Simone Bellotti‘s sophomore collection for Bally was Milan Fashion Week’s quiet star. This is the line-up where actually something cool happened. The designer found that sense of “cool” in a place that doesn’t necessarily affiliate with “coolness“: Zurich. Its street style and ambience inspired Bellotti and the autumn-winter 2024 runway; simultaneously drawing upon the pastoral symbolism of Swiss folklore and Alpine mysticism, the designer has managed to create a truly distinct vocabulary for Bally within a year of his tenure. Steering clear of literal translations, he combined severity and grace, austere poetry and functional Swiss precision. On a neat double-breasted swing loden coat, the skirt flared into the shape of a treichein bell; a masculine crisp poplin shirt, tucked into high-waisted jeans, was worn under a knitted gilet revealing a furry back, hinting at a wilder, less disciplined side. Like the soft pelt of an untamed creature, a fur insert peeked out from under a strict, asymmetrical knee-length felted wool dress, held on one side by a silver safety pin. Black leather was made into protective yet supple blousons, car coats, and capes. Introducing a cautious note of disorder, a knee-length pencil skirt as well as a masculine waistcoat in black leather were studded with traditional Appenzeller motifs of hearts, cows, and edelweiss interspersed with punkish metallic grommets, hinting at the photographic work of Swiss queer artist Karlheinz Weinberger, whose late-1950s homoerotic portraits were published in the book Rebel Youth. It was a subtle nod to a discourse rooted in the now that makes Bellotti’s work at Bally all the more contemporary and utterly desirable.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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