Store Sonia Rykiel

Brand's DNA. Sonia Rykiel earned the informal title of 'the Queen of Knitwear' and every collection by the brand she founded features close-fitting and finely-knit jumpers, dresses, sweaters, and cardigans. Black is often the colour of choice for the pieces by 'Sonia Rykiel', often decorated with rhinestones and sequins and printed text as well. Striped pattern is the most common there. Sonia Rykiel was among the first to champion her flavour of deconstruction in fashion dubbed as 'la Démode', when she introduced the pieces with the seams turned inside out. During the runway shows she asked her models not to look arrogant and encouraged them to smile, giggle and just have fun.

The garments by 'Sonia Rykiel' are wearable enough to survive even everyday wear: they look well up to date, yet reasonably down-to-earth. After taking the office of the company's Creative Director in 2015, Julie de Libran succeeded in reviving the label that had started showing obvious signs of stagnation in the previous years. De Libran relies on the signature 'Sonia Rykiel' styles with a nod to the season's vibes: the dresses get flounce pleated and otherwise enriched with more elements of trendy tailoring, gauzy peasant dresses with wide belts are combined with fake fur jackets, while the trademark striped pattern reappear in unexpected colour combinations

Chic. 'Sonia Rykiel' is not the label most responsive to the latest trends. The product range is more or less stable with the classic styles created by Sonia Rykiel herself subtly updated, as a result they look relevant but never revolutionary.

Pricing. Since its very beginning, the label has targeted affluent French ladies. On average, shirts by 'Sonia Rykiel' cost €500, the dresses are €550, a piece of outerwear is €900, while turtle-neck jumpers and cardigans are available for €350. Apart from its top brand, 'Sonia Rykiel' proper, the company offers a diffusion line 'Sonia by Sonia Rykiel' (formerly known as 'Inscription Rykiel') with the price point almost twice as low.

Corporate history highlights. It all started in 1962, when Sonia Rykiel, while expecting a child, was unable to find appealing and comfortable clothes for expectant mothers and then sketched a sweater design to solve her personal problem. She was not content with having just one sweater for herself, however, and placed an order for an atelier to manufacture a small batch of sweaters to be sold via ready-to-wear boutique owned by her then husband. Her debut Poor Boy sweater made quite a stir in Paris. In 1968, after having divorced, Rykiel launched her own store where she offered a range of markedly feminine knitwear.

Afterwards, her fashion designer career skyrocketed with the launch of new stores worldwide, the introduction menswear range 'Rykiel Homme', footwear and childrenswear, and, finally, the first brand's perfume 'Septieme Sense' in 1979. 'Sonia Rykiel' was the guest designer at H&M, a mass market giant, in 2009 and 2010, which yielded the collections of knitwear and lingerie for women and girls with candy stripes, rhinestones, and other signature rykelian motifs. In 2008, thirty top fashion designers, including Jean Paul Gaultier, Ann Demeulemeester, Alber Elbaz and many others, collaborated to pay homage to 'Sonia Rykiel' that celebrated its 40th anniversary. The idea was conceived by Natalie Rykiel, a daughter of Sonia Rykiel and the brand's chairwomanIt, and took Sonia Rykiel by surprise.

In august 2016, Sonia Rykiel passed away at her home in Paris, after suffering for several years from 'f***ing Parkinson's' as she aptly called it. She was 86 years old. Nowadays, the brand development is carried forward by Julie de Libran who in the 2000s worked as the design director for women’s ready-to-wear at Prada, and later, in 2008, took the office of the womenswear creative and studio director at Louis Vuitton, working closely with Marc Jacobs; she's joined by Natalie Rykiel.

.