Fashion Designer Sonia Rykiel, the Queen of Knitwear, Dies at Age 86

Sonia Rykiel, the pioneering Parisian fashion designer, passed away this morning at the age of 86 after a decades-long battle with Parkinson’s Disease. An icon in France, her passing was officially announced by the county’s president François Hollande.

“She had invented not only a style but an attitude, a way of life and gave women freedom of movement,” Hollande said in a statement. “I convey my sincere condolences to her children Nathalie and Jean-Philippe and their family and close ones who are in pain.”

Rykiel started her fashion empire back in in the ’50s simply because she couldn’t find anything comfortable to wear during her pregnancy, even at the Parisian boutique owned by her husband.

“My husband had a ready-to-wear boutique called Laura but there was really nothing in it that I liked,” she told The Guardian in 2014. “I wanted to wear clothes that would make me stand out from the crowd … so I decided to have a few things made up for me.”

With no other options, Rykiel took it upon herself to design an outfit to her liking, by working with her husband’s suppliers. The result was the first of Rykiel’s sweaters, which boldly showed off her pregnancy. Eventually dubbed the “poor boy” sweater, the closely cut, comfortable piece set off a fashion craze in 1963. The French fashion press caught on, and the story goes that soon after none other than Audrey Hepburn walked into the boutique and bought five sweaters for herself.

Remembering Sonia Rykiel’s Bold, Eccentric Personal Style

Rykiel’s tightly fitting sweaters would come to define the look of Paris’s Left Bank in the ’60s, and helped to free women from the more cumbersome fits of suits and shoulder pads. She relied on a woman’s body to provide the silhouette, and called her creations “clothes that have no shape unless they are worn.”

Rykiel expanded her knitwear line. Eventually, she embraced stripes, which would become a trademark of her designs. She’s also credited with being the first to knit words directly onto a sweater. A full on fashion house was established in 1968, and by 1972, Women’s Wear Daily had coronated her as “the queen of knitwear,” a moniker that stuck with her for the rest of her career.

Established as an icon, Rykiel’s influence in the fashion industry was celebrated at her brand’s 40th-anniversary show. Rykiel’s daughter Nathalie Rykiel, who had succeeded her mother as artistic director of the brand in 1995, arranged for 30 of the world’s top fashion designers to contribute their own takes on Rykiel’s look. Each designer celebrated Rykiel’s vision of chic comfort. Rodarte sent in a knitted sweater and skirt combination emblazoned with the word “Obama.” Jean Paul Gaultier designed a slinky knitted dress held up by two actual oversized knitting needles. Karl Lagerfeld contributed a black cardigan with orange and beige stripes. It was featured on top a pair of silk pajamas that were printed with a portrait of Rykiel herself. Appropriately the pieces were not only chic, they were also comfortable.

Watch Sofia Coppola’s tour of the Sonia Rykiel studio, with the brand’s current creative director Julie de Libran: