The creative team at Sonia Rykiel has a remarkable knack for naming its colors. Resort offers up a vibrant palette including David Hockney emerald green, Grace Jones cobalt blue, stark Helmut Newton white, and Tina Chow red. The last was particularly apropos considering the indicated Eastern and 1980's inspirations here. There were geisha-like, lacquered wood sandals as well as spacious, linen robe coats with guipure lace accents that had a martial arts vibe. The label's famed intarsia knits, meanwhile, came with a rose motif that evoked traditional Japanese woodblock printing. The eighties came into play via graphic knotted tanks and stirrup leggings cut from neoprene. Despite the scattered influences, this lineup still had the unmistakably French, coquettish charm that is forever linked with the house that Sonia built. At today's preview, Lola Rykiel rushed over to a pair of towering platform espadrilles and enthused, "When I was growing up, these were the exact same ones my grandmother [Sonia] would wear around our country house in Normandy."
