As the co-founder of Aeffe, the Italian company that produces and distributes collections by Jean Paul Gaultier, Moschino and Cacheral as well as her namesake brands, Alberta Ferretti is an astute businesswoman. But she also loves to dream.

A dreamy quality is evident in Ferretti's spring/summer 2012 collection, which she showcased to a select group Houstonians at Tootsies Wednesday night, courtesy of American Express.

The collection, which was shown for the first time outside of Milan, features colorful chiffon gowns, graphic jungle prints, art deco slipdresses — Ferretti said she was "a bit inspired by the romantic jungle of the 1920s" — and dresses and coats with bugle bead embroidery insets, tulle panels and nude lining to create sense of illusion.

"I love a delicate woman — a woman who allows herself to be discovered just bit by bit, that dreamy feminine thing," Ferretti told CultureMap through an interpreter after the show. "I'm always attempting to create a very unique woman — I say an almost dreamy woman — because in the real concrete world of today, dreaming is so important because it helps us really face the harsh reality of day-to-day life."

The production quality of the show certainly rivaled a European runway presentation. A tent-like structure filled a good part of the interior of Tootsies, with lucite chairs and a mirrored wall that reflected the models as they walked the runway. Ferretti seemed to impart her dreamy vision to the models, many of whom are regulars at Houston fashions shows but seemed to walk more confidently and professionally under her tutelage.

Afterwards, Ferretti engaged in a question-and-answer session with InStyle magazine fashion editor Hal Rubenstein.

"The thing I like most about fashion is modernity and romance," Rubenstein said. "Alberta's designs are intricate and effortless. They excite you but they don't overtake you."

Among the questions Rubenstein asked Ferretti was how much prominence should fashion have in a person's life? Her response:

The show brought out a large crowd of the Houston fashion faithful, including Debra and Mark Grierson, Lynn Wyatt, Mary K Kickerillo and Kelli Kickerillo, Becca Cason Thrash, Joanne Herring King, Sheridan Williams, Fran Lichtenstein and Melissa and Michael Mithoff.

AmEx events

The Ferretti fashion show was the latest in a series of special events that American Express is organizing for its Houston customers. Recently the company has organized showing of movies from the Tribeca Film Festival at the Alamo Drafthouse and a dinner at Reef featuring a demonstration by noted chefs.

"Houston is a huge market for us. Even when we have our events in New York around fashion week, we have Houston customers," said American Express vice-president Sonali Chakravorti, who oversees such events for Platinum and Centurion cardholders. "The idea now is we've been focusing on these passions, we should really be bringing these passions to where our customers are."

Chakravorti says that Houston cardholders can expect more such events in the areas of food, wine, sports, film and fashion, with insider information they can't find anywhere else. "A lot of people are shouting about access nowadays. We like to say, 'What's the insider look?' and getting our customers much closer to the people they admire."

AmEx's increased Houston presence also appears to be an attempt to woo customers who can no longer use their Platinum and Centurion cards for admission into Continental Airline's airport clubs. Also American Express cardholders can no longer redeem their points for frequent-flier miles in the Continental OnePass program. (The benefits were discontinued at the end of September.)

"I think we're always trying to make sure that we are positively impacting our customers' lives," Chakravorti said. "Certainly with United and Continental merging, it's changed the landscape quite a bit. I think what we've focused on is trying to find other ways to make things easier. We still have a number of ways to use your points on United and/or Continental, ways to get into the lounges. We continue to say, 'Hey what's important to our customers? How do we make their lives easier?'