Sonya Rykiel: Over the Top Underneath

If you build it, they will come. On Tuesday night, Rykiel launched her “Sonia Rykiel pour H&M” lingerie line at the Grand Palais in Paris, and the existing Classical stone façade just wouldn’t do. In anticipation of the some 3,000 people who came out to celebrate collaborative underwear (among them Kate Bosworth and Alice Dellal) Rykiel and H&M built replicas of the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower-the latter of which was the scaffold for the designer’s runway show.

The theme was “carnival,” which we imagine to be a parody (or a celebration?) of that great symbol of Americana, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Rykiel’s backdrop included floats, models on bicycles, a Ferris Wheel, cotton candy stands, and a troupe of majorettes from Croatia. In a mixed metaphor, the show was succeeded by an Alice in Wonderland-themed party.

Curious US residents watched the whole thing via a live stream on hm.com