A polyphonic wandering through Swiss folklore, the BALLY Fall/Winter 2024 collection designed by Simone Bellotti respires with the tension of the sober and the wild. Revealed within the patrician halls of the 17th century Palazzo Serbelloni in the centre of Milan, the season draws upon the potent mysticism of mountain stories.
The pastoral verve of silvesterchlausen* - worldly and untamed - abuts the coded uniforms of the Zurich streets in a crescendo from the raw towards the rational. Investigating tales of mermaids and men whispered by the Engadine lakes, Bellotti nods to the siren’s tail and the treicheln bell in flared forms that hug the body and sculpt the silhouette.
Broken by Swiss red, a natural palette ripples with texture. Shearling and waxy leathers, loden, mohair and alpine jacquard knits are assembled alongside smooth wool, draped satin and corduroy. With deep pockets, buttoned high against the elements, jackets and coats swing from the shoulders, are cut with curved hems or bloom with wild sleeves. Rhythmic notions of Swiss dressing co-exist through idiosyncrasies both historical and contemporary.
Worn with straight cords and indigo denim, ‘proper’ crisp cotton shirts and boatneck sweaters, BALLY’s heritage footwear anchors the wardrobe with 170 years of tradition and craftsmanship. Soft and malleable, the snubtoe ‘Plume’ deck shoe becomes a lace-up bootie or thigh-high cuissard, the ‘Glendale’ Mary-Jane is spiked and studded with Appenzeller charms, and derbies or block-heeled boots are finished in polished or oiled leathers. Buckled satchels, briefcases and zippered carry-alls are worn in monochrome calfskin with gilt or silvered hardware, as the profile of a slouchy shoulder bag is constructed with the leather sole of a BALLY shoe.
*17th century Swiss pagan New Year’s Eve costumes celebrating Saint Sylvester crafted from natural materials such as ivy, moss and twigs. Continuing their collaboration, and the concept of escapism and travel through music, Bellotti once again invites DJ LEO MAS to create the BALLY Fall/Winter 2024 show soundtrack together. A seminal figure in the European music scene in the 1980s, bringing the sounds of Chicago house music to the islands and creating a new Balearic sound, Mas was notably house DJ at the Ibiza nightlife institution Amnesia during the 1987 ‘Summer of Love’.
BALLY Zine Number One Celebrating the all-but-lost art of zine making, BALLY partners with the Swiss artist book publisher Nieves to create the first-ever BALLY Zine on the occasion of the Fall/Winter 2024 Fashion Show. Featuring all-new work by the Swiss artist Beni Bischof (b. 1976), the 24-page collectible zine is an abstract journey into the season’s artistic and cultural inspirations, all depicted in Bischof’s signature collages, photography and watercolour painting style.
From the pagan spirit of Swiss folkloric costumes to the stilt houses of Bally Park in Schönenwerd, playful anecdotes of Swiss-ness abound, as Bischof delves into Simone Bellotti’s imagination and BALLY’s heritage mingled with his own anecdotic characters and playful prose. About BENI BISCHOF Beni Bischof lives and works in in St.Gallen, Switzerland. Beni Bischof is the ultimate mix and matcher: in all his work he combines and adapts existing images, texts and situations. His work can be read as an ironic commentary on the banality of everyday life.