In the dark of Alberta Ferretti’s venue pre-show, guests wearing her diaphanous chiffons posed for photos on the runway. Though her reputation was built on ethereal evening dresses in the ’90s, for years now she’s been equally focused on daywear. Women can’t live in silk slip dresses alone.
Backstage, she described the collection as a mix of masculine and feminine. The first look was indeed a slip dress, but with a bodice that combined black lace and gray flannel, and a pleated skirt that extended to the floor, maxi lengths being one of the season’s emerging trends. In this opening group there were charcoal pinstripes, a salt-and-pepper tweed, and more of that gray flannel—the mannish elements—accompanied by shirts variously trimmed in ruffles or beads for a womanly touch. A handful of the looks included pieces densely embroidered with metal discs, an acknowledgment, maybe, that distinguishing between day and night dressing is an old-fashioned way of thinking.
Another developing story in Milan is color: warm spicy autumnal colors from pumpkin to mustard to puce. In the show’s middle section, Ferretti used those hues for pantsuits and chunky layered knits, the only distinguishing features of which were their sharp colors. She also chose chartreuse for a bias silk slip whose bodice was veiled in black net. Among the special occasion dresses, the most winning was in off-the-shoulder black net with silver sequins embroidered to accentuate an hourglass waist. It has Oscars potential.