The Swiss fashion company Bally and designer Rhuigi Villaseñor go their separate ways. The decision to end the collaboration was made “jointly and amicably,” the shoe and leather goods specialist, which belongs to the Luxembourg-based JAB Holding, announced on Tuesday. For the time being, the existing creative team will “continue to follow the course of the brand”.
“My experience at Bally has been an incredible honor,” Villaseñor said in a statement. “I wish the brand all the best for the future and look forward to enjoying their next creative chapter.”
The autodidact from California, who made a name for himself in the fashion world with his Rhude label, which he founded in 2015, was appointed Creative Director in January last year. The aim of the appointment was to advance Bally’s repositioning and “take the traditional brand to the next level”.
Bally CEO Girotto recognizes Villaseñor’s “passion, energy and creativity”
Bally CEO Nicolas Girotto paid tribute to the designer: “I would like to thank Rhuigi for all his creative contributions during his time at Bally,” he said in a statement. “His passion, energy and creativity helped catapult Bally back into the limelight and further rejuvenated the brand’s 170-year heritage through a modern, glamorous perspective. I wish him all the best in the next chapter of his creative journey.”
In his relatively short time at Bally, Villaseñor set some impulses. Last September he brought the brand back to the catwalk in Milan after a twenty-year absence. The modernization of the label also made progress. It was underlined just a few weeks ago by the premiere of the new store concept in New York.
The reorientation was apparently well received by customers: According to the company, sales since the beginning of the current year have been twenty percent above the corresponding level of the previous year.