Bally is a Swiss luxury fashion house, established in 1851 by

Carl Franz Bally Carl Franz Bally (October 24, 1821, Schönenwerd – August 5, 1899) was a Swiss businessman who founded the Bally Shoe company in 1851. Early life Carl Franz Bally was the 11th of 14 children of Peter Bally (1783–1849) and Anna Maria Herzog ...

and his brother Fritz in Schönenwerd,

Solothurn , neighboring_municipalities = Bellach, Biberist, Feldbrunnen-Sankt Niklaus, Langendorf, Rüttenen, Zuchwil , twintowns = Heilbronn (Germany), Kraków (Poland), Le Landeron (Switzerland) Solothurn ( , ; french: Soleure ; it, Soletta ; ...

, as Bally & Co. Historically known for its shoes, the house also specializes in bags, accessories, and ready-to-wear.

History

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,

, 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 and continued to manufacture about two million pairs of shoes a year, employing 3,200 people.

Modern era

In 2008, TPG Capital sold Bally International AG to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

-based Labelux Group, a luxury goods holding firm which previously owned Jimmy Choo Ltd, and was founded by the German billionaire Reimann family as part of the family’s investment arm Joh A. Benckiser. Headquartered in Caslano,

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

, Switzerland, the company announced Frédéric de Narp, a former executive at

Harry Winston Harry Winston (March 1, 1896December 8, 1978) was an American jeweler. He donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958 after owning it for a decade. He also traded the Portuguese Diamond to the Smithsonian in 1963 in exchang ...

, would become its chief executive officer in November 2013. In February 2018, owner

JAB Holding Company JAB Holding Company ("JAB" or Joh. A. Benckiser) is a German conglomerate, headquartered in Luxembourg, that includes investments in companies operating in the areas of consumer goods, forestry, coffee, luxury fashion, animal health, and fast foo ...

agreed to sell a majority controlling stake to Chinese materials conglomerate Shandong Ruyi. 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. In January 2022, Rhuigi Villaseñor was appointed as creative director. Rhuigi was previously founder, CEO, and creative director of the luxury streetwear brand Rhude.

Boutiques

As of January 2020, Bally's retail network includes 311 boutiques, with 500 multi-brand points of sale spanning 66 countries.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Shoe brands High fashion brands Luxury brands Swiss brands Manufacturing companies of Switzerland Manufacturing companies established in 1851 Retail companies established in 1873 Swiss companies established in 1851 Companies based in the canton of Solothurn