There was a cinematic kind of drama to the Fall 2012 collection of Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti. First, the elegant setting — Avery Fisher Hall, which is home to New York's Philharmonic Orchestra, was built in the '60s and reflects midcentury form in a warm palette of cream, brass, and wood. Cue the orchestral soundtrack, and finally the models, who came up a weirdly chic escalator and walked the eternally long hall only to disappear down the other escalator. It felt a little bit like the end of a movie, playing over and over again. If that's the case, the heroine we would imagine to be a very elegant woman from the 1960s with a taste for sparkle on her pert shirt collars, lucite belts to cinch her tailored skirt suit, and a fur jacket encased in plastic (in case it rains). It was as if last season's cute '60s girl, who wore shades of pink and purple and yellow with aplomb, grew up, got a job, married rich, maybe had an affair (we're thinking of Tilda Swinton in the beautifully shot Milan-based film I Am Love), and saw her tastes evolve a bit — still feminine, but a lot more elegant.
- Trends: Ladylike, sparkly embellishments, skirt suits, monochromatic dressing, lucite, plastic, '60s elegant.
- Colors: Gray, cream, nude, camel.
- Key Piece: Any of the tops with sparkly collars, a beautiful ombré camel coat.
- Accessories: Lucite belts, chic little briefcases, silver-tipped stilettos.
- Who Would Wear It: Sophisticated, feminine dressers with a taste for unusual details.
