Rhuigi Villaseñor Revives Bally at Milan Fashion Week
Back in1985, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh created their legendary anthem La Di Da Di, containing their endorsement of Bally Shoes. The memorable lines, “Fresh dressed like a million bucks. Threw on the Bally shoes and the fly green socks,” sparked a new and long-lasting interest in the brand amongst the hip hop and Black community. Since then, it seems like Bally has become synonymous with what was.
When shopping for the latest season of STARZ’s Black Mafia Family, I spent a lot of time sourcing vintage Bally sneakers and loafers on sites like Thrilling, Poshmark and Mercari. When I couldn’t find replicas, I found myself in the Bally store purchasing today’s version of what would match the iconic1980s classic. Each time I visited the store, I noticed that the clientele was either Asian or Black, but skewed much older than its hip hop predecessors. Not to sound agist…I would always feel like I was shopping with the uncles.
Bally appointed its new Creative Director Rhuigi Villaseñor this past January. He described Bally as “a sleeping beauty, or a beautiful classic car sitting in a garage that hasn’t been running for a while.” His observation mirrored my in-store experience so I was eager to see how the brand would be transformed under his creative leadership. And his first runway show did not disappoint.
Villaseñor described his agenda with this collection as: “being about opulence and sexiness. It’s about what I want to wear when I go out, and what my friends want to wear when they go out, and what I think other people want to wear when they go out.” He even introduced swimwear and accessories.
In reading the reviews, lots of critics compared Villaseñor’s runway show to his own brand Rhude. From Vogue: Once he sheds some nerves and is a little more settled in behind the big desk at Bally, it would be great to see Villaseñor import more of himself—and his playfulness—into this new, old luxury world. The upcoming curling capsule (yes, really) should provide that wit in spades. For now, this was a debut that delivered much, and promised even more.
Like most things these days, the observation at Vogue U.S. couldn’t be any more wrong. Bally’s core client is older and it’s important to design without leaning too much into the “new money” feel of the designs at Rhude. I think Villaseñor has struck a nice balance of old and new — keeping the fun and playful nature of Rhude and the elegance and sensibility of Bally. I’m excited to see how he transforms even more in the future. No matter what age, he provides options for everyone to be “fresh dressed like a million bucks.” Bravo!
