Sonia Rykiel Makes Over Her Flagships

Quirky designer Sonia Rykiel will soon be unveiling a new pop-up concept that will see her flagship stores in London, Paris and Tokyo take on a temporary make-over.

The first refurbishment saw its debut yesterday at Rykiel’s Fall Show during Paris Fashion Week—and given the designer’s French roots, it seems a fitting starting point. The Boulevard Saint-Germain Parisian flagship was redesigned as a crossover concept between a cafe and a library masterminded by André Saraiva and art director Thomas Lenthal.

As a nod to Rykiel’s long standing relationships and ties to writers such as Régine Deforges, as well as the designer and her daughter’s own series of books, the store has been lined with some 40,000 books in impressive and elegant floor to ceiling bookcases that certainly make for a cosy interior. “As soon as I move into an apartment, the first thing I do is design the bookcase,” admitted Saraiva, who also has a soft spot for the literature heaven that he has designed within the store. Erotic books remain somewhat behind closed doors as they grace the changing rooms, while outside sees a life-size cafe scene unfolding on huge screens that grace the windows. Filmed in the nearby cafe of Le Rouquet, the video features artistic director of the brand Julie de Libran as well as jewellery designer Aurélie Bidermann, TV presenter Alexandra Golovanoff and photographer Sonia Sieff.

The London and Tokyo main stores will see a similar reworking to their interiors in April, while Rykiel has also revealed that a more permanent store concept is in the pipeline for next year’s plans for the brand.