'FIGURE' OUT THE FASHION TREND: Alberta Ferretti 2014/15 Collections

Alberta Ferretti

Alberta Ferrettiis an Italian fashion designer and dressmaker. She designs for Alberta Ferretti and Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti. Her showroom is in Milan, Italy but her studio is in the village of Cattolica, near Rimini, Italy.
In 1968, Alberta Ferretti opened her first little boutique, called Jolly, in Cattolica. She designed a first collection in 1973 and was co–founder of Aeffe (a clothing manufacturer and distributor) in 1976. She began showing seasonal collections on runways of Milan, Italy, in 1981. She launched Ferretti Jeans Philosophy in 1989, renamed Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti in 1994. In 1994 she renovated a 13th–century castle into the Palazzo Viviani hotel in Montegridolfo.
In October 1993 Ferretti presented clothes reminiscent of The Great Gatsby for the Milan ready-to-wear shows. One of her designs was a long and trim gingham dress, in pale blue. A flapper showed a beige crocheted dress styled just above the knee. Her renditions of the toga for the production were diverse. They were simple gowns, some of them short, others long and draped.
Ferretti extended her the breadth of her company outside of Italy beginning with the acquisition of a building at 30 West 56th Street in New York City. She started Aeffe U.S.A., which produced and distributed clothing by Moschino, Rifat Ozbek, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Narcisco Rodriguez. Aeffe is owned by Ferretti and her brother, Massimo. The locale also became the hub for marketing her own collections.
By 1998 she opened in-store boutiques for selling her signature and Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti lines at Bergdorf Goodman. Next she obtained her initial American freestanding store in SoHo. This business, near Prince Street, is exclusively for her Philosophy collection. It is a lower priced edition of Ferretti's signature line, intended for younger women. In contrast to most designers, she started boutiques for her secondary lines prior to opening a flagship store for her signature collection. Ferretti's Wesr Broadway building is located next door to a Rizzoli bookstore. It is a Federal style architecture townhouse built in the late 19th century. It was renovated with a three-story glass front and skylights, so that the interior was filled with natural light. The store was designed by Manhattan architect David Ling. It is a pristinely white 1,000-square-foot (93 m²) shop. Ferretti signed a licensing deal with Procter & Gamble for a fragrance line in 2000.
Ferretti is known for her designs featuring twisting, tucking, and draping techniques. Her style employs a subtle layered look, sometimes showing a hint of hand-beaded gauze which extends slightly beneath the hem of a wool dress. The erotic qualities of the chiffon and jersey fashions she introduced for her spring 2008 fashion collection is evident in the look of her dresses. Many of them are cut high in the front and draped low in the back. Her target customer is the cocktail crowd. Specifically the dresses are party frocks, above the knee, and enhanced by rhinestone rosettes and armour-like chain mail. Feretti's collection includes pleated bubbled coats, toga-like minidresses and skirts, and a sparse number of gowns of soft mint green and white hues. The minidresses and skirts were shown with ethereal models wearing metallic gladiator flats.
In July 2011 her collection was presented at the catwalk of The Brandery fashion show in Barcelona.

Alberta Ferretti Collections 2014-2015

by Kerry Olsen

As Milan swelters in an unforgiving June heat wave (sadly too early for a beach exodus, so the city limps on), it’s an opportune moment to discover Alberta Ferretti’s resort collection. This season, the designer’s inherent sense of an Italian summer was mostly dispatched to other climes, and the focus was on those well-dressed art-world types with a preference for air-conditioned galleries. Ferretti opted to reference Mark Rothko for her art-centric collection, one of a group of celebrated artists who have been shape-shifters in their time. In fact, the designer has been shifting the silhouette of her own label for a few seasons now, adding a linear modernism to her feminine repertoire.

The Rothko-inspired colorblocks were a welcome frisson: A saturated monochromes palette of coral red, iris, purple and yellow livened up floor-swooping skirts, smart evening coats, silk pants, and bold evening dresses. She broke free from the washy abstraction to make compositions that will appeal to her die-hard collectors. Lace provided a diaphanous base for blown-up glittering embroidered curlicues and laser-cut foliage that adorned natty shift dresses. In the words of Jay Z, “I just want a Picasso, in my casa . . . I wanna Rothko . . .” Now you know where to buy (a relatively affordable) one that will fit your suitcase, too.