Philosophy

NEW YORK, September 10, 2007
By Meenal Mistry
It's amore: Alberta Ferretti ♥ the Big Apple. At her second presentation here, Ferretti announced that her number-two line would be making New York its permanent home. "It's the perfect place for Philosophy," Ferretti said. "New York has such a sense of life in the streets that is very today and now. It's unlike any other city."

The Italian designer greeted a sizeable international crowd—including Tatiana Santo Domingo, Padma Lakshmi, and Coco Brandolini—at the Hosfelt Gallery in the Garment District. Philosophy is skewed toward a younger customer, and its oeuvre slants toward off-kilter embellishment and highly feminine dresses. This collection was especially girlish, though not sugary-sweet. Against a glaring backdrop of bare bulbs and fluorescent lights, Ferretti showed a buoyant lineup of wearable, jaunty dresses and saucy minis. Many came collaged with a mix of striped cottons, natural linens, and prints borrowed from either seventeenth-century frescoes or Louise Bourgeois drawings. The abundance of stripes added a fresh, seaside feel, but the collection didn't bash you over the head with a nautical theme. Evening was similarly effortless, with crinkled silks slathered with silver-dollar paillettes. All in all, Ferretti is going the right way about wooing her new favorite city.