Bally’s Innovative Spirit

Swiss heritage brand Bally is having a renaissance. This month, the 164-year-old label — known mostly for driving loafers — is upping the luxury ante with a made-to-order program in its Madison Avenue boutique. It’s also elevating the accessories game in Hollywood by attracting A-list fans like Reese Witherspoon and Dakota Johnson.

Instrumental in the upswing are CEO Frédéric de Narp and design director Pablo Coppola. Since late 2013, the duo has set out to reawaken the brand’s innovative spirit.

“When I was approached to potentially become the CEO, . . . I asked to spend a day in the archives, based in Schönenwerd, Switzerland, because therein lies the soul of the brand,” says de Narp. Those archives, he says, are the best kept secret of the whole industry. “Everything you see in the windows today was invented by Bally 100 to 150 years ago.”

The label revolutionized fashion in 1890 when it invented the modern pump. Sir Edmund Hillary wore the brand’s high-performance reindeer-fur hiking shoes during the first successful trek up Mount Everest in 1953. And in 1969, Bally collaborated with NASA on soles that became the first to set foot on the moon.

Here is my full article in the New York Post: Bally

Bisous NYS