Bally F/W 2025.26 Milan

[perhydrol]

yet somehow, bally gets held to a different standard. people act like the clothes need to be commercially viable when, in reality, the show is just a branding exercise like any other.

Because, in my opinion, it just doesn’t work. To be clear, I don’t want to see Italian glamour circa 2002 either, but it’s rather obvious that Bellotti doesn’t know where to stop. That’s why everything feels overdesigned. There’s no space to breathe, there's no space for chill, it’s stressful to watch the show, and unfortunately, the skills don’t support the vision. Case in point: look 6 or 9.

I’d rather take Tamburini’s experiments at Tod’s. At least it’s not pretending to be something it shouldn’t and feels honest.

 

[tatouejeremie]

Because, in my opinion, it just doesn’t work. To be clear, I don’t want to see Italian glamour circa 2002 either, but it’s rather obvious that Bellotti doesn’t know where to stop. That’s why everything feels overdesigned. There’s no space to breathe, there's no space for chill, it’s stressful to watch the show, and unfortunately, the skills don’t support the vision. Case in point: look 6 or 9.

I’d rather take Tamburini’s experiments at Tod’s. At least it’s not pretending to be something it shouldn’t and feels honest.

good taste is everywhere in fashion right now. people keep complaining that everything feels stuck in the phoebe philo aesthetic, clean, tasteful, inoffensive.

then bally comes along with moments that are awkward, difficult, overdesigned, ridiculous, and people still complain. the argument that bellotti doesn’t know when to stop and that it’s all too much is fair, but isn’t that the point? fashion has been playing it so safe that something this unfiltered feels almost jarring. maybe it’s not perfect, but at least it’s not predictable.

and now there’s the complaint that the accessories are ugly. most brands just churn out slightly tweaked versions of bestsellers from other houses. finally, a company is making accessories that are distinctly their own, and that’s still a problem? let’s be happy someone in this industry is trying to draw outside of the lines and isn't being merchandised to death.

as i’ve said before, bellotti isn’t a very technically skilled designer, so i’d be the last to defend him on that. but at least he’s trying, experimenting, and making something interesting. and if that’s happening at a brand as lifeless as bally, even better.

i do wonder why i tolerate this kind of self-indulgence at bally but find francesco risso at marni unbearable. maybe risso’s messiness feels like a gimmick, while this feels like a statement. i don’t know.

 

[Avonlea]

My only issue with him is the execution. It's always great to see a designer trying something different but those experiments have to look intentional and here they don't. They look like pattern making errors. There is potential. The dress that jeanclaude posted could be really interesting but it's just unfinished.

 

[donyan]

It always seems like he starts his collections with a huge amount of confidence, wanting to push everything as far as possible, and then midway through the process suddenly not being sure of himself, not even knowing anymore where he wanted to go in the first place. There a several looks that look like they had potential but they all remain in various states of unresolved, and everything ends up awkward and incoherent. Shame because everything looks beautifully made.

 

[Thefrenchy]

Ideas are nice and interesting, I like his point of view.

What's a pity is more the execution. You can tell they don't have the money to produce what he's trying to achieve.
The whole thing done by a proper atelier would look pretty damn cool. The menswear is quite desirable.

 

[proseccotabis]

Why they choose that pic of him ? He's so handsome!

Simone Bellotti?!

 

[proseccotabis]

This will sound a bit amateur, but in all seriousness I have a hard time distinguishing between Tod's and Bally and I don't understand why... i know these are 2 different brands, but in my head their products look the same? I cant seem to get rid of this feeling

 

[PDFSD]

if Lee is also to be said to go to Jil and your named as one of the people to be also going to Jil sander why do a budget make up look of Jil Sander?
makes me think its a open audition for the job lol

 

[Grets]

I still don't think anyone on this whole forum, full of fashion experts has been able to explain this industry-wide interest in him. Mind-boggling.

 

[FashionFanatico]

I still don't think anyone on this whole forum, full of fashion experts has been able to explain this industry-wide interest in him. Mind-boggling.

Some other fashion experts seem to love him though. He clearly divides the masses.

Vanessa Friedman wrote yesterday in the NYT:

Bally, which under the designer Simone Bellotti has become the unexpected highlight of the Milan Fashion Week.
In bottle green, pink and black, the shaggy Bally pretend-pelts framed a high slit in a black leather skirt; emphasized the tailcoat cut of a gray flannel tunic and played peekaboo with a matching pair of gray flannel shorts; or filled out the bottom of a neat peplum top. They were a trademark bit of weird in an otherwise pristine collection, and part of what makes Mr. Bellotti’s work so compelling. He is a genius at suggesting the twist beneath the surface of the buttoned-up.
(And he made the single best black dress of the week: an organza frock slipping cloudlike off one shoulder).

New York Times

 

[PDFSD]

I still don't think anyone on this whole forum, full of fashion experts has been able to explain this industry-wide interest in him. Mind-boggling.

clumsiness misdiagnosed as intellect

the industry loves things similarly artsy done by a newcomer... to feel they are discovering an early talent ..be in on the know....
betting on the right horse ...especially in milan where you have little news or newcomers

 

[tricotineacetat]

Can somebody please enlighten me what made Renzo Rosso and Jil Sander‘s CEO see something in this guy’s work at Bally or otherwise to think he can live up to the difficult task the Meiers already failed at, with less experience and a preference for ill-proportioned clothes and zero editing skills to create a precise runway statement?

It seems Jil Sander is a brand operating under a very low payroll these days and with such a direction, this brand is doomed to fall into the same place as Helmut Lang…

 

[LasagneDelRey]

Godfrey Deeny of fashion network said how Renzo Rosso wants to turn the brand into something like a “Hermès with edge”😬

 

[proseccotabis]

Can somebody please enlighten me what made Renzo Rosso and Jil Sander‘s CEO see something in this guy’s work at Bally or otherwise to think he can live up to the difficult task the Meiers already failed at, with less experience and a preference for ill-proportioned clothes and zero editing skills to create a precise runway statement?

Money. Bellotti is cheaper than DL. JL's asking price would be WAY higher than Bellotti's.

 

[tricotineacetat]

i find it funny how people are so fixated on the “wearability” of bally’s runway collections when their core business is shoes and bags. a fashion show is about building an aura around the brand—it’s marketing, not a direct representation of what will sell in stores.

look at fendi. their last collection was full of wearable, well-designed clothes, but let’s be real—95% of it will never hit the shop floor because that’s not what their customers buy. they make their money on logo bags, monogrammed basics, and easily digestible status pieces, just like most big luxury brands.

yet somehow, bally gets held to a different standard. people act like the clothes need to be commercially viable when, in reality, the show is just a branding exercise like any other.

By that logic, I would argue that the fashion shown at Bally falls into an awkward middle ground between awkward cut and proportions on relatively tame fashion that fails to create a halo effect or synergy with their shoes and leather goods. Not editorial enough and not particularly commercial/marketable either.

I don‘t think Bally really needs a big fashion statement but a well-edited shoes and leather goods line that looks great but also doesn‘t break the bank like those of the leading luxury goods brands - If anything at all, they should throw a lot of money at somebody like Pierre Hardy and let him do other accessories as well as maybe a small cashmere range that Bally can merchandise well with their core product.