Bottega Veneta's "Personality Over Polish" Will be the New Mood Next Spring

Miranda Priestly might have sat front row at Dolce & Gabbana, but even her appearance couldn't quite steal the spotlight from Bottega Veneta, where, earlier this afternoon, Louise Trotter made her debut as creative director.

Her celebrity ticket-holders were an eclectic assortment of A-listers (Julianne Moore, Michelle Yeoh, Steve McQueen but also the star of Adolescence, Emmy-winning, 15 year-old Owen Cooper), who very well might have dialled their stylists for a post-show debrief of a masterful first collection.

This was a slow-burn sequence that didn't build to a crescendo so much as deliver quietly knockout look after look (although a fabulous series of filament-fringe jackets had a staccato flutter as they moved down the catwalk and one, undoubtedly, should be snapped up by aqua-haired attendee Vicky Krieps).

The showmanship was in the styling, which was elegant yet ever-so-slightly undone, dodging polish for something harder to put your finger on. The sleeve of a leather dress fell off the right shoulder; a chunky knit looped around the neck; hems puddled over flat shoes; giant handbags were clutched protectively to the body; cuffs stretched below the knuckles; a shirt collar popped over the lapel of its accompanying blazer. These might have been precision-engineered but they looked anything but, lending a fringed coat, say, or a pencil skirt with two hemlines a sense of personality.

Bottega Veneta's "Intrecciato", its signature woven leather, expanded its lexicon from handbags to outerwear and even blouses, with one hot take in the form of a structured polo neck that, again, would be a dynamite alternative to a gown on the red carpet. The patent clogs, meanwhile, with studs and a slightly upturned pointed toe will soon have a cult following.

As one of the most illustrious but also influential brands at Milan Fashion Week, Trotter's appointment was universally feted by editors. As well as her stellar CV, with creative director credits at Carven, Lacoste and Joseph, not forgetting stints at household names like Gap, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, she joins the steadily burgeoning ranks of female leaders of design houses along with Sarah Burton (at Givenchy), Meryll Rogge (at Marni) and most recently Rachel Scott (at Proenza Schouler).

Women designing for women shouldn't be surprising, but in an industry largely still powered by the creative minds of men, it's a tentative sign that, slowly, things might be changing.

Trotter's past experience is an interesting mix of high street and high end. Born in Sunderland, she cut her teeth at Whistles, a retail stalwart whose customer appreciates a style of clothing that could be called "affordable luxury", and it's this background of speaking to a swathe of customers that perhaps informed her first collection at Bottega Veneta, the leather goods brand that renewed its relevance under the leadership of its two previous creative directors: Daniel Lee, now at Burberry, and Matthieu Blazy, who is poised to make his debut at Chanel.

Trotter's inaugural collection might not have contained one standout piece that will generate column inches (Blazy's "checked shirt" that was actually crafted of leather was an instant talking point modelled by Kate Moss), but perhaps it did something equally powerful, providing a tantalising alternative to "in-your-face" fashion. These are clothes that let their wearer make of them what they will, not the other way round. And what, at the end of the day, is more luxurious than that?