Alberta Ferretti works a lot, but also “lives a lot,” as she said at a resort appointment. “If you don’t live, you don’t know what women want.” In a fashion system where creative directors are mostly male, Ferretti has carved her own path through decades of dedication to an idea of romantic pragmatism. “I am a dreamer, but my dreams are rooted in the reality of today.”
Ferretti has been known as the queen of the slipdress for her love of languid femininity swathed in yards of chiffon and lace. Chiffons and laces are still there, but the quotidian preoccupations of women’s busy lives have crept in. As an entrepreneur (her family owns the Aeffe company that produces her collections), she understands what life demands of women. “We want to feel beautiful and magical for a special evening, but the everyday has to be part of an interesting narration too,” she said. “I don’t identify with banality or with excess.”
Here, she balanced practicality and romance in a series of shirts in crisp white poplin or chiffon with plays of ruching; tucked into slim black pants, they can transition from day to night. Suits were softly tailored and easy to wear, slightly fitted but never constraining, while outerwear riffed on classic staples—the trenchcoat, the short cape, the jumpsuit, the leather jacket, loose-fitting trousers—treated to special details.
Evening was ethereal, as is expected from Ferretti; she lavished on georgettes and satins, but kept silhouettes lean and dynamic. A slender long dress in white chiffon was cut like a simple t-shirt, with just few delicate plays of volants for movement. “These are clothes for real women who need to be well put together and feel beautiful for many different occasions,” Ferretti said. “They’re not intended only for red carpets.”