Today we’re going to bring you an inside look into a luxury brand called Bally. This is a brand that many may have heard about but yet not exactly know about. 

Some might think of Bally as a company with a rich heritage in shoemaking, but it was actually founded in 1851 as a family run ribbon factory, three years before Louis Vuitton was born. 

The firm expanded rapidly as it industrialised its processes in 1854, and set up stores in Montevideo, Uruguay Paris and France. Today, Bally offers unique designs across shoes, accessories and ready-to-wear, driven by a dedication to craftsmanship and a contemporary aesthetic. 

The company has a distribution network of over 320 retail stores and 500 multi-brand points of sale spanning across 60 countries worldwide, including a global e-commerce platform serving 58 countries.

Why are we talking about Bally you might ask? Well, the past five years or so have been a roller coaster ride, after a sale agreement in 2018 to Chinese textile company Shandong Ruyi fell through. 

At that time, the brand is also one where people know, but yet are not compelled to purchase from, which meant challenges on top and bottom lines. 

All of that meant a change in strategy for the firm’s management, which took the chance to reassess its positioning in the luxury wear industry and to transform the shoemaker into a luxury fashion powerhouse focusing on its Swiss utilitarian chic designs. 

For one thing, the firm cut its teeth in clothings and had in September last year staged a joint fashion show in Milan with a new creative director. 

The show was a hit and drew positive responses at a time when Gucci and Tom Ford – which by the way also had new creative directors lead their show – drew mixed responses. So how has a “Swiss Utilitarian” positioning strategy for Bally worked as it expands beyond shoes? What does it mean where money is concerned?

On Under the Radar, The Evening Runway’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian posed these questions to Nicolas Girotto, CEO, Bally.