Mathematics and problem-solving underpinned the Bottega Veneta S/S 14 show. It seemed to be about questions being answered, sums being worked out and new theories being reached. Shirts and trousers came in a checked print that resembled graph paper, while tailoring - the focus of the collection - arrived with markings that resembled tailor's chalkings, as if the jackets and shirts were still being constructed and fitted.
Tomas Maier has always been something of an inventor - a somewhat obsessed sartorial scientist toiling away to perfect his work. Precision is central to what he does and this collection seemed to be about the struggle and strive to work out some secret menswear formula. It's apt that one bomber appeared with rushed scribbles across the front, as if a piece of work had been hurriedly crossed out - you got the sense that this collection was a work in progress, part of Maier's attempt to cultivate and refine luxury menswear under the Bottega name. But those academic scribbles and precise graphic checks didn't leave much room for flair or spontaneity - even those chalk marks, a detail that should have looked easy and effortless, looked precise and stiff. Still, the Bottega man is an aloof soul - he doesn't go for fashion that screams or shouts, 'his own initials are enough', remember - so this refined, considered collection will speak his language. Tailoring is the armour of business after all, and all good businessmen respect planning and consideration rather than chance.