BALLY Schuhe / Shoes, CH

Carl Franz Bally (born in 1821) was a Swiss entrepreneur who produced ribbons for the textile industry. On one of his travels, he fell in love with the shoes worn by Parisian women, especially the decorated, slipper-like half boots he saw everywhere in Parisian streets. He brought some of these shoes home as a gift for his wife, and the passion he had discovered so suddenly developed into a lifelong commitment. In 1851, he founded Bally & Co. together with his brother in Schönenwerd, Switzerland. Their basement served as the workshop in which the first Bally shoes were created. They sold well: the demand for Bally ladies’ and gentlemen’s shoes was so great that a factory was built and the high-quality shoes were internationally distributed. Besides fine shoes, Bally also manufactured sports shoes for skiers and mountaineers – the first climbers to scale Mount Everest wore Bally shoes, and the soles on the shoes worn by the first US astronauts who travelled to the moon were developed by Bally. For its 155th anniversary in 2006, the company opened a flagship store in New York, soon followed by others in London, Los Angeles and Tokyo. The success story continues: the Bally collection includes shoes, clothes and accessories, and the company is again an integral part of the fashion world and one of the top Swiss brands. After having changed owners multiple times since the 1970s, the company’s majority stake is now owned by the Chinese textiles company Shandong Ruyi. Bally has long been much more than a shoe manufacturer. Only about 40 % of all products sold are still shoes. Bags and accessories are made in Italy and around 70 % of Bally products are still sold in its own boutiques. In 2022, the company employs 1450 people, 340 of them in Switzerland and around 100 of them shoemakers in Caslano in Ticino, where 180,000 pairs of shoes are still made by hand every year.

Carl Franz Bally (born in 1821) was a Swiss entrepreneur who produced ribbons for the textile industry. On one of his travels, he fell in love with the shoes worn by Parisian ...

women, especially the decorated, slipper-like half boots he saw everywhere in Parisian streets. He brought some of these shoes home as a gift for his wife, and the passion he had discovered so suddenly developed into a lifelong commitment. In 1851, he founded Bally & Co. together with his brother in Schönenwerd, Switzerland. Their basement served as the workshop in which the first Bally shoes were created. They sold well: the demand for Bally ladies’ and gentlemen’s shoes was so great that a factory was built and the high-quality shoes were internationally distributed. Besides fine shoes, Bally also manufactured sports shoes for skiers and mountaineers – the first climbers to scale Mount Everest wore Bally shoes, and the soles on the shoes worn by the first US astronauts who travelled to the moon were developed by Bally. For its 155th anniversary in 2006, the company opened a flagship store in New York, soon followed by others in London, Los Angeles and Tokyo. The success story continues: the Bally collection includes shoes, clothes and accessories, and the company is again an integral part of the fashion world and one of the top Swiss brands. After having changed owners multiple times since the 1970s, the company’s majority stake is now owned by the Chinese textiles company Shandong Ruyi. Bally has long been much more than a shoe manufacturer. Only about 40 % of all products sold are still shoes. Bags and accessories are made in Italy and around 70 % of Bally products are still sold in its own boutiques. In 2022, the company employs 1450 people, 340 of them in Switzerland and around 100 of them shoemakers in Caslano in Ticino, where 180,000 pairs of shoes are still made by hand every year.