Bottega Veneta’s Intrecciato turns 50: Bruno Munari inspires the celebration

Bruno Munari’s Supplement to the Italian dictionary added a fundamental component to language: gestures. Bottega Veneta starts from that very idea, involving figures like Tyler, The Creator, Dario Argento, Julianne Moore, and many others to honor the creation and design of its iconic pattern.

Bringing the fingers of one hand together in a small metaphorical artichoke to create a questioning gesture; weaving strips of leather to construct a visual language recognized around the world. In terms of design, these are two expressions of the same uniquely Italian ability: using gestures to give form and, above all, meaning to what surrounds us.

Bruno Munari understood this well. Among his many obsessions – light, yet all-encompassing – was the observation of people’s behavior, interactions, and emotions, from which objects and spaces were born: one only has to think of his legendary “search for comfort in an uncomfortable armchair.” In 1963, he formalized this philosophy in another iconic project made entirely of gestures: the Supplemento al dizionario italiano (Supplement to the Italian Dictionary), where the aforementioned questioning artichoke appeared on the cover. It paved the way for gestures like the horns (warding off bad luck), raised index fingers (“just a moment!”), bitten fingers (anger), and finger rings (“o.k.”). These were mostly photographs of hands, occasionally faces, many by Ballo+Ballo, that gave expression to the inexpressible. 


Bottega Veneta sensed this and chose to start from the Supplement to celebrate 50 years of Intrecciato, as a signature style that has always stressed the uniqueness of their craftsmanship. In the campaign titled “Craft is our Language”, we see the same monochromatic tones, close-ups, and hands. This time, it’s Julianne Moore asking for silence, K-pop singer I.N. bringing the horn gesture into music, Tyler, The Creator clasping his hands, and Dario Argento adding a gesture of his own. There’s also Lauren Hutton – who in 1980 brought Bottega Veneta into the visual landscape of American Gigolo, alongside Moroder, Blondie, and Mercedes convertibles – now appearing in campaign videos, engaging in conversation with Bottega Veneta artisans, the artist Barbara Chase-Riboud, and actors like Thanaerng and Terrance Lau.

The project unites various forms of art to pursue that same Munari-style synthesis in an ideal continuation of the Supplement. A book is planned, compiling 50 new gestures inspired by Bottega Veneta’s cultural world. That’s why the project has been choreographed, specifically by Lenio Kaklea. As she told Domus, this was necessary as “the use of hands allows us to intuitively guide our thoughts; it reveals things about where we come from, how we connect in the present.” Art director Paul Olivennes echoed this vision: “It’s a powerful visual subject, but also an intimate one – everyone carries within them the sensory memory of the hand: the memory of touch, of emotion, of the beginnings of communication between two people”. 


The campaign materializes in photographs by Jack Davison, born from a dialogue with gestures first and foremost, and with the personalities who reinterpreted them. We see close-ups of the new “items” in the vocabulary of gestures, followed by the faces and bodies necessary to channel those gestures that are more performative. The Intrecciato is present but never dominant: everything is “as stripped back as possible”, as Davison intended. These are images that capture moments of pause and emotional intensity. Dense, yet light: just like Munari’s obsessions.

Opening image: Dario Argento in Bottega Veneta's new “Craft is our language”  campaign. Photo Jack Davison

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