“I don’t like the construction of this shirt at all,” says Louise Trotter, appraising the black button-down she’s wearing. We are sitting in a dark-wood-paneled library overlooking the garden courtyard of Bottega Veneta’s Milan headquarters. It’s the Friday of the last week in July, just before the city empties for the summer holiday and the Italian label, known for its woven-leather handbags, officially closes for two weeks. As its still-new creative director, Trotter rarely has a day off, often coming into the office on weekends for fittings or to prepare marketing campaigns.
At 57, Trotter is understated. She doesn’t seem to be wearing makeup, and her ears are pierced three times on each side. Tucked under her arm is one of the first bags she designed for Bottega, a large paneled tote called the Barbara, stuffed messily with papers. She’s wearing a variation of her usual uniform — the in-progress shirt, tucked into black trousers, with white slip-on sneakers and a pair of thick, black-rimmed glasses. “I like to hide a little bit in the shadows,” she tells me. “I’m watching people all the time.
