MFW-ALBERTA FERRETTI

 

Backstage at Alberta Ferretti, just before the show started, it was easy to spot her, and the clues weren’t just the camera crews, boom microphones, and an interpreter conveying every word  the petite designer spoke to the reporters surrounding her. It was Ferretti’s dress, black, sleek, and understated, that made her stand out a mile amidst the watery palette (silver, aqua, azure, teal, lilac, and the deepest oceanic blue imaginable) that provided her color story for next spring.

Her own dress clearly said “I mean business,” and, you know what, she does. Those Ferretti ateliers have vaulting ambitions as to what they want to achieve, and never more so with this beautifully elegant and refined collection. It eschewed the typical Milan approach of here-come-the-trends-big-and-bold-as-you-like, in favor of an ethereal reflection, if you’ll excuse the pun, on how the liquidity of water can be drawn into her clothes. This is where those nimble-fingered ateliers of hers come in: the intricate piecing of lace into what she called a “tattoo” effect on bias-cut wispy nothings that slip and slide around the body; iridescent embroideries that wave and undulate over organza blouses and shifts, the latter layered over the likes of a fringe-tassel slip dress; and gorgeous 1930s-feeling black-and-nude chiffon and lace evening dresses that, through the interplay of the delicate fabrics, suggested the sea-shifting color at night as moonlight falls on it.

This was as good a meditation on the idea of soft, romantic evening dressing that we’ve seen so far. In fact, correction: It’s the only rendering that we’ve had the pleasure of watching. It’s often the case that in any given season Ferretti provides a corrective to some of the excesses that might be seen elsewhere, and that’s definitely the case for next spring. With so much harder, graphic, intensely colored, sixties-influenced looks playing loud and strong, this collection’s refined spirit only seemed to play that bit louder and stronger. Just don’t go flicking through the runway images searching for clothes that will go to work. (If anyone knows of a chiffon-friendly office, we’d love to hear about it.) But that’s hardly the point. The workmanship elevates these looks to the level of event dressing. Not that that has to mean grand. Ferretti also presented one of the most alluring takes on the decorative-top-over-lean-pants combo that started a couple of weeks back in New York, with hers contrasting the likes of an ivory chiffon pieced and patched dress over shantung trousers.