Thought you ladies and gents might enjoy this NY Times article on Tomas Maier. Interesting what he has to say about personal commissions and celebs. . .
November 4, 2007
Hide and Chic
By ARMAND LIMNANDER
Designer stereotypes are easy to come by — say “Gucci girl” or “Versace babe,” and a clear picture (usually involving bikinis in St.-Tropez or fur in Gstaad) instantly emerges. Other labels, however, are harder to classify. Although Bottega Veneta has become the second-most-profitable brand in the Gucci Group stable and is one of the most recognizable luxury names on the planet, one would be hard-pressed to identify a Bottega look. That’s because its creative director, Tomas Maier, likes it that way. Whether he’s designing furniture, woven leather handbags, men’s and women’s clothes, fine jewelry or sunglasses, he always places a premium on materials, handwork and process over glitzy logos and fly-by-night trends. Unlike many of his peers, Maier believes that if you’ve truly got it, you would never dream of flaunting it.
What’s the element that ties together the Bottega Veneta furniture, clothing, accessories and jewelry lines?
A desire for quality, good design and functionality. I don’t like products that don’t work or are designed for design’s sake. Objects that are beautiful but work well generate appreciation despite their years — like a Barcelona chair or a Saarinen table.
I sense that everything about the Bottega lines can be mixed and matched — you usually display your furniture with modernist, Asian or 18th-century pieces.My clients have their own personality and taste. They would never buy clothing that’s head to toe, and the same applies to furniture. I design for a person who owns a home that has come together over the years. I hate it when you go into somebody’s house and the furniture screams at you. I prefer to get an overall impression of an interior, and then be slowly drawn in.
Explain to me the importance of beige. I have a feeling that you love it.
I do, because it’s quiet and it provides a subtle background to whatever you have around, whether it’s art or people.
One could argue that there’s a kind of social consciousness when it comes to some luxury products; otherwise, artisanship wouldn’t exist. When price is dictated by workmanship rather than status, the item acquires a different kind of value.
I totally agree. I find it extremely enriching to work with craftsmen who carry on their tradition. We have launched a school in Italy to form new leather artisans for the company because it’s important to show young people that their skills have a future. I’m working on establishing collaborations with other forms of craft that are disappearing, like porcelain. And our fine jewelry is made in Pforzheim, Germany, my hometown, because we couldn’t find a real gold chain maker in Italy.
Would it be fair to say that you have an offhand approach to luxury? Can you see a girl in a Tomas Maier bathing suit coming out of a pool and lying down on a Bottega leather couch, not caring that it’s going to get wet?
Used is good. A bag always looks best when a woman has carried it for years and it’s broken in. A jacket that you’ve had for a while is much more pleasant than when you just bought it, because it takes the shape of your body and has much more character.
Do you follow celebrity culture in any way? Are you rooting for Britney? Any chance of ever seeing Paris wearing Bottega?
I’m not for celebrity placements, but I’m not saying that
Paris Hilton cannot wear Bottega. If somebody likes the product and they actually buy it, who am I to judge?
Do you get many outrageous requests for personal commissions?
On a daily basis. People like to have their own colors and materials. Some make sense and others are crazy, but what might look horrific in New York may be right under the Mexican sun. Sometimes I change the proportions on bags — for example, if a woman is very tall, I’ll enlarge the scale by 15 or 20 percent — but I never change the design. I created a 28-piece set of luggage made especially to fit in the storage room of a private jet. We just opened hotel suites in the St. Regis in New York and in Rome. And we now have furniture that can be folded away. There’s a camp bed, bench, stool and tray table, and all of it folds up super skinny so you can slide it into a narrow space.
Do you live the life you sell?
Yeah, sure. But luxury means different things to different people. I don’t even like to use the word because it doesn’t mean anything anymore. For example, I like to eat scrambled eggs on a nice plate; to me, that’s very important. And I’ll go out of my way to buy a piece of bread that I like, or to find tomatoes that have flavor. I prefer to have very little, but it has to be exactly the right thing.
NYT Article on Tomas Maier
And I just love these quotes: 
