Legendary designer Sonia Rykiel passes away at age 86
Revolutionary designer and fashion legend Sonia Rykiel has passed away at age 86, Women’s Wear Daily reports. The French creator is greatly mourned in the world of style and beyond, as she transformed the way we think about and design women’s clothes. Her Paris fashion shows were always a cause for excitement and she brought together the people of fashion in a way that was unique, and will never be forgotten.
Many are mourning Sonia Rykiel’s, and highlighting her legacy.
“Sonia Rykiel was a revolutionary designer,” Jean Paul Gaultier told WWD. “I have great admiration for the work that she has done on liberating women and their fashion. And she gave the inspiration and the style to all of us.”
We are extremely in love with her focus on feminism and women’s liberation. Like, hell yes.
“She had this tremendous seduction: her eyes, voice, attitudes, words,” Christian Lacroix told WWD. “She epitomizes a certain brand of ‘French-ness’ and Paris since the Sixties — free and elegant girls, with French style, French attitude and French freedom, both erotic and intellectual.”
When you think of French girl fashion, you’re thinking of Sonia Rykiel. Her world shaped ours.
“She was the link in between Vionnet, Schiaparelli, Chanel and her generation of women designers, with a modern, feminist, optimistic and free approach to fashion, the world and the times,” Lacroix continued.
Her creativity and ideas influenced ours in unforgettable ways, whether you live for fashion or not.
Daughter Nathalie Rykiel, a consultant to the brand, said, “She was the epitome of a free woman. She accomplished so many things, and it wasn’t only about fashion. It’s a story about women and the liberation of women.”
Yes, yes, and yes. We are so about all of this, and so hopeful that more designers will rise to the task set by Rykiel.
The brand was mostly passed on from Sonia Rykiel, with the current creative director, Julie de Libran, at its reins. Still, Rykiel’s influence remains, and she is remembered fondly. RIP, Sonia Rykiel. We thank you for helping style become what it is today.
