"Sweet rock," said Alberta Ferretti at the presentation for her Philosophy collection, where half the crowd mingled, Champagne in hand, and the other half lined the T-shaped wooden runway three deep to catch one of the four consecutive shows. As she has before, Ferretti explored the idea of cutting Philosophy's natural sweetness with a masculine edge. The look was layered to the hilt: skinny knits over dresses over sheer, slim pants. And over that went a coat: a hybridized, multi-fabric beast that included boiled gray wool, poor-boy rib, and long-haired black fur. The dusty-hued dresses were also crafted from various materials, pieced together in a way that made it hard to tell where one thing started and another stopped. The rock reference here was mostly grunge (who else wore ribbed arm warmers?), but a silver suit and gold-soled wedges were undeniably glam. As for the sweetness, it might be challenging for the Philosophy girl to pull out her ethereal fave, but kudos to Ferretti for not playing it safe.
