Designers tackling Resort often look to the more bombastic vacation getaways—Miami, Ibiza, Saint-Tropez—for their inspiration. Alberta Ferretti, in contrast, chose Deauville. The picturesque town in Normandy is well known (among fashion types, at least) as the getaway spot for Coco Chanel, and the name conjures visions of early-century chic. And there was a sweet, somewhat vintage flavor to a few of Ferretti's looks in this collection, though the designer managed to throw in some eminently salable aughties garb, as well as some of her trademark flowing, glamour girl dresses. There was a retro appeal in silk pieces printed with painterly, picture postcard-style illustrations, and color-banded flared skirts and frocks. Scarf-print wide-leg silk trousers should offer another option to the girls chasing the season's pajama-dressing trend (not to mention gelling with the foulard chic surfacing at, of all places, the Spring '12 menswear shows).
Ferretti's look can rocket this way and that from season to season, but longtime label acolytes know they'll always be able to count on her dresses. Here, as always, they came in long, draped, and diaphanous form, for this vacation just as much as for the next, or the next.
