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Bally's a Winner
By: Godfrey Deeny
Photos by Gruber-FWD
Milan, Mar 6, 2001/FWD/ --- The odds that Bally can be built into a hip lifestyle brand
shortened considerably this week in Milan, when Bally's creative director Scott Fellows staged
an assured debut catwalk show of fetchingly modern clothes.
Fellows has a decided talent for creating cool yet practical clothes, imbued with a je-ne-sais-quoi
of finesse. And though serious, his collection had enough innovative spark to make the grooviest
fashion shoots, particularly with some padded military vests in glam suede or trim trenches in fabulous deer skin, which will flatter thousands of ladies.
Scott is a modern classicist by definition and designs for self-confident women. Fit, alert and
at ease, they move around in slender jodhpurs, loose cashmere V-necks and crisp shirts.
Bally's core business is always going to be accessories, and practically no one sent out a better
boot for fall than Bally's flow-footed riding boots cut just above the knee. Fellows also has a
keen color sense. The forest green/turquoise blue combo on the invitation and in the collection
felt perfectly in tune with the zeitgeist.
Hit or miss this time around were Bally's tops. A frilly off-yellow blouse on Bridget Hall
offended, but a white shirt with a placket that spun around Erin O'Connor's neck looked great.
Texas Pacific is expected to pour $200 million into rebuilding Bally. Much of that will depend on
Fellows' ability to create attention-getting clothes that actually sell. At this rate, it won't
take long.
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