When Rhuigi Villaseñor was named creative director of Bally in January 2022, it was billed as the start of an exciting new era for the Swiss luxury label.
But only a mere two seasons in, it was confirmed last month that the RHUDE founder would be stepping down from his role at Bally with immediate effect.
Not one to mess around, Bally has looked within for a ready-made Villaseñor replacement and announced veteran designer Simone Bellotti as its new Design Director.
Bellotti — who joined Bally in October 2022 — spent the best part of two decades in design roles for Gucci before joining the Swiss label, that's after holding similar roles at labels like Dolce & Gabbana and Bottega Veneta.
For Bellotti, this is a major step up, although not one totally out of the blue.
Last month Stone Island made a similar move by appointing another Gucci album, Robert Triefus (who had spent the previous 15 years at the Italian house), as its new CEO as it looks to expand its metaverse offering.
For Bally, though, they won’t be hoping for too much change under Bellotti, whose move should be a seamless having already worked alongside the team during his nine months at the label to-date.
Despite Villaseñor’s short tenure, the 30-year-old revitalized the label. Following a creative overhaul (which included a fresh new logo), Bally struck gold with its Spring/Summer 2023 collection in Milan, before its sales rose by 20 percent thanks to its new Cali-cool meets luxury vibe.
Alas, here we are with a new name at the helm. Luckily with Bellotti’s debut collection slated to be shown at Milan Fashion Week in September, we don’t have too long to wait to see exactly what he has planned.
