Sonia Rykiel is making its Madison Avenue comeback. The french fashion house opened its first freestanding store in the U.S. today, opening in New York’s Upper East Side at 816 Madison Avenue.
The brand — which previously had a store on Madison, but closed it in May 2011 — sits near fellow luxury brands like Giuseppe Zanotti, Lanvin and Valentino.
Keeping its Parisian roots intact, the label’s 2,000 square feet store offers customers a unique shopping experience inspired by the literary cafés in Paris. The shop is filled with over 15,000 french novels — from Guy de Maupassant’s ‘Mademoiselle Fifi’ to Juliette Benzoni’s ‘Un Collier Pour Le Diable’— which shoppers can read in between perusing the latest ready-to-wear and accessories collections.
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“I’m so excited about the new store on Madison,” said artistic director Julie de Libran. “It’s a destination for Sonia Rykiel accessories — especially Le Copain, our new bag that is so versatile. Every woman should own one.”
Currently, resort and spring ’16 product is in stock. Highlights include denim shirts with ruffled necklines, parrot-print sweaters and fur stoles in primary colors. The footwear assortment varied from patent Mary Jane pumps to satin criss-cross sandals in sprightly hues like tangerine and citrus.
The store concept by Libran was done in collaboration with graffiti artist André Saraiva — see his lip and eye-print rug design — and french publisher Thomas Lenthal. The store also includes vintage 1960s furniture and a custom scent infused with rosewater and mandarin.
Though this is Sonia Rykiel’s first standalone store in the U.S., the brand opened a shop-in-shop in Bloomingdales 59th street location in New York this past year. It currently holds 30 stores worldwide including Paris, London and Tokyo.
