Alberta Ferretti is known as the go-to designer for delicate, feminine dresses: flimsy clouds of lace and chiffon. While they seem made for exquisite creatures living only in a reverie after dark, the reality is anything but. “My women are active; they travel, they live!” said Ferretti, a dynamo if ever there was one. “I’m inspired by the way my customers dress today, and my responsibility as a designer is to make them feel confident and beautiful in their everyday lives.” Indeed, her Pre-Fall lineup was all about the everyday—only seen through Ferretti’s rose-colored glasses.
Do not expect all-black basics here or a wardrobe of boring staples in shades of beige. “I always want women to feel special,” Ferretti said. That’s why she adores embellishments, because of the fantasy element they can add to a dress or a blouse. But this season she focused more on reshuffling easy, classic shapes into imaginative confections of practicality and whimsy.
“I go out a lot; I live an active life,” she said. “I see how women dress. Modern wardrobes are made by mixing different pieces with eccentricity and freedom. A kind of a ‘right-wrong’ style, where you dress in silver denim by day and you put on a cashmere sweater for evening. I call it coordinated-uncoordinated.” She evoked that sensibility with voluminous, elaborate knitted sweaters in Lurex and mohair intarsia, or decorated in inserts of wool lace and hand-knitted crochet. The sweaters looked pretty fabulous and could easily be styled with a pair of jeans for daytime or dressed up with a sumptuous skirt for a night out.
Practicalities aside, Ferretti couldn’t help but infuse her romantic flair, referring to the British countryside as an inspiration. Hunting vignettes were printed on long chiffon dresses worn with thick ribbed cardigans, or embroidered on ample wool sweaters; macro-checkered tartans graced pantsuits with slightly oversize double-
breasted blazers and high-waisted relaxed pants. Ferretti’s hand was apparent in the reworked classic staples. An army green parka hybrid was elaborately made out of a cashmere trapeze coat and placed under a detachable sporty overcoat in silk nylon. It certainly didn’t look basic, and neither did a tobacco silk faille trench with rich pleated details on the back and foldings on the sleeves. For the label’s fans, the designer provided a few of her well-tested hyperfeminine numbers, shown with short black leather car coats and thigh-high velvet boots.
