Alberta Ferretti Is Stepping Down From Her Eponymous Brand

Alberta Ferretti announced on Tuesday that she is stepping down from the role of creative director at her longstanding namesake brand. In a statement, the 74-year-old Italian designer called the decision “difficult, complicated, but very thoughtful,” adding, “It’s time for me to make room for a new chapter for my brand, a new narrative.” A successor will be announced soon.

Ferretti’s last show was the spring/summer 2025 presentation she just staged last week in Milan. Ferretti will remain in her role as deputy chairman of Aeffe S.p.A. the Italian luxury group she founded with her brother, Massimo, in 1988.

Ferretti started her eponymous label in 1973 as a small family business. In 1981, she began presenting her seasonal collections on the runway in Milan. Over the years, her business grew exponentially. Ferretti’s Aeffe went on to acquire Moschino as well as Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini and the company as a whole now boasts 1,500 employees. Recently, though, Alberta Ferretti has been struggling, with Aeffe reporting a loss of €20 million ($22.27 million) in the first six months of 2024.

The brand is known for its feminine, ethereal dresses, and has long been a go-to designer for celebrities’s biggest moments. Her work is consistently seen on the red carpets of European film festivals, as well as major award shows. She also dressed both Beyoncé and Taylor Swift during their respective world tours these past two years. Her design prowess, as well as her entrepreneurial skills, paved the way for many, especially other Italian female designers and businesswomen like Miuccia Prada and Donatella Versace.

Ferretti now becomes the latest designer to step away from her namesake brand, joining the ranks of Tom Ford, who left his brand in 2022, and Dries Van Noten, who stepped down from his label in March. While Haider Ackermann has been announced as the new creative director of Tom Ford, the fates of Dries and Alberta Ferretti remain up in the air.