LAUNCHING its latest, limited-edition fanzine, Bottega Veneta continues to spotlight the importance of print publications in a progressively digital world. Depicting the creative process behind Matthieu Blazy’s spring-summer 2024 collection, the zine celebrates physicality and imagination.
Featuring photography by Alec Soth, the four volumes of the zine showcase behind-the-scenes images, sketches, stickers and a travel notebook to transport readers to the campaign shoot in Tokyo.
Bottega Veneta SS24 Fanzine
Set across playground locations in Tokyo, the campaign is centred around various structures in the shape of animals, rocks and mushrooms. Whimsical, fun and ethereal, the images echo Blazy’s interest in craft and adventure.
“When I encounter Matthieu’s work, I am in two worlds simultaneously,” explains Soth. “One is profoundly physical – a world of craftsmanship that engages all the senses – and the other is the stuff of dreams. My guiding approach to the campaign was playfulness. The playgrounds felt like a metaphor for Matthieu’s imagination. I wanted to bring the same spirit to my pictures.”
Bottega Veneta SS24 Fanzine
Bottega Veneta SS24 Fanzine
Alongside the campaign imagery, Volumes 2 and 3 of the zine come with a sticker set portraying motifs from the Tokyo playground structures, pieces from the SS24 runway and vintage travel graphics.
Bottega Veneta SS24 Fanzine
“Summer 24 is an Odyssey,” says Blazy. “It is a journey that is both free and hopeful. A connection to who you once were, who you would like to be and where you want to go. The fanzine allows any reader, anywhere, to join that journey, and to imagine and record their own escapes and adventures – whether in the world, or their creativity.”
As Bottega Veneta’s fourth fanzine, Summer 24 will not only be available in Bottega Veneta stores, but also in a selection of bookstores. The zine will be stocked in Reading Room and Libreria Bocca in Milan, Yvon Lambert and Cahier Central in Paris, Climax, Claire de Rouen and the ICA bookstore in London, Lulu & The Beanstalk in Dubai, Strand, McNally Jackson and Mast in New York, Still Books, PDF and The Phrase in Seoul, Tsutaya Books in Shanghai and Komiyama, Watarium and Tsutaya Books in Tokyo.
The brand is also hosting an Alec Soth exhibition – running from March 29th to April 14th – at Seeen, 1F/B1F Jingumae Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo. Titled Tokyo Playtime, the exhibition will feature the campaign imagery alongside more of Soth’s eclectic compositions.
by Sophie Richardson