The daughter of a dressmaker, Alberta Ferretti opened her first boutique in Cattolica, Italy, at the age of 18, and designed her first collection in 1974. She founded her eponymous label in 1980 and showed her ready-to-wear collection on the catwalk in Milan the following year. The line has gained a following for her ultrafeminine cocktail dresses and red-carpet-worthy evening gowns in fluttery bolts of chiffon, draped georgette, charmeuse, and satin. Alberta's brother, Massimo, joined the company in 1981, and the pair formed Aeffe, a manufacturing company that also produces Moschino, Moschino Cheap & Chic, Pollini, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Basso & Brooke. In 1984, Ferretti launched a younger, dressed-down spinoff brand, Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti (originally called Ferretti Jeans Philosophy).
Photos courtesy of Alberta Ferretti