Autumn/Winter 2021 pays tribute to Bally’s remarkable 170-year heritage of excellence in design and leather craftsmanship, which first began in Switzerland in 1851.
Through a multitude of inspirations from modern art, architecture and the environment, the new season collection explores the consistent and continuous techniques that have come to define Bally for generations, fusing modern utility with unexpected layering. What results is a timeless yet timely range of functional sartorial styles for today’s world.
House icons are further reinterpreted, like the Bally Stripe, streamlined through a raised bombé technique, while the 1851 symmetrical hardware graces across footwear and accessories. A celebratory monogram, created especially for the anniversary by Offshore, a Swiss graphic studio, features the signature B-Chain interlocked ad infinitum, purposefully resembling shoelaces as a creative nod to Bally’s founding as a shoemaker.
The designs also stay true to the brand’s mountain heritage, expressed through its support of early expeditions around the world, from the Himalayas to the Andes of Peru. Two particular climbing expeditions to the Cordillera, led by France’s Lionel Terray and Switzerland’s Raymond Lambert in 1956 and 1957, respectively, inspired consummate hiking boots with a recreated take on the Grip sole, produced by Bally since the 1940’s. A nouveau Bally red evokes the rich and variegated landscape of Rainbow Mountain in Peru and Laguna Colorada in Bolivia. From the Swiss Alps, native forget-me-nots get abstracted into graphic, cellular prints, as a warm, earthy color palette features bone, ebony and deep moss.
Integrating the city and the outdoors, raw forms are contoured and shaped with a contemporary take on tailoring, while reconstituted leathers morph into beguiling silhouettes; natural dyes meet alpaca yarns, making each piece singular and unique.
An homage to Bally’s legacy in the making, A/W 2021 is an innovative continuum of Swiss craft, culture and design honoring past, present and future codes.
A BETTER FUTURE
Legacy Continua draws out Bally’s artisanal processes at their most sublime with relevance and care. As a committed signatory of the Fashion Pact, Bally is dedicated to mitigating its environmental impact as a fashion brand, and the A/W 2021 collection takes important steps to integrate Bally’s Sustainability mandate, from sourcing 100% recycled materials to introducing natural, eco-friendly dyes.
SHOES
Leather-crafted platform heels are donned with oversized 1851 hardware in dark, rich tones. Functional outdoor styles, including new Curling as well as hiking boots, inspired by a century of references from the Bally Archive, strike a balance between ease and exploration. Sleek Janelle pumps and sneakers live alongside lambskin boots in heritage red with bombé detail.
BAGS
A/W 2021 makes a mark with standout silhouettes, like a graceful Cabana bucket bag with monogram motifs or supersize ultra-soft leather totes with embossed logos. Graphic B-Chain cross-body minibags and shoulder bags boast bombé Bally Stripe inspired details, and saddle bags with woven finishes and contrast stitching.
READY-TO-WEAR
Elevated workwear sees sumptuous yet sporty layering across streamlined styles for a new take on tailoring. Traditional methods are applied to contemporary materials, as with an expertly patchworked leather coat, for a definitive sartorial look in the season’s earthy hues. Foundational robe coats in brushed alpaca-wool monogram jacquard and ribbed, roll-neck sweaters bring textural elegance, while quilted patterns and Prince of Wales check add classic charm.
TEXTURES & MATERIALS
Demonstrating its brilliance as leather architects for 170 years, crafted silhouettes feature patchwork leather, supple grains, vegetable - tanned leather and shearling. Wool jerseys also meet Peruvian alpaca yarns and recycled blends, dyed with pomegranate and tree bark using low-impact, GOTS-certified processes.
COLOR
Bally looks to its most iconic hues for A/W 2021 with colorways found in nature, like a lusher, heritage red inspired by the Andean landscape, referencing historical mountain expeditions that Bally helped sponsor in the early 20th century. Warm, earthy tones also include deep moss, stone, ebony and clay.
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