After seasons of brightly colored fashion pieces, Bally is going back to a clean slate for fall. The move toward streamlined, more minimally minded fashion is philosophical—at least if press materials are to be believed—with the Swiss label putting an emphasis on purity of form and material over flash. Inside Bally’s Milanese showroom on Viale Piave, this was illustrated with a performance piece: Visuals of rippling water were projected behind models in Bally’s rich fall finery, and behind them modern dancers moved around in greige outfits not by Bally. The setup was cerebral, and maybe to a slightly confusing end. “You stand out in Bally, but you’re connected to the world,” said CEO Nicolas Girotto of the brand’s immersive experience.
Regardless of the presentation, Bally’s fall 2020 collection is a clever return to form. In terms of fabrics, the label has some of the best and is using them to exciting ends this season. A beige leather trench with hand-hammered buttons has a wool-cashmere bonded lining. Shearlings are raw and shaggy, while a check woman’s coat is hand-stitched together from hand-cut trapezoids of leather. It’s essentially a kind of couture coat with a less threatening price tag—Girotto estimates it will retail at around 4,900 euros, about $5,000.
For men, he emphasized clothing with natural lines and a clean cut. Layered leather jackets in taupe-y tones and rich knitwear are, of course, par for the course in simplicity-minded menswear spheres, but what aesthetes might not have expected were two pairs of straight-leg jeans. Even a brand as old as Bally—going strong since 1851!—has to get with the times. It has done so without losing a sense of timelessness this season.
