Sonia Rykiel was the Queen of Knits until Hong Kong finance unraveled the house

Sonia Rykiel opened her first boutique on the Left Bank in Paris in 1968. She had designed a sweater with the seams on the outside — a tiny rebellion that became her signature. By the early 1990s, she was called the 'Queen of Knits' by Women's Wear Daily, and her company had grown into a $75 million business with women's wear, men's wear, children's wear, accessories, and perfume, sold through 250 retailers in 40 countries. The brand embodied a distinctly Parisian intellectual chic — Rykiel was a friend of artists and writers, and her clothes reflected a confident, unpretentious femininity.

In January 2012, Hong Kong-based First Heritage Brands (part of the Fung Brands investment group) acquired 80% of Sonia Rykiel. The Rykiel family retained 20% plus the real estate. The deal was meant to bring the financial firepower to expand the brand in Asia. Instead, the partnership failed. The brand's DNA clashed with the commercial pressures of the investment fund. In 2016, Nathalie Rykiel sold the family's remaining 20% stake, keeping only the real estate. A major restructuring followed: the 'Sonia by Sonia Rykiel' diffusion line was closed and workers were laid off.

The end came in 2019. A Paris commercial court ruled the company insolvent after years of mismanagement by First Heritage Brands. The only remaining bidder, a consortium led by Eric Lévy, was rejected by the court. Sonia Rykiel was liquidated. All operations ceased. Every employee was let go.

In late 2019, brothers Eric and Michael Dayan bought the Sonia Rykiel brand out of liquidation for approximately €10 million. In 2021, G-III Apparel Group — the American company that holds licenses for Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and Karl Lagerfeld — acquired the brand. The label continues as a licensing operation, but the house that Sonia built — the Parisian knitwear empire that dressed generations of French women — was gone.