Lucie Merle TC2 / Comal 1E
SONIA RYKIEL

Rykiel… Six letters that are as radiant as her creation. This the story of combine madness and genius, sensibility and provocation. Turn into one word it would make: revolution. She then went on to invent the inverted seam, the no hem and no lining. Her DEMODE (de-fashion) philosophy urged women to adapt fashion to their own taste and personality rather than follow the diktats of designers. She created a unique style that would soon be recognized throughout the world, its most distinctive features compromising, stripes, sequins, lettering and the colour black. Several other passions nourish her creativity, such as literature, designing, acting, painting (she exposed her creations during an exhibition) and gastronomy…until a flower which has the same name : Sonia Rykiel. Ethnically a Polish Jew, she was born in Paris, France in 1930. At the age of 17, she was employed to dress the window displays in a Parisian textile store. In 1953 Sonia married Sam Rykiel, owner of a boutique selling elegant clothing. In 1962 she just couldn't find any soft sweaters to wear when she was pregnant. So she used a supplier to her husband from Venice to design her own. In 1968 she was elected "Queen of Knits" by the American publication Women's Wear Daily, and her sweaters became the emblem of her trade. She later became the first designer to put seams on the outside of a garment, and to print words on her sweaters. In particular, she favors long clinging sweaters or small cropped pullovers, large rolled-back cuffs and long shawls. Her colors are usually beige, grey, dark blue and charcoal. Sonia Rykiel created a unique style that is recognizable around the world, whose key words are black, stripes, lace, strass (rhinestones) and sweaters emblazoned with written messages. Pullovers that reveal the skin and hug the body without constraint were created in the name of creating a new allure and erasing the dictates of bourgeois dressing. Velours