THE NEW DANDY. Bally seems to have taken on a new life ever since Pablo Coppola came on board. Find out what the new dandy kid on the fine menswear block is really like right from the source
The way a person takes his time before responding to casual questions, how he formulates his ideas and how he weaves his train of thought can say a lot about his mannerisms and ability as a designer. There is a cautious approach—a censoring mind, if you will—that carefully scrutinizes each detail that is said or, in the case of fashion design, each little detail that is put into a potential masterpiece. And when Pablo Coppola, who sits as design director at Bally, professed that he’s still—or maybe will forever be—fascinated by fashion accessories, it all made sense.
The Argentinean director has been acknowledged by many as a strong agent of change, bringing the classic and, some might say, complacent Swiss brand back to a trend-conscious stance. The result is obvious, and the brand’s fall/winter ’16/’17 collection waxes lyrical of menswear that draws chic references from the ’60s but looks positively to the future.
Relevance is now the brand’s modus operandi, and this is on top of a remarkable history spanning 165 years of a company whose hiking boots took part in the first successful human expedition to the highest point of Mount Everest.
Unsurprisingly, Coppola’s resume is more than impressive: He cut his fashion design teeth at the Institut Française de la Mode in Paris, followed by stints as accessories designer at Céline, Burberry, Alexander McQueen, Tom Ford and Christian Dior.
As of September 2013 he joined Bally as accessories design director, before being promoted to design director in February 2014. Given such an illustrious background, attention to detail comes natural to Coppola. That’s why the “new” Bally is worth re-discovering up close and personal.
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