SONIA RYKIEL – A TRIBUTE TO THE TRUE ORIGINAL

Often likened to Coco Chanel, Sonia Rykiel, made her mark as a fashion designer in the 60’s who was one of few female designers creating clothing for women. She launched her line of practical, flattering knitwear known as “poor-boy” sweaters, which soon grew to encompass a full ready-to-wear collection.

On Thursday this week, French fashion lost one of its most iconic and coolest designers on Thursday. She died in result of complications from Parkinson’s disease. This was confirmed by the Élysée Palace, as well as her daughter Nathalie, to the New York Times. She was 86

Sonia Rykiel was called the True Original among her pairs, a designer for the Fragile but Strong. She flouted haute couture conventions and created chic ready-to-wear clothes that caught on around the world. The funky free spirited designer was a lover of Knit wears, colours, big hair and everything French and fabulous.  Adding to her pack of creativity, she was also a writer. She first revealed she was suffering from Parkinson’s disease in 2012, in the book “N’Oubliez Pas Que Je Joue” (Don’t Forget It’s a Game) which she co-authored with Judith Perrignon.

She was best known for her elevated knitwear, Ms. Rykiel began designing clothes in 1961, when she was pregnant with her second child. Her first job as a teenager was a window dresser, where she drew the attention of the artist Henri Matisse with a display of colourful scarves. He bought them all. That interest in color and fabrics continued for decades, which she displayed in her autumn/winter 2009 show. Figure-hugging skirts and sweaters, especially ribbed pullovers with high armholes that made the shoulders seem smaller, torsos narrower and legs longer.

Her Knitwear where called them “poor boy” sweaters by the press. They made the cover of Elle, and they were snapped up by Anouk Aimée, Audrey Hepburn, Catherine Deneuve and Lauren Bacall, among others.

Her favourite colour was black “My colour is black,” she once told an American fashion editor. “And black, if it’s worn right, is a scandal.”  She was also one of the first designers to put words on her clothes. She invented not only a style, but also an attitude, a way of living and of being, and gave women a freedom of movement. Made fashions for women who, like herself, were of their pregnancies, sophisticated about sex and too busy to fuss over the latest trends, women who wanted to look smart, but needed to get on with their lives.

She made everything from hats, cloths, accessories, shoes to kids wear.

Among her traditions she flouted was the rule of sending models down the runway one by one. Instead, as at her October 1988 show in Paris, she often sent out groups.

Her label would continue to run under the artistic direction of Julie de Libran, Sonia Rykiel collections continue to garner praise for their quirky, quintessentially French femininity and subtle sex appeal. They’ve stayed true to the brand’s DNA.

See some pictures of her iconic work below and you can shop her designs some of her designs here:  http://www.farfetch.com/ng/shopping/women/sonia-rykiel/items.aspx