The story
Founded by Carl Franz Bally and Fritz Bally in 1851, in Schönenwerd.1
Bally was founded as a shoe making business in 1851 by Carl Franz Bally and his brother Fritz in the basement of their family home in Schönenwerd, Solothurn, Switzerland. Carl Franz Bally had joined the family business, a silk ribbon manufacturer, when he was 17, but decided to go into shoe manufacturing after a stay in Paris. After Carl's death in 1899, the company continued under the management of Carl's sons, Eduard and Arthur and continued to manufacture about two million pairs of shoes a year, employing 3,200 people.
From Wikipedia’s article on Bally (fashion house), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4