Bally (fashion house)

Last updated

Bally International SA
Company type Private
Industry Fashion
Founded1851;174 years ago (1851) in Schönenwerd, Switzerland
Founder Carl Franz Bally, Fritz Bally
Headquarters
  • Via Industria 1
  • Caslano 6987
  • Switzerland
45°58′13″N8°52′36″E / 45.9701507°N 8.8766778°E / 45.9701507; 8.8766778
Number of locations
300+ boutiques
Key people
  • Nicolas Girotto (CEO)
  • Frédéric de Narp (vice-president)
  • Simone Bellotti (Creative Director)
Products
  • Shoes
  • bags
  • accessories
  • ready-to-wear
Revenue$380 million (2021) [1]
Owner Regent LP
Number of employees
1,500 (2024) [2]
Website bally.com

Bally International Ltd. [3] is a Swiss luxury fashion house and company founded in 1851 by brothers Carl Franz Bally and Fritz Bally based in Caslano, Switzerland.

Contents

Traditionally the brand was most known for its shoes but has ever since also diversified into leather goods, bags, baggage, accessories and ready-to-wear. Bally's current creative director is Simone Bellotti, who succeeded Rhuigi Villaseñor, who was its creative director from 2022-2023. [4] [5] [6]

It has been continuously owned and managed by the Bally family for six generations until 1999, when it was sold to TPG Inc., a private equity firm, based in San Francisco. [7] In 2008, it was sold to Labelux Group (presently known as JAB Holding Company) which is ultimately owned by the German Reimann family. [8] Currently, Bally is owned by Regent, a California-based private equity firm. [9]

History

Share certificate of C. F. Bally AG, issued 3 October 1907 C. F. Bally AG 1907.jpg
Share certificate of C. F. Bally AG, issued 3 October 1907
Previous logo Bally Logo.svg
Previous logo

Bally was founded as a shoe making business in 1851 by Carl Franz Bally and his brother Fritz in the basement of their family home in Schönenwerd, Solothurn, Switzerland. Carl Franz Bally had joined the family business, a silk ribbon manufacturer, when he was 17, but decided to go into shoe manufacturing after a stay in Paris. After Carl's death in 1899, the company continued under the management of Carl's sons, Eduard and Arthur [10] and continued to manufacture about two million pairs of shoes a year, employing 3,200 people. [11]

Modern era

From 1977 to 1999, Bally was owned by Oerlikon-Bührle. The brand first entered China in 1986, and the country has become its largest market since. [12]

After plans for an initial public offering were called off in 1998, Texas Pacific Group acquired Bally from Oerlikon-Bührle. [13] From 1999 to 2001, the company moved most of its activities from Schönenwerd to Caslano. [14]

In 2008, Texas Pacific Group sold Bally International AG to Vienna-based Labelux Group, part of Joh A. Benckiser, [15] for $596 million. [16] JAB moved Bally's headquarters to London. [17]

The company announced Frédéric de Narp, a former executive at Harry Winston, would become its chief executive officer in November 2013. [18] During his tenure, de Narp worked with Pablo Coppola as design director (2014–2016), [19] hired David Chipperfield to refurbish the brand's stores and put a bigger focus on womenswear. [20] In 2015, Bally took over Italian leather goods company Zagliani's Milan atelier for its in-house production of high-end bags and accessories. [21] From 2017, the company started to consolidate its operations in Milan and Caslano. [22] That same year, the company also opened a new, 15,120 square feet manufacturing facility in Lastra a Signa. [23]

In February 2018, owner JAB Holding Company agreed to sell a majority controlling stake to Chinese materials conglomerate Shandong Ruyi, [24] at a reported $700 million. [25] Bally was to become Shandong Ruyi’s first major acquisition in the European luxury accessories space, [26] and JAB planned to retain a minority stake. [27] However, the sale agreement between JAB Holdings and Shandong Ruyi failed to materialize [28] after the latter didn't manage to secure financing by 2020, more than two years after the deal was announced. [29]

Instead of seeking a new buyer, JAB decided to reinvest. [30] In May 2019, Bally appointed its COO Nicolas Girotto, who joined the company in October 2015 and sat on the brand's board of directors and executive committee, as new CEO. [31] In January 2022, Rhuigi Villaseñor was appointed as creative director. Rhuigi was previously founder, CEO, and creative director of the luxury streetwear brand Rhude. [32] [33] In May 2023, after only two collections, Bally and Villaseñor jointly announced his departure from the brand. [34]

Two weeks after the announcement of Villaseñor's departure, Simone Belloti was appointed as design director. [35] In 2024, Bally worked with actor Adrien Brody on a travel collection. [36]

Bally was acquired in August 2024 by California-based private equity firm Regent. [37] [9]

Boutiques

Bally store in Hong Kong HK CWB Fashion Walk shop Bally windows.jpg
Bally store in Hong Kong

As of 2024, Bally's retail network included 320 boutiques, with 500 multi-brand points of sale spanning 66 countries. [38] [39]

Advertising

For its advertising campaigns, Bally has been working with photographers including Alasdair McLellan (2023). [40] Its campaigns have featured Tiffany Tang (2017), [41] Deng Lun (2019), [42] Huang Jingyu (2021) [43] and Roy Wang (2023). [44]

