Fashion designer Alberta Ferretti steps down from brand after 43 years

Italian fashion designer Alberta Ferretti announced on Tuesday she is stepping down as creative director of the brand she founded after 43 years.

In a heartfelt message on Tuesday, Ferretti reflected on her storied career and hinted at a new direction for the fashion house.

“On Sept. 17th, you attended my last fashion show,” Ferretti wrote in a letter emailed to her colleagues and clients. “Yes, it’s time for me to make room for a new chapter for my brand, a new narrative. It was a difficult, complicated, but very thoughtful choice.”

Though Ferretti, 74, will no longer oversee the day-to-day creative operations, the Alberta Ferretti brand will continue to bear her name. The designer confirmed that a successor will be announced soon, ensuring the brand’s future direction remains.

Fashion powerhouse Aeffe, which owns the Alberta Ferretti label, Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini, Moschino, and Pollini, has clarified that Ferretti will continue as vice president of the group. This ongoing involvement will likely allow her to shape the brand’s transition into a new era.

Ferretti’s final runway show, held during Milan Fashion Week, concluded her time at the helm. Staged in the courtyard of a former cloister—now a science museum—the show highlighted her hallmark feminine, summery designs against the backdrop of a grand dome, paying homage to her artisanal roots.

“They are real summer clothes because the world in the summer is very warm. I know a show is supposed to be a show, but reality is important,” Ferretti said backstage, giving no indication at the time that it would be her last.

Since launching the brand in 1973 as a small family business, Ferretti has been celebrated for her romantic, flowing silhouettes—designs inspired by her childhood in her family’s dressmaking shop, where she cultivated her passion for fashion.

In 1981, she began presenting her seasonal collections on the runway in Milan. Over the years, while her boutique grew into an international brand employing over 1,500 people, Ferretti emphasized that the core of her vision remains unchanged.

“The Alberta of that day is in many ways still the Alberta of today, even if in the meantime a small family business has become a company with 1,500 employees,” she wrote, signing off with a nod to both her past and the brand’s promising future.

Ferretti’s brand has long been a go-to designer for celebrities’ biggest moments. Her work is consistently seen on the red carpets of European film festivals and major award shows. In addition, she most notably dressed Beyoncé and Taylor Swift during their respective world tours these past two years.

Ferretti is now the latest designer to leave her namesake brand, joining Tom Ford, who left in 2022, and Dries Van Noten, who left his label in March.

This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.