Under the helm of Adrian Gilbey, the Sonia Rykiel brand is entering its next chapter.
“The saying is, ‘You can never go home,’ but actually, you can,” Gilbey, who last year was appointed senior vice president of design at the G-III owned label, mused during a preview of his debut fall 2025 collection for the brand. The lineup celebrated his early years working alongside the late fashion icon as head of the design studio in the mid-’90s.
“This is a love letter to Sonia, and a love letter to La Femme Rykiel — the women that wore Sonia, and will wear it again in the future,” he explained of the knit-forward collection, which is also filled with tailoring, cocktail dresses, fun outerwear and plenty of modernized takes on the brand’s deep archive.
“If you were to say to anyone, ‘What is Rykiel?’ the first thing they would say is a striped sweater; any woman that wore Rykiel would add, ‘and a fabulous pair of those pants,'” he said, pointing out a smattering of colorful striped sweaters (including re-editions of the spring 2001 striped minidresses and “Pull de Luxe” witty slogan jumpers) and pull-on sailor trousers.
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His overall goal was to pay homage to the two distinct Rykiel runway women — the coquette (hyper feminine) and the gamine (more androgynous) with modern styles priced $250 and up. There was a good balance of both, reflected through styles that were designed to amplify personal style over trend with ample archival “Rykielisms.” For instance, “pitched” (high back, low front) jackets; inventive head-to-toe knits (pencil skirt, party dresses, “tweed” jackets, trompe l’oeil styles, floral corsages, etc.), and statement outerwear, ranging from a playful leopard bomber and faux fur gilets to an elegant cape with gold closure.
By homing in on the mid-’90s collections within the brand’s Parisian archive, the collection successfully married the past and present. Case in point: a shrunken, tailored jacket inset with ottoman ribbon details from 1995, recreated for today in dark blue denim or leather and worn with wide pants; a crisp white suit, as seen on Amber Valletta on the spring ‘94 runway, cut in satin-back crepe with recast heavy gold archival buttons, or a sleek pair of black leather overalls (also seen on Valletta in spring ‘95). Gilbey rounded out the line with party dresses — pleated babydolls, plenty of little black dresses, and signature lingerie-inspired slips — that bridged the label’s Parisian chic with youthful joy.
Fall served as a strong start for tried-and-true, as well as the next generation, of Sonia Rykiel fans.