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References

  1. ↑ Lauren Indvik (30 November 2023), Bally — can the shoemaker finally make a footprint in fashion?  Financial Times .
  2. ↑ Luisa Zargani (15 August 2024), EXCLUSIVE: JAB Sells Bally to Regent Affiliate Women's Wear Daily .
  3. ↑ AG, DV Bern. "Bally International SA". Commercial registry office of Canton Ticino. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  4. ↑ Rhuigi Villaseñor leaves Bally after less than two years Vogue, Maliha Shoaib, May 16, 2023
  5. ↑ "A Designer Inspired by Club DJS, Fishing Apparel and Ceremonial Masks". The New York Times . 21 March 2024.
  6. ↑ Garcia-Furtado, Laia (31 May 2023). "Simone Bellotti Is Bally's New Design Director". Vogue. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  7. ↑ W. W. D. Staff (31 August 1999). "SWISS FIRM TO SELL BALLY TO TEXAS PACIFIC GROUP". WWD. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  8. ↑ Meikle, Brad (24 April 2008). "TPG sells Bally". Buyouts. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
  9. 1 2 Luisa Zargani (15 August 2024), EXCLUSIVE: JAB Sells Bally to Regent Affiliate Women's Wear Daily .
  10. ↑ Dudbridge, Saxony. "Bally Biography". Cakewalk Yourself. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  11. ↑ "Carl Franz Bally (1821 – 99)". European Route of Industrial Heritage. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  12. ↑ Samantha Conti (9 February 2018), Shandong Ruyi Buys Bally, with JAB Retaining a Minority Stake Women's Wear Daily .
  13. ↑ Lauren Indvik (30 November 2023), Bally — can the shoemaker finally make a footprint in fashion?  Financial Times .
  14. ↑ Bally verlässt Schönenwerd Neue Zürcher Zeitung , 10 May 2001.
  15. ↑ Labelux Group acquires Bally International AG from Texas Pacific Group Inc AlacraStore.com
  16. ↑ Lauren Indvik (30 November 2023), Bally — can the shoemaker finally make a footprint in fashion?  Financial Times .
  17. ↑ Samantha Conti (24 January 2017), Bally Reboots, Will Move Out of London to Italian, Swiss Hubs Women's Wear Daily .
  18. ↑ Conti, Samantha (19 September 2013). "Frédéric de Narp Heading to Bally". WWD. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  19. ↑ Samantha Conti (24 January 2017), Bally Reboots, Will Move Out of London to Italian, Swiss Hubs Women's Wear Daily .
  20. ↑ Samantha Conti (9 February 2018), Shandong Ruyi Buys Bally, with JAB Retaining a Minority Stake Women's Wear Daily .
  21. ↑ Robert Tutton (10 March 2015), Bally Looks to Zagliani for Leather Women's Wear Daily .
  22. ↑ Samantha Conti (24 January 2017), Bally Reboots, Will Move Out of London to Italian, Swiss Hubs Women's Wear Daily .
  23. ↑ Samantha Conti (24 January 2017), Bally Reboots, Will Move Out of London to Italian, Swiss Hubs Women's Wear Daily .
  24. ↑ Man, Pui-Guan (9 February 2018). "Shandong Ruyi snaps up Bally".
  25. ↑ Tianwei Zhang (13 February 2019), Taps Deng Lun as First Male Asia-Pacific Ambassador Women's Wear Daily .
  26. ↑ Samantha Conti (9 February 2018), Shandong Ruyi Buys Bally, with JAB Retaining a Minority Stake Women's Wear Daily .
  27. ↑ Samantha Conti (9 February 2018), Shandong Ruyi Buys Bally, with JAB Retaining a Minority Stake Women's Wear Daily .
  28. ↑ Lauren Indvik (30 November 2023), Bally — can the shoemaker finally make a footprint in fashion?  Financial Times .
  29. ↑ Kane Wu, Silvia Aloisi and Pamela Barbaglia (6 March 2020), China's Ruyi yet to secure Bally deal financing as coronavirus weighs - sources  Reuters .
  30. ↑ Lauren Indvik (30 November 2023), Bally — can the shoemaker finally make a footprint in fashion?  Financial Times .
  31. ↑ Muret, Dominique (10 May 2019). "Bally promotes COO Nicolas Girotto to CEO role". Fashion Network. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  32. ↑ "RHUDE's Rhuigi Villaseñor Is Appointed as Bally's Creative Director". HYPEBEAST. 18 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  33. ↑ "Bally Appoints Rhude's Rhuigi Villaseñor as Creative Director". Highsnobiety. 18 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  34. ↑ Hine, Samuel (16 May 2023). "Rhuigi Villaseñor and Bally Have Parted Ways". GQ. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  35. ↑ Garcia-Furtado, Laia (31 May 2023). "Simone Bellotti Is Bally's New Design Director". Vogue. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  36. ↑ Luisa Zargani (24 June 2024), EXCLUSIVE: Adrien Brody Collection for Bally Unveiled Women's Wear Daily .
  37. ↑ "La marque emblématique suisse Bally rachetée par la société américaine Regent". Radio télévision suisse (in French). 15 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  38. ↑ "Nicolas Girotto – CEO Bally". Bilanz. January 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  39. ↑ Luisa Zargani (15 August 2024), EXCLUSIVE: JAB Sells Bally to Regent Affiliate Women's Wear Daily .
  40. ↑ Martino Carrera (6 September 2023), Bally Teases New Course Under Simone Bellotti With Fall Campaign Women's Wear Daily .
  41. ↑ Lorelei Marfil (29 June 2017), Chinese Actress Tang Yan Named Bally Asia-Pacific Spokesperson Women's Wear Daily .
  42. ↑ Tianwei Zhang (13 February 2019), Bally Taps Deng Lun as First Male Asia-Pacific Ambassador Women's Wear Daily .
  43. ↑ Martino Carrera (19 July 2021), Bally Taps Chinese Actor Johnny Huang as Global Brand Ambassador Women's Wear Daily .
  44. ↑ Sabrina Salibian (17 July 2023), Bally Taps Roy Wang as New Global Brand Ambassador Women's Wear Daily .
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