French fashion designer Sonia Rykiel dies aged 86

By Astrid Wendlandt PARIS (Reuters) – French fashion designer Sonia Rykiel, known for her brightly colored striped sweater dresses, has died at the age of 86, the owner of the fashion label she founded said on Thursday. “It is a sad day but Sonia Rykiel leaves behind her an extraordinary legacy,” Jean-Marc Loubier, chairman and chief executive of First Heritage Brands, the parent company of the Sonia Rykiel label, told Reuters. “She was a pioneer who helped women and society evolve.” Rykiel founded her fashion house in 1968, when France was rocked by violent student riots, with the aim of creating a counter-culture to stiff, bourgeois dress codes with inside-out stitches and extra-short skirts.

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French fashion designer Sonia Rykiel dies aged 86