Two great women who will always go up in history books as pioneers are Aaliyah Haughton and Sonya Rykiel. Aaliyah passed away 15 years ago August 25th, and another great, Sonya Rykiel passed away this week on August 25th. 

Sonya Rykiel is absolutely the type of designer I truly appreciate. I unfortunately never knew as much about her in her life as I have learned since her death, but I very much want to make note of her wonderful life and inspirational career. 

Rykiel just happened to be born the same year as my mother, and that tells me a lot about her - she was a young woman who grew up in a fashion world filled with impeccable taste and charm. This designer and writer took fashion to another level though with her desire to cater to the every day woman and her intent to keep them as beautiful as they were real. According to the New York Times, this every-woman's perspective played out in every possible avenue of her existence, "Unlike many designers whose lives center on fashion, Ms. Rykiel was also a writer, and her works included magazine columns, a novel, a children’s book, an epistolary exchange with the writer Régine Deforges, and books on fashion and her own life. Her Paris apartment, with black-lacquered walls and piles of serious books, was a salon for writers, philosophers, musicians, actors, politicians and academics."

RIP Sonya Rykiel an amazing fashion designer and French icon!!! She changed fashion forever and the WORLD has lost a shining superstar #sonyarykiel #frenchfashionicon #fashionicon

A photo posted by WORLD (@worldbrandinnz) on Aug 25, 2016 at 2:46am PDT