Eager to keep apace with fashion’s more casual direction, Alberta Ferretti has worked hard in recent years to loosen up her aesthetic. Where she was once known for party dresses, she now likes to think of herself as a 360-degree brand. Since before the pandemic, she’s been delving into sportswear—she even lassoed cowboy hats and boots on occasion. “Fashion speaks a lot of languages now,” she said backstage. “It’s important that the woman changes and develops, but also that she stays feminine, sensual, elegant—this is my woman.”
Her daywear this season was marked by its lightness, which is a signature of hers, and its zesty color, which is not. Ferretti used organza, traditionally considered an evening fabric, for hard-working shapes such as trench coats, hoodies, and safari jackets—even pants. As for the unexpected shades, they ranged from turquoise and avocado green to bright orange and fuchsia. A sharply tailored vest and trousers in stone-colored linen were a welcome palate cleanser.
The everyday vibes aside, Ferretti didn’t hold back on the handicrafts: a halter top and shorts set came embellished with natural stones, and a bikini top and miniskirt combo was made from crocheted raffia with more stones embedded into the pattern. They would fit right in at a resort on the Italian seaside.
Of course, Ferretti didn’t entirely ignore the special occasion wear that made her name. The highlights here featured shredded and braided strips of chiffon that spilled from crocheted raffia bodices, or were delicately constructed from chiffon embroidered with tubular ribbons of organza in the organic shapes of leaves and fronds. Some of the barer numbers didn’t live up to that feminine, sensual, elegant formula she mentioned. As with any new language, it takes repetition to get the nuances right.
