Alberta Ferretti launched her Limited Edition collection a year ago in the hotel particulier she acquired when she moved her Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré shop. After two seasons of small-scale tableau vivant presentations, she went the full monty today and staged a runway show. Ferretti is the grand dame on this season’s list of couture newcomers, which includes J. Mendel, Francesco Scognamiglio, Giles Deacon, and Iris van Herpen, back on the calendar after a three-year absence. The Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture seems keen to energize the couture proceedings; Vetements, the holy grail of hotness, is even on the schedule
Ferretti was quick to clarify that Limited Edition isn’t truly haute couture. Not everything is made entirely by hand, but it’s as elevated as her work gets, with silk and beaded fringing; crystal, pearl, and metal embroideries; and 3-d fabric reliefs that echoed the wall decorations in the new space, which once belonged to a branch of the Rothschild family. The collection is Ferretti's way of fulfilling client requests for unique special occasion wear, and, in no little part, to please herself. The dresses are available at Bergdorf Goodman and some Saks Fifth Avenue stores; priced in the low five figures, they’re more affordable than some of the couture creations we’ll see this week.
The animating idea, Ferretti explained backstage, was movement. Hence the emphasis on the aforementioned fringe, quite 1920s flapper-ish on short little dresses. Ferretti also worked with bias-cut ribbons of silk affixed together by crystals for a similarly youthful effect. Feathers that were actually not feathers, but narrow pieces of silk, decorated the skirts of several numbers; they qualified as the show’s most ornate pieces. Lightness has always marked Ferretti’s best work, and that held true here on long, graceful dresses in black or white that featured insets or stripes of delicate painted gold lace. (The embroidered naked dress was a bit too light.)
Ferretti’s collections are often linked to nature. Last season, for instance, she focused on zebra stripes. Here, she picked up on the undersea motifs of the Resort offering she recently showed in New York, a customer-friendly bit of continuity. Sheer bodices were stitched with pearls and shell-shaped embroideries, while a lavish jacquard fil coupe used for a plunge front gown and a doyenne-worthy caftan was a panoply of shades of blue. A velvet coat with a deep pile was as iridescent as the inside of an oyster shell. The show ended with a grand ball cape. Couture or not, when Ferretti came out for her bow she looked energized.
