Rykiel's 'impertinent' undies for H & M debuts

MANILA, Philippines - Early this week, Sonia Rykiel debuted her underwear collaboration with H&M under her eponymous label. The French designer, known for her singularly French style (her runway looks are typically a rendition of the off-shoulder sweater in colorful hues, second-skin pants and a halo of frizzy, curly hair framing the model’s face), is the first designer to create a limited-edition collection of underthings for the high-street label.

A line of geese opened the show at the Grand Palais in Paris, with 80 models walking through a set designed to mimic the ultimate Parisian fantasy: crystal chandeliers dropped from a dramatic height while silk-covered beds straight out of a courtesan’s boudoir served as a place setting for pouting models clad in Rykiel’s corsets, bras and various underpinnings.

“The Rykiel woman has a very specific image: It’s St. Germain-des-Prés, sexy, excessive, very sophisticated…impertinent,” Nathalie Rykiel, artistic director of the label and Sonia’s progeny, told Tim Walker. —BJL