She didn’t go far however, moving the show’s venue just down the street to the Palais des Beaux- Art, a location she has had her eye on ever since she arrived at Rykiel. It hadn’t been available until now.

It was no small thing to stake claim on les Beaux-Art. For years, it was the home to the Lanvin shows put on by Alber Elbaz. For many, returning to the beautiful space was bittersweet after his abrupt departure from that house.

But perhaps no brand was a better fit for the location than Sonia Rykiel. The venue, like the label’s headquarters, is in the heart of the Saint-Germain de Prés district of Paris, a place whose energy vibrates in the soul of this house. By the time Gigi Hadid closed the show, the space had been washed clean of its sartorial past and faced a bright new future with a talented designer and a house that once again has a tangible joie de vivre.
That joy was most clearly expressed on the runway in a delightfully quirky print that de Libran commissioned from the artist Maggie Cardelús who was tasked with creating mini portraits of the designer, as well as the founder of the brand, her daughter and granddaughter. They were turned into a charming coin dot motif on silk which was then whipped up into dresses that had a retro 70s lilt to their silhouettes.

Other than that the collection was filled with hallmark Rykiel touches. The striped knitwear, the chubby fur sleeved coats, the sequins suits and dresses. But in de Libran’s skilled hands, those designs, as well as the wide-leg plaid pant suits and the tiered gold-and-black ribbed garments, had a modern vintage vibe. It’s a style that is currently all the rage, and at Rykiel they are masters of the technique.