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Carl Franz Bally founded a shoe factory in Switzerland in 1851. Within decades, the Bally name had achieved worldwide recognition for its high-quality footwear. The history of modern footwear can be traced through the lens of Bally's corporate evolution. This book brings together the results of research on such topics as the economic importance of fashion, Bally's fortunes in the US, the career of shoe design, the sourcing and use of materials, and the rise of strategic product display. The research focuses on the 1930s and 1940s: years of economic crisis and war, characterized by a wide diversity of designs and increasing variety in product range. Shortages also led to experiments with materials and technical innovations. Featuring numerous points of contact with adjacent fields of historical study, this publication marks a contribution to the history of fashion as the history of industrially manufactured products.
About the author
Anna-Brigitte Schlittler ist seit 2003 Dozentin für Designgeschichte und -theorie an der Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (Departement Design/Trends & Identity, Departement Kulturanalysen und Vermittlung/Art Education) sowie seit 2018 Lehrbeauftragte an der F+F Schule für Kunst und Design, Zürich. Sie hat Kunstgeschichte, Geschichte der Neuzeit und Philosophie studiert. Ihre Forschungsschwerpunkte sind Modedesign im industriellen Kontext sowie Mode und postkoloniale Theorien.Katharina Tietze ist seit 2006 Professorin an der Zürcher Hochschule der Künste und leitet dort die Fachrichtung Trends & Identity. Sie wuchs in Ost-Berlin auf, studierte Bekleidungsdesign an der Hochschule der Künste Berlin und arbeitete anschließend als Kostümbildnerin. Neben der Lehre forscht sie zum Thema Modegeschichte im Spannungsfeld von Alltagskultur und Identität.
Summary
Carl Franz Bally founded a shoe factory in Switzerland in 1851. Within decades, the Bally name had achieved worldwide recognition for its high-quality footwear. The history of modern footwear can be traced through the lens of Bally's corporate evolution. This book brings together the results of research on such topics as the economic importance of fashion, Bally's fortunes in the US, the career of shoe design, the sourcing and use of materials, and the rise of strategic product display. The research focuses on the 1930s and 1940s: years of economic crisis and war, characterized by a wide diversity of designs and increasing variety in product range. Shortages also led to experiments with materials and technical innovations. Featuring numerous points of contact with adjacent fields of historical study, this publication marks a contribution to the history of fashion as the history of industrially manufactured products.
Report
»In providing us with this elegant looking, well-illustrated account, the editors have provided readers with an exemplar for fashion researchin which all facets of the life of an object are given their due.«
Peter McNeil, Fashion Theory, 25 (2021) 20121029
