fashionologie

Sonia Rykiel Considering Sale of Minority Stake

fashionologie — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:03:05 PDT

>> The family-owned house Sonia Rykiel may be selling a minority stake in order to speed up its expansion, its president Nathalie Rykiel confirmed. Rykiel has hired Edmond de Rothschild Corporate Finance to explore the possibility.

“I have not taken any decision,” Rykiel noted. “I have only just started analyzing the possibility. I don’t know if it’s something I want to pursue, but I want to develop the brand. It has huge potential, in Asia obviously, but elsewhere also." She added that the brand is capable of continuing development without any outside partners: “I know that I can go much faster and further with outside help, but I am not even at the stage of contemplating whether the partner should be French or international."

Sonia Rykiel posted sales of 89.6 million euros ($118.9 million) in 2010, which were roughly flat compared to the company's 2009 sales, Rykiel said.

fashionologie — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:44:50 PST

>> Nathalie Rykiel Partnered with H&M Because They Were Copying Her -If you can't beat H&M, join them, is Nathalie Rykiel's attitude. Nathalie, currently in New York to launch the Sonia Rykiel for H&M knitwear collection, admitted when prompted that H&M, before their partnership, had used her designs. "Yes, of course! They copy me all the time! Finally I said, 'Look, if you want your girls to wear Sonia Rykiel from H&M, let's let them have the real thing!'" The collection's launch is tonight at Bobo in the West Village, with Chanel Iman making her DJing debut on deck. When WWD asked Chanel about her favorite workout song, she replied: "I don’t work out." [Nylon, WWD]

More Details on Loic Prigent's The Day Before, Capturing Proenza Schouler, Sonia Rykiel, Fendi, and Jean Paul Gaultier

fashionologie — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:48:55 PDT

>> Matt Tyrnauer may have gotten ahold of Valentino for The Last Emperor, and RJ Cutler of Anna Wintour for The September Issue, but it's Loic Prigent who has really taken the whole fly-on-the-wall fashion documentary concept by the horns these past few years. He did Signe Chanel, a five-part series on the creation of Chanel's Fall 2004 couture collection, and the 2007 film Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton, which captures Marc waddling in pigeon costume and finding inspiration for a bag from a collection of pastel macaroons; both Signe Chanel and Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton have been uploaded to YouTube.

His latest project, announced back in June, is The Day Before, set to air for four consecutive nights starting Sept. 10 on the Sundance Channel. Prigent tracks four design houses - Proenza Schouler, Sonia Rykiel, Fendi, and Jean Paul Gaultier - in the 36 hours before their Fall 2009 ready-to-wear shows, with the exception of Gaultier, who is captured before his Fall 2009 couture show.

Grumpy seamstresses, yappy dogs, collapsing roofs . . . »

Olivier Theyskens Is Still at Nina Ricci's Table

fashionologie — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:06:24 PST

>> Although sources are saying that Puig already has a new designer lined up to take Oliver Theyskens's spot at Nina Ricci, he looked right at home at the Ricci table last night during the annual Sidaction AIDS benefit gala, right down the way from Nina Ricci president Manuel Puig. Maybe he's going to ride out his contract until October, after all? But it another fashion fixture who was on everyone's minds last night - Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, making her first appearance at a fashion event and breaking her usual ties with Dior by wearing Yves Saint Laurent as the guest of Pierre Berge.
*image: source, source

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Stella McCartney's Parisian Opening: Models, Jewels, and Some Rolling Paper

fashionologie — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:32:54 PST

>> Stella McCartney marked the end of couture last night by debuting two things - her new Paris flagship (which actually opened in November) and a Cartier sapphire and diamond pendant that her dad gave her mom in the '70s and just passed onto her. Joining her in celebration were Lara Stone, who recently moved to London, Stefano Pilati, Heidi Mount, Daphne Guinness, Lily Donaldson, and the ever-goofy Sasha Pivovarova, who in addition to her book for Prada, has now been invited to illustrate a children's book for Karl Lagerfeld. There was fun to be had by all, including Francois-Henri Pinault, who joined in the game of "Who am I?," and ran around with Suzy Menkes and the rest of the bunch, cigarette rolling paper stuck to their foreheads.
*image: source

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Hundreds Turn Out To Mourn at Yves Saint Laurent's Funeral

fashionologie — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 09:36:10 PDT

>> Over 800 mourners paid tribute to Yves Saint Laurent, who passed away on Sunday after a year-long battle with brain cancer.

Applause erupted from the hundreds of onlookers as the designer's coffin was carried into the Eglise Saint-Roch for the funeral mass. A string quartet played as invited guests took their seats in a church decorated with jasmine and white lilies.

During services, former YSL muse Catherine Deneuve, visibly moved, gave a reading from a Walt Whitman poem, followed by a eulogy from Pierre Berge, Saint Laurent's former lover and long-time business partner: "He turned fashion on its head, making it socially relevant rather than merely aesthetic. With Saint Laurent, women ceased being merely clothes-horses or the objects of designer fantasies."

As expected, a number of fashion figures attended - John Galliano, Christian Lacroix, Claudia Schiffer, Laetitia Casta - but noticeably absent was rival Karl Lagerfeld, who according to a Chanel spokesperson was "away on business." Most of the women attendees were dressed in pants suits, in tribute to the designer's reputation as the man who put women in pants.

Yves Saint Laurent's body will be cremated and then scattered in the Majorelle Gardens in Morocco, where he spent much of his life. A short video of the services is here.
*images: source, source

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Sonia Rykiel Reveals Struggle With Parkinson's Disease

fashionologie — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 07:57:15 PDT

>> In her new book, designer Sonia Rykiel confesses that she's been hiding her battle with Parkinson's disease from the world for the past 15 years.

Rykiel, 81, writes in N'oubliez pas que je joue (Don't Forget It's a Game) that she decided to open up about her disease because she can no longer hide the symptoms, which include trembling. She also notes that her colleagues didn't allow her to be photographed with the cane she's been using for several years.

"I don't want to show my pain," Rykiel writes. "I resisted, I hesitated, I tried to be invisible, to pretend that nothing was wrong. It's impossible, it's not like me."

In the book, cowritten with French journalist Judith Perrignon, Rykiel refers to the disease in code as "P de P" - "Putain de Parkinson," or "bitch of Parkinson's" in English.

Rykiel started designing her own clothing in 1962 because she couldn't find maternity sweaters soft enough for her liking. In 1967, one of her sweaters landed on the cover of Elle and Rykiel was dubbed Queen of Knits. Rykiel's daughter Nathalie took over as creative director of her mother's brand in 1995. Despite her disease and her decreased involvement with the brand, Rykiel was well enough to attend the Fall 2012 show last month.