecciato offices, Leblanc held the same role at Celine in Paris, as well as working for more than ten years at Saint Laurent.
It marks the beginning of a new chapter for Bottega Veneta, one led by Louise Trotter, who has already brilliantly demonstrated her ability to interpret the brand’s DNA in a contemporary way, by Emilie Leblanc, and by a future CEO who will have big expectations to meet. We can only hope that the Maison’s new artistic and managerial direction will be different from the usual, but just as spectacular.
