Sonia Rykiel’s friends have gathered in Paris to pay their respects to the late designer, who passed away on August 22 aged 86. Rykiel had suffered from Parkinson’s since the early 1990s, when she left her label in the hands of daughter Nathalie who now serves as managing artistic director.
Albert Elbaz and Suzy Menkes joined former French prime minister Lionel Jospin at the ceremony — all were close friends of Rykiel’s. Her two children and grandaughter Lola led the procession to Montparnasse Cemetery, not far from Rykiel’s birthplace in Neuilly-sur-Seine. The Post report Jospin took a moment to praise Rykiel’s designs, which he saw as “inscribed in modernity.”
Indeed, Sonia was always looking forward: when we spoke to the designer in 2007 we asked if she would ever like to go back and do something differently. Rykiel said “Not at all. I am sure today there are things I could do in another way but I still wouldn’t change a thing.”
Credits
Photography Dominique Issermann