Sonia Rykiel Quotes & Sayings

Men and women are so alike that a woman must make an intellectual effort to differentiate herself. As soon as one understands who one is, one can disguise oneself any way one wants. As soon as one has found one's look, one's shape, one does not need to alter it too much, in fact I would say that one should not change it. — Sonia Rykiel

Everything I do is really an expression of myself, through colors and shapes and, at the same time, I try to explain what I feel not only as a creator but also as a woman. I cannot separate one from the other. — Sonia Rykiel

It's useless to send models out on the runway to cry. — Sonia Rykiel

A very young girl, myself, and my 70-year-old mother all look quite different wearing some of the same clothes from my shop. The whole secret is to know how to do it and some people never will, just like some can't make light pastry: they are lacking in some sort of grace. — Sonia Rykiel

I think that clothes should be a shelter like a house or a rug. I think that there is that element of protection and a uniform can be just that. — Sonia Rykiel

I always have a lot of vents and slits in the clothes I design, even inside the pockets so that I can slip my hands inside my clothes and touch my skin. I want to be able to feel my body naked inside my clothes. — Sonia Rykiel

Your body can be very female, which is something you can do nothing about, but then you can have the soul, the mind and the spirit of both male and female. The women friends I am closest to somehow have this masculine side to them, they shove their hands in their pockets when they walk: I love that side. — Sonia Rykiel

How can you live the high life if you do not wear the high heels? — Sonia Rykiel

I think that there are so many women who understand nothing about clothes and they should try and understand themselves before they start putting on disguises: they should stand in front of the mirror for a day, two days or three, and find out what they have which is beautiful, interesting: what they should show: hair, neck, arms, or hands. — Sonia Rykiel

My shows are about the complete woman who swallows it all. It's a question of survival. — Sonia Rykiel

It doesn't matter one damn bit whether fashion is art or not. You don't question whether an incredible chef is an artist or not-his cakes are delicious and that's all that matters. — Sonia Rykiel

My breakfast is very important. — Sonia Rykiel

You have to be luxurious nude. It's difficult to move in the nude in front of a mirror. It's much easier to move when you're dressed. But if you can walk around in the nude easily in front of your man, if you can be luxurious in the nude, then you've really got it. — Sonia Rykiel

I hate the word feminine! I mean, there is a woman and a man and when I say "woman" it suggests all that is radiant, tender, fascinating, gentle, demoniac, exaggerated! Feminine makes me think of somebody who is spindly and over-sweet: I don't like that! — Sonia Rykiel

Being one step ahead of a fashion trend is not so important to me. What matters is to always forge ahead. — Sonia Rykiel

People said making clothes inside out was not proper. I disagreed, because clothes that are inside out are as beautiful as a cathedral. — Sonia Rykiel

I love chocolate. Black chocolate with marshmallow inside, caramel inside. If I could only have two foods, I'd take some fantastic chocolate. And some terrible chocolate. I love the Clark Bar. — Sonia Rykiel

My clothes are put together out of different basic elements so that a woman can express the way she wants to look, transform, metamorphosize herself not as the woman I decided but as she herself wants to be. — Sonia Rykiel

At hotels, you are an actress. Absolutely. You can do what you want. Go where you want. I love my home too. But I love to arrive in a hotel. They have books, chocolate, food. I put things in the little refrigerator. — Sonia Rykiel

First I made a dress because I was pregnant and I wanted to be the most beautiful pregnant woman. Then I made a sweater because I wanted to have one that wasn't like anyone else's. — Sonia Rykiel

I think in the darkest moments, we need a break. — Sonia Rykiel

I don't like women who are multiform, who wear many different shapes. Women who retain a unique shape are usually unique people. — Sonia Rykiel

Perfume is like a parenthesis, a moment of freedom, peace, love and sensuality in between the disturbances of modern living. — Sonia Rykiel

For the collection, I am like a painter or a writer. I may or may not be a character in my own story. — Sonia Rykiel

You can create fashion everywhere in the world, but the place where you are crowned is Paris. — Sonia Rykiel

Perfume follows you; it chases you and lingers behind you. It's a reference mark. Perfume makes silence talk. — Sonia Rykiel

The natures of men and women are very mixed and for me the most fascinating type of woman is the one who is a little masculine, has a little of the man in her, and the sort of man who is fabulous is the one who is a little woman too. It's impossible not to mix them! — Sonia Rykiel

The essence of seduction for me in a man, although it stems from his rough, almost rough-neck looks, still contains something of the woman: he must be seductive and intelligent. — Sonia Rykiel

The key to my collections is sensuality. — Sonia Rykiel

Even if I'm in Japan and I don't speak Japanese and the woman facing me doesn't speak French but she's dressed in Rykiel, and she recognizes me, then we have a common language right away. — Sonia Rykiel

I am what I am. Before I was not so proud to make fashion. My family thought fashion wasn't very interesting. So I hid that. — Sonia Rykiel

With the exception of lingerie and theater I'm interested in everything to do with clothes and perfumes: everything which is an extension of woman. — Sonia Rykiel

I'm not at all interested in doing clothes for movies or stage, in stage dressing or costuming. Nor can I design lingerie, for I never wear any! At one time I used to wear a lot of lingerie but now I'm in a mood of total nudity! — Sonia Rykiel