Bally and AUGUSTMAN invited a special group of readers and friends to the Bally boutique at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands for a private unveiling of its AW17 collection back in late October.
In typical AUGUSTMAN style, we held court at two workshops – a styling session led by fashion editor Chia Wei Choong and a cognac appreciation class by Remy Martin. Guests learnt about the fascinating history of the Swiss luxury brand as well as the best ways to pair sneakers with suits, and leather goods. Then, with their sartorial knowledge sorted, they went on to discover the finer points of cognac.
Many of the female guests tried to convince their significant others to get Bally shoes for them after hearing the story of Carl Franz Bally and his wife that managing editor Farhan Shah shared with them.
While preparing to travel to Paris for a business trip, Mr Bally’s wife requested for a pair of shoes from a store there. The Swiss businessman and founder of the brand, ever the doting husband, said yes. However, when he reached Paris, he realised that he had forgotten to ask for his wife’s shoe size.
Now, this was a time before the Internet and high-speed communication. There was no chance for Carl to find out his wife’s shoe size short of making a wild estimate. What did he do? He bought a factory’s worth of shoes.
Back in Switzerland, after giving his very thankful wife the shoes in the right size, he decided to sell the rest off. His customers loved them, and that was how Bally was formed.
Check out the video below to discover what happened during that evening.
Bally is at B1-77A at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
