After a few seasons of pushing fashion at Bally, Graeme Fidler and Michael Herz are finding classics more their speed. It's not that their new men's collection for the Swiss label isn't stylish—it is—but honing in on the label's heritage and strongest suits is the new order of the day. Bally has a long history to draw upon, and Fidler and Herz saw to it that their presentation did just that.
They recreated vintage Bally advertising posters to stage their goods, but what was staged was actually very new. There was the expanded, high-end Scribe collection, with more skins (including matte ostrich and matte croc) and more shapes. The entry level was extended, too. It's well-known that Bally's artisans can craft a fine hand-stitched shoe, but the duo is introducing cemented styles, too. Glue can be a dirty word in footwear, but remembering that the company is behind the adhesive that held together some of the first moon boots suggests that Elmer's isn't in the cards. Their new ultralight, cemented line is their most cost-approachable yet.
In ready-to-wear, they turned their attention mostly to coats. They showed a variety of military-inspired options, from a commanding officer's coat to a peacoat in calfskin specially treated to be water-repellent. Each detail was considered, from zip-off sections to bonded zippers that seal up, watertight. They'll come in standard and a foil-coated, "snow-frosted" version that nods to the collection's inspiration: stopping by woods on a snowy evening. Brr!
