“I HOPE THAT MY CREATIONS CAN GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF JOY”
The “Queen of Knitwear” Sonia Rykiel has died after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. She died this morning at 5 a.m. at her home in Paris.
Sonia Rykiel was born in Paris on 25th May 1930, and became synonymous with Chic Parisian style. She has been dubbed a “pioneer” by President Hollande.
SONIA RYKIEL – SS 14 COLLECTION
Whilst pregnant, Sonia discovered that there were no sweaters which were soft and comfortable enough for her to
wear throughout out her pregnancy, so following this, she created her own line of knitwear, which was so enormously successful, that she opened her own boutique on Paris’ Left Bank in 1968.
In the early days, Sonia counted Brigitte Bardot and Audrey Hepburn amongst her famous fans, and more recently, a string of A-list Stars, including Scarlett Johanson and Kate Bosworth have been spotted wearing Sonia Rykiel pieces on more than one occasion.
Her trademark stripes appeared throughout many of her collections, and her designs were soft and flattering, (without the restrictions of hems and linings) thereby seemingly morphing into her customer’s ‘second skin’, allowing her customers “femininity, freedom, sensuality and independence”, sentiments which were the essence of her collections. Sonia also championed fun fur in a big way, (which is something which continues to this day) and pieces were presented in baby pink, purple knitted fox or blue Mongolian lamb.
SONIA RYKIEL – AW 14 COLLECTION
With the support of her family (Business Partner Simon Bernstein), and daughter Nathalie Rykiel, Sonia Rykiel soon expanded established an empire, expanding into beauty, and went on to pen several novels. She also featured in the 1994 film Pret-a-Porter.
Sonia Rykiel received many, many awards including the “World’s Queen of Knitwear”, by the Trade Newspaper Women’s Wear Daily in 1967, and was decorated by Laurent Fabius, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry, as a Commandeur de l’Ordre National du Merite. She has refurbished Hotels, sung a duet with Malcolm McLaren, and even had a rose named after her, and
in 1980, Sonia was voted as one the the World’s 10 most elegant women.