Although pre-collection appointments lack the pizzazz of a runway show or presentation, they can provide a better opportunity to understand the headspace of a designer. This was what occurred today during a visit to the Sonia Rykiel HQ, where Julie de Libran’s walk-through of the clothes felt pleasantly intimate whenever she shared her own experiences and preferences. One example: De Libran’s concern when she wears an open back is that she will feel cold, hence a striped fox-fur accessory shown with a breezy crepe stripe dress. Or that as much as she loves the attitude of a leather skirt—she happened to be wearing one today—it can be limiting; so she developed a version in a leather-approximate vinyl with sharp red stitching and leather buttons. Once she demonstrated its easy volume and movement, the material made sense. After pointing out the versatility of a crisp cotton blouse trimmed with broderie anglaise, when worn under a dimensional polyamide sweater, or else an unlined, raw-edged wool jacket tacked with flounced cuffs, she conceded that figuring out what to wear every day is not always evident. “You need to be dressed in a way that you know you’re going to get things done during the day.”
De Libran made a convincing case that these newly refined pieces did just that, which must be why the collection was billed with the ordinarily vague catchall of “a woman’s wardrobe.” Assuming, however, that the woman already gravitates toward the Sonia Rykiel sensibility, she will appreciate the novelty of the black coatdress and white trench both in the vinyl; the flexibility of silk velvet knits; and the eternally Parisienne allure of the tailored jacket and jupe-culotte trimmed with marabou feathers. De Libran noted how the idea for the supple leather tote came from watching students in museums carrying their books and laptops in simple canvas bags—a nice visual to underscore its usefulness.
