A New Female Designer Takes Center Stage

In the fashion equivalent of a nuclear chain reaction, Bottega Veneta announced on Thursday that Matthieu Blazy, its designer of three years and the man who made it into a must-see brand in Milan, was leaving the house.He is expected to become the new designer of Chanel.Replacing Mr.

Blazy at Bottega Veneta will be Louise Trotter, currently the designer of the French brand Carven, which has yet to name her replacement.Ms.Trotter, who will take up her post at Bottega Veneta at the end of January 2025, will become the only female creative director among the stable of designers at Kering, the group that owns Bottega Veneta as well as Gucci, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga.Ms.

Trotter comes to Bottega after spending just shy of two years at Carven, a house she rescued from irrelevance and reinvented as a minimalist’s haven of accessible but plush luxury.Her taste “seamlessly combines exquisite design with sublime craft, and her commitment to cultural advocacy aligns beautifully with our brand vision,” said Leo Rongone, the chief executive of Bottega Veneta, in a news release.Ms.Trotter, 55, will inherit a house that Mr.

Blazy helped transform into the brightest spot in Kering’s portfolio.For the third quarter of this year, Bottega’s revenues were just under 400 million euros ($416.6 million), an increase of 4 percent, at a time when Gucci’s revenues dropped 25 percent and Saint Laurent’s 13 percent.During his tenure at Bottega, Mr.

Blazy, 40, introduced fine jewelry and a genderless perfume.He was nominated as designer of the year for the 2022 and 2023 Fashion Awards in London.

Celebrity fans included Jacob Elordi, Michelle Yeoh, ASAP Rocky, Julianne Moore and Jennifer Lawrence, who recently wore a Bottega dress to show off her pregnancy at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles.A Brit, Ms.Trotter brings years of experience to Bottega, with previous creative director stints at Lacoste and the English label Joseph.

At a time when fashion,...