THE FUTURE OF BALLY

March 24, 2010

In a testament to how respected he is in the industry (and a tell-tale sign that he’s a celebrity favorite), when Rachel Zoe came-out with her “Zoe Report” her first story featured a pair of Brian Atwood shoes.

While the designer has done great things at Bally, it’s with his eponymous line that he has always burned the brightest. Atwood’s namesake, sky-high pumps are simply works of art, and his designs rank among the few actually worth their price tags (which often go into the four figures).

Bally is best known for their quality footwear, so it was a fitting combination when Atwood joined the Swiss brand as Creative Director in 2007 to bring a more contemporary feel to the historic label. Around the time Atwood presented the Fall/Winter 2010 Bally collection, word leaked that this season would be the designer’s last, amidst rumors that the iconic brand is trying to re-position itself and focus (like so many other historic brands) on its heritage.

It remains to be seen what Atwood will do next, but hopefully it will including expanding his namesake line, which he established in 2001.

As for Bally, they’ve just now announced that Michael Herz and Graeme Fidler will be the new brand Creative Directors, after leaving Aquascutum a few weeks ago as the creative heads of womenswear and menswear, respectively. While I’m excited to see what these two designers will accomplish, since they obviously have good chemistry, I have my doubts about whether they’ll be able to top Atwood’s work. It seems that Atwood’s tenure wasn’t long enough at Bally, especially given the promise the designer showed in making the label relevant to a whole new generation of customers.