FLOAT 100 · Handbags · No. 64
Bottega Veneta Cassette
Bottega Veneta took the leather weave it had sold quietly for half a century, blew it up to giant strips, stuffed it like a pillow and created the padded Cassette, the crossbody that announced Daniel Lee's reboot from across a street.
- Year
- current
- Maker
- Bottega Veneta
- By price in handbags
- 97 of 100
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Create a free account- Maker
- Bottega Veneta, Vicenza, Italy, founded 1966
- Designer
- Daniel Lee, creative director 2018 to 2021
- Cassette debut
- Pre-fall 2019, as a maxi-weave flap bag
- Padded version
- Followed the next season, by most accounts; one account places it in pre-fall 2019 as well
- This entry
- Padded Cassette crossbody in black nappa, maxi intreccio weave
- Measured size
- About 10 in long, 7 in high, 2.5 in wide, 23 in strap drop
- Closure
- Magnetic flap with a triangular buckle
- Leather version retail, 2020
- $2,800
A house code, enlarged
Bottega Veneta was founded in Vicenza in 1966 by Michele Taddei and Renzo Zengiaro, and its signature has always been intrecciato: strips of leather woven through slits in another piece of leather. Under Tomas Maier, creative director from 2001 to 2018, the weave was fine and discreet, and the brand's line was 'When your own initials are enough.'
Daniel Lee, appointed in June 2018, reworked the code at a different scale. For pre-fall 2019 he introduced an exaggerated maxi weave on giant bags, totes and a flap bag. That flap bag became known as the Cassette.
The next season fans fell for its sister style, the Padded Cassette, in which each oversized woven strip is puffed like a cushion. Accounts differ on timing: one guide says the padded version followed the original by a season, while another says the Padded Cassette was first shown within the pre-fall 2019 collection. The padded effect is described as created with a high-frequency heat-sealing technique.
Daniel Lee's first runway
Lee, born in Bradford, England, in 1986 and trained at Central Saint Martins, came to Bottega Veneta from Celine, where he had been director of ready-to-wear under Phoebe Philo. His runway debut for the house came during Milan Fashion Week for the fall 2019 season, after his first bags, the Pouch and the Maxi Cabat, had already reached stores.
The change in the brand's look was felt immediately. In 2019 Lee won Designer of the Year, Womenswear Designer of the Year and Accessories Designer of the Year at the Fashion Awards in London, and Bottega Veneta won Brand of the Year. He left the house in November 2021.
His successor, Matthieu Blazy, paid the Cassette a public compliment: in his debut collection he styled the bag with a white tank top and a pair of jeans, a gesture read as respect for Lee's creation.
What to look for
The Padded Cassette is recognized by its puffed, pillowy woven leather and a distinctive triangular buckle on the front flap. A 2020 review praised the lambskin as buttery soft with a slight sheen and noted that the bag came in a single size, listed at 7 by 10.2 by 3.1 inches, with an adjustable strap for crossbody or shoulder wear. The strap can be tucked inside to carry the bag as a clutch.
Inside is a zippered pocket in smooth leather. Because the padding takes up so much volume, the interior is smaller than the outside suggests, and the magnetic closure was described as secure but a little tricky to open. Pre-owned listings measure the black nappa version at about 10 inches long, 7 inches high and 2.5 inches wide, with a 23-inch strap drop and silver-tone hardware.
The wider Cassette family grew to include the original flat Cassette, a small padded size, the tiny Candy Cassette, studded, chain, belt, camera, bowling and brick versions, in nappa, suede, metallic lambskin, grained calfskin and nylon. The flat Cassette sold today is a medium intreccio crossbody in calfskin, 15 cm high, 23 cm wide and 5 cm deep, with a 52 cm strap drop, a magnetic closure and silver-finish hardware, at $3,100.
From street style to the resale shelf
In May 2020 the leather Padded Cassette retailed for $2,800 and the suede for $2,700. By December 2022 the Cassette range ran from $1,250 for the Candy to $6,300 for a padded version with metallic studs. Rihanna, Victoria Beckham, Dua Lipa, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Jacob Elordi were all photographed carrying one.
Pre-owned prices are now far below the bag's later retail. In October 2026 a U.S. reseller listed a black nappa Padded Cassette in very good condition at $1,060 against an estimated retail of $5,100, and the black example this entry is based on had already sold.
The bag that made the weave loud
Before Lee, intrecciato was something you noticed up close. The Padded Cassette made it legible from across a street, and within a few years it had become, in one account's phrase, a cult object among trendsetters. Countless imitations followed, which some longtime fans felt cheapened the look.
The bag still defines the Lee era at Bottega Veneta, the period between Tomas Maier's quiet classics and Matthieu Blazy's craft-heavy collections, and it remains one of the most recognizable logo-free bags of its decade.
The numbers
- Dimensions (2020 review)
- 7 x 10.2 x 3.1 in
- Measured (pre-owned listings)
- About 10 in long, 7 in high, 2.5 in wide; 23 in drop
- Material
- Padded nappa lambskin in maxi intreccio weave; suede versions also made
- Hardware
- Triangular buckle on a magnetic flap; silver or gold tone
- Interior
- One zippered pocket in smooth leather
- Production quantity
- Not published
Timeline
Bottega Veneta is founded in Vicenza.
Gucci acquires Bottega Veneta; Tomas Maier becomes creative director.
Daniel Lee is appointed creative director.
Lee debuts the maxi weave for pre-fall 2019; the flap bag becomes the Cassette.
Lee's runway debut in Milan for the fall 2019 season; the Padded Cassette follows the original.
Lee wins four Fashion Awards, including Accessories Designer of the Year.
The leather Padded Cassette retails at $2,800, the suede at $2,700.
Lee leaves Bottega Veneta; Matthieu Blazy is named creative director.
The Cassette range runs from $1,250 to $6,300.
A pre-owned black Padded Cassette is listed at $1,060 in the U.S.
The world in 2013
Bottega Veneta's parent PPR renames itself Kering.
Bottega Veneta's Pouch is named the most wanted fashion product of the year by a global shopping index.
Kering's revenue rises to EUR 15.88 billion.
Kering's revenue falls to EUR 13.10 billion.
Bottega Veneta shuts down its social media accounts.
Daniel Lee is named chief creative officer of Burberry.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| May 2020 | $2,800 | Asking price, not a saleRetail price for the Padded Cassette in leather, as listed in a May 2020 review. |
| Oct 3, 2026 | $1,060 | Asking price, not a salePre-owned Padded Cassette in black nappa maxi intreccio, very good condition, listed by a U.S. reseller. |
This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.
By reference price, Bottega Veneta Cassette is number 97 of 100 in the handbags entries of the FLOAT 100. 19 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (64 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- The original Cassette was a flat flap bag; the padded version came after.
- The padded effect is described as made with high-frequency heat sealing.
- The strap tucks inside so the bag can be carried as a clutch.
- Matthieu Blazy styled the Cassette with a white tank top and jeans in his first Bottega Veneta collection.
- A version with metallic studs retailed for $6,300 in 2022.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 3, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026