When Less is More

Tomas Maier was personally recruited by Tom Ford as Creative Director of Bottega after Gucci Group (now Kering) acquired the Bottega brand. Maier redefined the luxury branding landscape with his choice to exclude logos from his designs, something few high end brands did, particularly with their accessories and leather goods. Maier affirmed Bottega's return to its logo-less "stealth luxury" heritage, embodied in the house's legendary slogan: "When your own initials are enough." Possibly the most elegant flex in fashion history. Before anything else, Maier established what he called "the four cornerstones": fine-quality materials, extraordinary craftsmanship, contemporary functionality, and timeless design.

One of his first acts as creative director was crafting the Cabat bag from thin strips of double-sided leather woven entirely by hand — a piece requiring no less than two days of work, modernizing the intrecciato technique while honoring the house's roots. In 2006, the brand opened the Scuola della Pelletteria to train the next generation of leatherworking artisans — a quiet, radical act of preservation at a time when fashion was moving faster than ever.

In 2006, the brand opened the Scuola della Pelletteria to train the next generation of leatherworking artisans, encouraging the preservation of the craft at a time when fashion was moving quickly and true craftsmanship was becoming less utilized. Under Maier's reign, Bottega grew substantially, earning over $1 billion in sales annually with logo-less yet distinct artisanal designs.