Julie de Libran is a woman's woman. She's all about sisterhood. She's all about joy.

So, it makes sense that the collections she's developing under Sonia Rykiel – that Left-Bank brand that's about insouciance, happiness and naughtiness – are comprised of all the staples that a busy life needs.

Julie gets it: How to juggle going from the office, to a cocktail party, to a parent-teacher conference, to a dinner, and that we want to feel and look good while doing it all.

This season, after an epic fashion show late last September (when Sonia Rykiel marked its milestone 50th anniversary – its runway, the newly named Allée Sonia Rykiel, inaugurated by the city’s mayor, Anne Hidalgo, and the late designer’s daughter, Nathalie Rykiel), Julie is opting to present in a smaller appointment-only format. It's a great time for change – and Rykiel is a brand that you want to get up close and personal with.

But back to today… In between the brand’s reworked Breton stripes and signature bright knits (well, it wouldn’t be a Sonia Rykiel show without them), I was particularly enraptured – hook, line and sinker – by a delicious caramel suit, as sported by Dree Hemingway. 



For me, it’s everything that good tailoring should be. It’s understated, but has a talking point thanks to that nod of deconstruction that’s brought by the elbow cut-outs – the perfect compromise of being stylised, without being try-hard. A belt-tie at the waist, par example, allows the wearer to create a more shapely silhouette out of its otherwise oversized proportions. 

Designed to capture the electric atmosphere of the Saint-Germain neighbourhood, be it the hustle and bustle of the local market on a Sunday morning, or those balmy evenings along the Seine, this show – and everything in it – was designed, very much, to be worn. That is, to adorn and accompany those women on a mission, without hampering or hindering their day to day. 

Once, when asked to define the ‘Rykiel woman’, Sonia herself replied: "She doesn’t have time to stop time. She’s too busy running..." And this is what Julie de Libran's suit is made for: Life’s many marathons.


Sound familiar? Calling all women on a mission! Shop Sonia Rykiel here:

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