It’s the Rhuigi Villasenor’s impact. After launching his label Rhude in 2015, he now finds himself as creative director at Bally. The SS/23 collection, and his first for the Italian brand, debuted in Milan this week. It drew an army of admirers thanks to the slew of vintage-inspired references that made their way down the runway.
Rhuigi Villasenor’s first collection as head designer at Bally may have just been the moment that uplifts the brand with a renewed sense of creativity. The collection can best be described as a cosmopolitan exploration of European luxury through an American lens.
The designer incorporated several fabrics, which included Animalia, plush velvets, leather, as well as California-style airy fabrics in shades of white, navy citrus green, and yellow. A collection of roomy denim shirts paired with jeans brought a sense of casual luxury to the runway.
Key pieces from his debut collection included boxy suiting, as well as a trench coat in canary yellow. Accessories came in snakeskin leather sandals for men and boots, which create a contrast to the coloured leather shorts. Soft weekender bags in leather served as the ultimate luxury accessory. The brand has been lauded for its leather craftsmanship, but as it enters a new phase in its illustrious history, Villasenor is taking the brand to apparel powerhouse status.
“When I discovered the Bally universe, it was clear to me that my energy and my point of view would be the catalyst for a renaissance, two decades since the last BALLY runway show,” Villasenor said. “Placing Swiss craft and European art in living harmony with my own American story, I’ve called this collection ECDYSIS – a reset and a celebration of radical luxury.”
If there is one thing we are sure of, it is that Villasenor’s Bally renaissance is about to transform the brand forever. Watch this space.
