Sonia Rykiel, French fashion icon, dies at 86

Sonia Rykiel, the French fashion designer known as the 'Queen of Knitwear', died at age 86 in Paris after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. Born Sonia Fils in 1930 to a French father and Romanian mother, she began her career as a window dresser in 1948 and married Sam Rykiel in 1953. In 1961, while pregnant with her second child, she created comfortable clothing for herself, leading to her iconic Poor Boy sweater featured on the cover of Elle magazine in 1963. Her designs, characterized by striped knitwear, liberated women from restrictive fashion conventions. Rykiel built a global brand with over 600 points of sale, including luxury ready-to-wear, children's, and home lines. She received the Legion d'Honneur in 1985 and collaborated with Malcolm McLaren on the album 'Paris' in 1995. Her daughter Nathalie took over the jewelry line, which included sex toys, after Rykiel's illness worsened in 2012. French President François Hollande praised her as 'a free woman and a pioneer' who contributed to French couture for 50 years.