Bottega Veneta hires footwear designer Safa Sahin

By

Dominique Muret

Translated by
Roberta HERRERA

Published
May 18, 2022

Bottega Veneta is expanding its creative team. Safa Sahin is joining Kering's Italian luxury label as a consultant designer for footwear. The ingenious Turkish designer and artist, who held the position of head of sneaker design at Balmain since 2019, announced the news himself on social media.

In an Instagram post uploaded on his account featuring the brand’s iconic green color, Sahin stated how he looks forward to “officially embark on a new creative journey” with the brand and to work alongside creative director Matthieu Blazy, who has been at the helm of style at Bottega Veneta since November 2021. The Turkish designer has particularly stood out for his futuristic and bizarre designs for Balmain, such as the Unicorn sneaker recently unveiled by Olivier Rousteing, and for Nike.

Sahin, who graduated from a design school specialized in footwear, also studied art in Italy and Turkey while he began to work in the industry. Between 2013 and 2016, he launched his own shoe brand before being spotted by Nike, where he joined its ranks of shoe designers. He left the American giant three years later to join Balmain.