In 1847 Carl Franz Bally and his brother take over their father’s elastic ribbon and suspender manufacturing business. In 1850 Carl Franz Bally leaves for a business trip to Paris where he is seduced by a pair of subtly decorated slippers. Snapping up to several styles for his wife, he returns to Switzerland, calls in local cobblers and begins pioneering the techniques of early shoe manufacturing. In 1851 Carl together with his brother founds ‘Bally & Co.’. In the Swiss hamlets of Schönenwerd he employs German shoemakers who work in the basement of his own home, the “Haus zum Felsgarten”. The first shoes are still entirely handmade but their manufacture is based on the division of labour.
