Bally is a company founded as Bally & Co in 1851 by Carl Franz BALLY (1821-1899) and his brother Fritz in the basement of the family house in Schönenwerd, Switzerland (the original family business was the manufacture of elastic ribbon). Bally is known primarily as a shoe brand although now being a luxury fashion house also featuring a range of ready-to-wear and accessories. The story of brand is born from the inspiration of Carl Franz BALLY who had gone to Paris for business, where he was enchanted by a pattern of slippers decorated and brought them to his wife as a gift. Hence the idea of starting a shoe workshop, bringing together all the master shoemakers of the village. First produced entirely by hand, Bally is one of the first companies to innovate with industrial machinery and qualified: the evolution of the brand travels with the technological and industrial development. Carl Franz died in 1899 but undeniably passed on his pioneering spirit to his sons. In 2008 TPG Capital sold Bally International AG to Vienna, Austria-based Labelux Group, a luxury goods holding which also owns Jimmy Choo Ltd. and was founded by the German billionaire REIMANN family as part of the family’s investment arm Joh A. Benckiser. Today, the company is headquartered in Caslano, Ticino, Switzerland and run by JAB Holdings.