The New, New Bottega Veneta

MILAN — For years the fashion world whispered about a young designer called Matthieu Blazy, alumnus of Raf Simons, Martin Margiela, Celine (under Phoebe Philo) and Calvin Klein (with Mr. Simons). He was, in effect, the most-hyped open secret in the industry whom no one had ever heard of outside. Every time a big job came up, his name would get mentioned, but he stayed behind the scenes.

Until November, at least, when news broke that Daniel Lee, the British designer who had reinvigorated Bottega Veneta,