A Brand New Bottega Veneta

After 17 years, Bottega Veneta's creative director Tomas Maier has stepped down, handing the baton over to the relatively unknown designer Daniel Lee. While his name doesn't elicit the same level of excitement as Phoebe Philo (who was rumoured to be taking over from Maier), Lee has an impressive resume for a 32-year-old. The Central Saint Martins alumnus was most recently director of ready-to-wear design at Céline under Philo, with stints at Maison Margiela, Balenciaga and Donna Karan before he joined Céline in 2012.

Lee's role as creative director for Bottega Veneta took effect on July 1. His appointment reflects on the strategy of Kering - which owns Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Balenciaga among other luxury brands - to hand the creative reins to a young designer. It's a strategy that has proved eminently successful since Alessandro Michele (previously the accessories designer under Gucci's former creative director Frida Giannini) completely overhauled Gucci when he took over in 2015.

In fact, one could say that Lee's appointment was long overdue. During his tenure, Tomas Maier was a shot in the arm for Bottega Veneta, turning the house around and still growing it even a decade after his appointment in 2001. The 52-year-old brand even exceeded US$1 billion in revenue for the first time in 2012. But in the past few years, Maier's Midas touch was beginning to fade. His designs suffered from lacklustre reviews and more importantly, did not translate into steady sales, nor could they make the crossover into the burgeoning millennial market.