Quiet Good Taste: Bottega Veneta founder and...

Quiet Good Taste: Bottega Veneta founder and designer Laura Moltedo travels constantly between homes in Italy and New York. When in Los Angeles, though, she thinks of romance. “I got married here in Los Angeles for the second time 15 years ago,” she said during a visit Tuesday to her Beverly Hills store.

From her jet-setting perspective, do the fashion sensibilities of L.A. women differ significantly from those of New York women? “When you are here,” she said, “you want to wear white and beige because of the abundance of light.”

Yet the company’s fall ’93 palette is darker than ever. No problem. Women frequently carry Bottega Veneta bags from seasons past. “Sometimes I think they last too long.” A woman recently brought in a 20-year-old bag for repairs. “I told her, ‘Isn’t about time for a change?’ ”