Why did Bottega Veneta disappear from all social media?

2021 will be a chaotic year, as we have already understood. Yesterday the world of the Internet wondered about the inexplicable disappearance of the Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, whose traces have been lost for about two months and today we are wondering about another illustrious disappearance: Bottega Veneta's Instagram account has vaporized into nothingness with its 2.5 million followers along with all the social networks of the brand. It's certainly more plausible that it's a calculation and not a mistake – because if you talk about error, the metaphorical heads of an entire social media team might soon roll on the floors of Kering's house. The question therefore remains, after excluding even a temporary malfunction, whether this is not all an elaborate marketing strategy or, less likely, the desire to clean up all the previous contents in view of some important breakthrough. 

But another (and perhaps more imaginative) situation may have occurred: the brand removed from Instagram of its own free will. A move that at first seems absolutely crazy, but that could actually represent a new and more decisive level of that "absence strategy" that Daniel Lee had put in place with the closed-door presentation of the SS21 collection, kept in the strictest secret for months before being brought to the public. A way, as was written about it last month, to merge 'experiential luxury with all the charm of a secret society'. But even so, the many questions raised by the complete wipe-out from social media – which, regardless of any opinion about it, still remain the main bridge of communication between a brand and its digital community – are not resolved.

One last hypothesis would also seem likely: a hacker attack. A not entirely unusual event in the world of social media, even at a high level, which may have led to the closure of every social account digital security issues. One thing is certain: in the face of such a resounding disappearance, the brand will have to provide explanations. Explanations which, it is to be hoped, should come in the next few hours.