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.
BALLY MAN
“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.” – John Muir, naturalist
SHOES
Hiking boots are inspired by archival designs from former climbing expeditions with B-Chain Grip motifs on the sole. Sneakers and men’s dress shoes are expertly leather-crafted, reflecting a color palette rooted in nature, whether bone, ebony or heritage red with technical Vibram soles on Chelsea boots.
BAGS
A/W 2021 introduces the Cliff family in smooth, vegetable-tanned leather, free of synthetic finishing. The range celebrates Bally’s heritage in leather craftsmanship, with a depth of quality and know-how that is incorporated into new eco-forward techniques.This new season represents innovative and versatile luxury with multi-functional designs featuring performance-based materials, such as water-resistant nylon. Conscious sourcing also replaces PVC with TPU and regenerated leather. All plastic elements are 100% recycled.
READY-TO-WEAR
Sartorial sportswear mirrors the spirit of the women’s collection, as Bally’s menswear redefines classic tailoring for greater utility and function. Ready for anything, modern styles, including wool canvas separates paired with aviator shearling, or casual jackets with large patch pockets are luxuriously layered. Quilted gilets, leather-crafted cardigans and structured outerwear signal contemporary comfort. Easy separates, like biowool knits, use recycled and traceable yarn.
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.