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By Matthew Dalton 

PARIS--Bottega Veneta named British designer Daniel Lee as the brand's new creative director, choosing a relative unknown in the industry to revive the struggling Italian fashion house.

Mr. Lee, 32 years old, is currently the head of ready-to-wear design at Céline, the French luxury label owned by LVMH Möet Hennessy Louis Vuitton. With Mr. Lee on the team, Céline has been one of LVMH's fastest-growing fashion brands in recent years.

Mr. Lee's appointment signals that Bottega's corporate parent Kering SA wants a fresh face to turn around the brand after several years of slumping sales. It echoes one of Kering's most successful personnel moves: Gucci's decision to pluck Alessandro Michele from anonymity as a staff designer at the brand and name him its creative director in 2015. Mr. Michele's designs went on to power booming sales at Gucci.

"Daniel Lee has a deep understanding of the House's current challenges both in terms of creation and development," said Bottega Chief Executive Claus Dietrich Lars.

Tomas Maier, Bottega's previous creative director, brought the brand back to its roots as a manufacturer of finely-made leather goods. Bottega is known for a complex leather weaving technique called intrecciato, the signature of a brand that displays no logo.

But Mr. Maier's understated elegance struggled to attract younger generations. Sales fell 9% over the last two years, sinking to EUR1.17 billion ($1.35 billion) in 2017. Those problems were more glaring when set next to Gucci, which has powered Kering's results and secured a loyal following of millennial customers. Mr. Maier stepped aside this week.

Write to Matthew Dalton at Matthew.Dalton@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 15, 2018 04:34 ET (08:34 GMT)

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