They call her by name, without even having to indicate her surname. “A dress from Alberta”, “the style of Alberta”, “because it is Alberta”. And this is because the Romagna designer Alberta Ferretti is so much part of the heritage of our Italian fashion that she is part of us. Yet she has an important story, not easy, but as aggressive as all the names that come to success and make it to emerge.
Starting from Emilia-Romagna, from a seamstress mother from Cattolica , thanks to the creative spirit combined with entrepreneurship, Alberta Ferretti has left a deep imprint in the made in Italy, a brand that joins with merit the other great names in our fashion. Always ready to broaden her horizons, she immediately focused on fashion for everyone, without giving up even the elite clothes.
Let’s see together, in the new post dedicated to famous Italian stylists, the story of the Romagna designer who has given prestige to an entire region, with creations that bring Made in Italy to the top in the world.
From tailoring to Moschino
Alberta Ferretti was born in Gradara on 2 May 1950. She grew up in Cattolica, helping her mother who works as a seamstress in an atelier that closed in 1965. Here, however, she learned the art of creating clothes, of matching, of transforming.
At the age of 18 he opens his first clothing store in Cattolica : the Jolly Shop, which sells clothes of the big names, but between one and the others he also inserts some of his personal creations.
In 1974 he decided to create and design a collection that will be presented in Milan. A few years later he founds his own AEFFE atelier and opens the office in Milan, thus looking into Milanese fashion.
In 1983 he began to collaborate with Franco Moschino and together they organized the second very successful line with the Philosophy brand in 1984.
With the proceeds of the first successful sales, he not only expands the company and extends production to pret-a-porter, but also restores the medieval village of Montegridolfo, in its region, and more specifically near Rimini.
In the same year he also inaugurated Palazzo Donizetti in Milan. The building, built in an eclectic style around 1920, is considered a work of Piero Portaluppi, a distinguished exponent of the Milanese twentieth century.
But Alberta’s career has just begun and is ready to take off for good.
The Alberta Company
Creative collaborations flock to the Italian designer. And this is how Alberta Ferretti works with Jean Paul Gaultier, with Narciso Rodriguez, she begins to dress movie stars and great singers.
The nineties are the golden years of his brand that is very popular all over the world and is associated with the best social events. But not satisfied with the production of clothes, Alberta also tries new paths. Starting from the 56th in New York, where she opens her first “American” show room: we are in 1996 when AEFFE USA was born, in a building designed by CPH Gilbert for the banker Henry Seligman. Since 2001, taking over an old company of suppliers, the AEFFE group has also started to produce footwear, bags and accessories .
Since 2007 it has been listed on the Milan Stock Exchange and has extended its single-brand stores to all continents, with particular and appreciated presences in the Middle East and the Emirates.
Its fashion is elegant, of quality, of value but never over the top, never too snobbish. People hear about her, and “Alberta” is one of them.
Alberta Ferretti’s dresses are worn by stars from all over the world and on the most photographed red carpets: Sandra Bullock, Susan Sarandon, Katy Perry, Dua Lipa, Juliette Binoche, Celine Dion, Chiara Ferragni, Regina King, Amal Clooney, Jane Fonda and many more others decide to rely on the style and elegance of Alberta Ferretti.
But what is the style that distinguishes Alberta? Let’s see it in the following lines.
The style of Alberta Ferretti
There is no single Alberta Ferretti style . Such a versatile company can be admired in a thousand different ways. The uniforms of the Alitalia flight attendants are “from Alberta”, many wedding dresses you will wear are “from Alberta”, the refined dresses of show business women are always “from Alberta”. What makes this brand timeless is the keenness of combining the classic, the elegant and the original modern, without however making the contrast understood.
Alberta Ferretti makes everyone agree : mothers, daughters, athletes, lovers of elegance, very faithful to the classic and rebels in search of novelty. The sophisticated style of Alberta Ferretti can also be worn by the average provincial housewife, and so sports or casual clothes will also be of taste for elegant ladies of Milan.
