MILAN — Bally is writing a new chapter in its 156-year history with the appointment of Brian Atwood as creative director.
An official announcement of Atwood’s appointment will be made today.
“Brian is an international designer who can develop a sensible vision for Bally and bring it to the next level,” Marco Franchini, Bally’s chief executive officer, told WWD exclusively. “He is capable of fully understanding the brand and steering it into the future as well as bringing his expertise to the footwear. It is the right moment to unleash our creativity.”
Atwood said he can’t wait to dip into the 13,000 sketches contained in Bally’s archives in the Swiss town of Schonenwerd, where Carl Franz Bally established the company in 1851.
“Bally has a great history, integrity and heritage. It is a great base on which to work from and I certainly plan on bringing more glamour and sexiness to the brand,” said Atwood, who will coordinate Bally’s footwear, bags and ready-to-wear.
Atwood, who will also mastermind the brand’s ad campaigns, will show his first collection for spring 2008. He garnered his rtw experience at the Fashion Institute of Technology and as a freelance fashion designer.
The Chicago-born designer will oversee a team made up of Sarah Johnson, footwear design director; Johnny Coca, accessories design director, and Andrea Pompilio, rtw design director.
According to Franchini, the time was ripe for the Swiss luxury goods firm to invest in a high-profile design director.
Atwood, who for eight years helped Donatella Versace build her accessories line, left the Italian company in 2004 to focus on his namesake collection, which he launched three years earlier and which he will continue to produce.
Bally was acquired by U.S private investment firm Texas Pacific Group in 1999. After years of financial tumult, Bally broke even in 2004. While Franchini wouldn’t disclose sales figures, he said that over the past three years, sales grew by 15 percent to 20 percent on an annual basis.
Bally has 225 namesake stores; 75 of which are directly owned. The brand is also carried in 400 sales points worldwide. This year it will open shops in Berlin, Beijing and Shanghai. Stores in Nice, France; Costa Mesa, Calif., and Victoria, Australia, and six shops-in-shops inside El Cortes Ingle in Spain will be refurbished with the company’s new concept, which has chocolate-tinted glass, oak hardwood floors, leather-trimmed velvet rugs and bouclé sofas.