The new Bottega Veneta leather sequins bag is dividing the internet, with some followers calling it mermaid chic and others saying it looks cheap. It also raises a bigger question for luxury houses: how to protect a signature design when a lookalike of the brand's best-known weave already sells on Amazon for £44.56.
The Highsnobiety Style Instagram post likened the bag's overlapping leather pieces to roof tiles and fish scales, calling it unexpected but still unmistakably Bottega. The house's woven leather has not disappeared either. Louise Trotter's second show for Bottega, held in Milan on 26 September, featured woven leather on a men's trench coat and a pair of tall boots.
Why the Weave Is Hard to Protect
Bottega Veneta has held a registered US trademark on its intrecciato weave since 2013. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board accepted that shoppers link the weave to the brand, but the registration narrowly describes the technique, specifying the direction and method of interlacing. The Board pointed to the house's consistent use of the weave across its products, press recognition, and limited use by competitors.
Other designers have found that woven patterns are not easy to protect. FashionUnited reported in February that the US Patent and Trademark Office rejected an application from Naghedi, a US handbag label founded in 2016, to register a woven neoprene pattern. The office concluded that shoppers would see the pattern as surface decoration rather than a sign of who made the bag.
Chic or Impossible To Look At?
Reactions on Instagram quickly split into three distinct camps, reflecting how drastically a single tactile tweak can shift perception. The playful majority embraced the whimsical, aquatic vibe, dubbing the shimmering scales 'It's giving mermaid'. On the opposite end stood the brand loyalists, who viewed the deviation from traditional weave as a downgrade, asking, 'But why.. it looks cheap now'.
Beyond style debates, the dense, overlapping pattern triggered a visceral, physical discomfort for others. Comments like 'Trypophobia' and 'it's impossible to look at' highlighted how easily clustered, repeating textures can cross the line from luxury experiment to sensory overload.
Are the Fakes Really Identical?
Online commentary quickly seized on copycats to explain the redesign, with one widely shared theory claiming Bottega had to act because Amazon lookalikes had become indistinguishable from the real thing.
Yet while mass-market dupes have flooded the market, such as popular £45 woven suede-effect totes designed to mimic the house's signature silhouette, a closer look reveals key differences. The low-cost alternatives rely on synthetic, machine-stitched materials and simple handles, skipping the labor-intensive handweaving and signature metal knot hardware that define authentic luxury pieces.
Rather than a panic-driven response to identical knockoffs, other observers saw the release as a calculated expansion of the range. As one follower noted, the house didn't abandon its roots; it simply added a new texture to the lineup, giving shoppers a fresh option while forcing copycats to catch up.
The Construction Behind the Texture
The scale-texture piece is a seasonal release of Bottega Veneta's signature Andiamo bag. Offered in shades like black and cream, the design swaps flat woven Intrecciato strips for individual leather sequins stitched in overlapping rows, while retaining classic Andiamo features including the metallic knot clasp, top handle, and sliding braided strap.
By pushing beyond its traditional weave, Bottega Veneta proves that true exclusivity rests not on a single trademarked pattern, but on the house's willingness to keep evolving.
