Badaude's Paris Address Book - Sonia Rykiel

It's Rykiel season (or almost)!

 

The Rykiels are the royal family of French fashion. Mother. Sonia, and daughter, Natalie, have been designing since the 1960s when Sonia set up her quirky women’s knitwear company. Although she produces year-round collections, Autumn is Rykiel season: these are the months when you want to skip through Paris parks in black-and-bright-stripe sweaters, and go on dinner dates in backless knits embroidered with lamé bowties. (I did once see a girl wearing a Rykiel grey knit pinafore dress in August but I think she was just floating in a late Summer style vacuum and was really keen to get on with the new season's look.)

 

Now also designing for men, the Rykiel empire exends from the knitted and felted flounces of main line (international design at international prices right on the Boulevard Saint Germain) through Sonia Rykiel Paris (a more affordable and fun diffusion range of brightly coloured, often stripy pieces) to a sportswear boutique, perfume and even Rykiel Woman, the designer’s very own erotic toyshop which I failed to dare to go into earlier this year.

 

Rykiel designs are idiosyncratic rather than trend-led and the comfortable,clever and eccentric pieces are a fashion law unto themselves. It's worth knowing they also run to larger sizes than the usual  42 (UK 14, US 12) which is deemed by many Paris designers to be as big as a girl can get.

 

Sonia herself, with her tight black knitted outfits and flaming red hair, has become the incarnation of left-bank chic.

 

 

Maybe the only downside about Rykiel is that Rykiel is always sooo Rykiel. The identity of the label is so strong that if you go out wearing one of its signature pieces, you'll always look like, 'Yournamehere in Rykiel', mever just 'Yournamehere tout court' if you see what I mean. You have to have a strong sense of fashion identity yourself to stop Sonia taking over your look...

If you still dare to add just a Rykiel touch to your outfit, visit the Rykiel Paris store round the corner from Sonia Rykiel in rue des Saintes Peres and buy a length of stripy scarf which is sold by the metre.

There is also a sale shop which, given that Rykiel’s designs can never be identified as 'last year's thing', just as 'Sonia's thing', is definitely worth a visit at 64 and 110-112 rue d’Alesia, 14e.

The main boutique is at

175 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris, 75006

Phone: +33 1 4954 6060

http://www.soniarykiel.com

 

Will I be wearing Rykiel? Not for a few weeks. I'm in Avignon, where it's still Summer.

Comments

[shelli]

I have a treasured Rykiel cardigan from the eighties that makes me look like a blue bumble bee, but I love seeing it in my closet. Must admit I haven't worn it in years though.

[Gold Sphere]

I have a few French friends and they all seem to own Rykiel in their wardrobe... is sort of like a 'must'.

I do love your illustrations. <3

[badaude]

Maybe it's one of those mysterious government directives - like the way the January sales can only take place within dates dictated by the Elysee Palace - in support of the French design industry...