Fashion: Top of the knit parade

For fashion buffs, 1968 has a unique significance. As Parisian students ripped up paving stones, a French housewife called Sonia Rykiel was running up the kind of clothes that came to define Left Bank chic: slinky knitwear in black or Breton stripes, trench coats and glammed-up berets.

Celebrating her label's 40th anniversary this autumn, the 78-year-old has always balanced innovative high-end fashion with flattering pieces the average woman stands a good chance of looking rather nice in.

Rykiel began her dabbling with design while pregnant. Disappointed with frumpy maternity styles, her first knitwear experiments resulted in the garment with which she has become synonymous: the sweater dress.

In November, she will be honoured with a retrospective at Paris's Musée des Arts Décoratifs. It's a popular choice; Rykiel has an army of fans, from celebs such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Gwyneth Paltrow to her fellow designers: for her show at Paris Fashion Week, 30 of the industry's biggest names contributed to a surprise homage with a parade of Rykiel-inspired designs. John-Paul Gaultier's knitted dress even came complete with needles.

Even now, Rykiel sees sweater dresses as the wardrobe staple: "I always recommend a large woollen sweater you can move in, live in. Clothes should allow you to take a child in your arms or run after a bus." An admirable philosophy — though if other designers are to subscribe to it, someone may need to explain what a bus is first.

For more on the retrospective, visit www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/index_gb.html

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