Bally's Split Personality
By J. J. Martin
Photos by Gruber-FWD
MILAN, Oct 2, 2002/ FWD/ --- The first look presented at Bally's Spring/Summer 2003 runway
presentation - a slim fitting, ultra hot one-piece jumpsuit clinging to Eva Herzigova´s
rock-star body - summed up the Swiss company´s revised mantra of creating sleek, stylish
clothing for modern gamines.
The remainder of the runway material, however, often vacillated between this fabulously chic
sportswear dictate, and its unfocused, fussy counterpart.
A bit of confusion in the line might have had something to do with the uproar in the atelier.
Although former Creative Director Scott Fellows took the bow at the end of the collection,
his departure from the top creative post at the Swiss brand, announced back in July,
is already assured.
The leather-goods house tactfully floated a cloak of ambiguity over the design direction
of this collection, assuring guests that the collection was "absolutely Fellows."
The sporty edged looks, for their part, certainly had the familiar ring of clean modernity
which Fellows deftly constructed for the aging Swiss label just a few short years ago.
When the designs stayed firmly on this track, blending retro-inspired, sporty details with
clean shapes, the results were glowing.
Surefire winners for Bally, both editorially and commercially, were nylon athletic jackets,
reworked into tight silhouettes and gussied up with ruching detail and Bally red and white
piping.
Razor sharp leather pieces, in sleek bomber styles or in layered and perforated skirts,
also harked back to a vintage past while managing to forge new, desirable ground.
When Bally moved away from its core sporty competency, things got complicated.
The series of chiffon and satin pieces, for example, succeeded in merely confusing the
collection and taking us away from the land of the wearable.
Tiny polka-dot prints on satin teddy pieces also looked out of place in the otherwise
streamlined collection.
These, along with other attempts at being ladylike in satin, seemed to dangerously dodge
both Bally´s new cool customer as well her recently-alienated older sister (Bally´s longtime
loyal base).
If Bally really wants to make a splash, something´s got to give.
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