Fashion Designer Sonia Rykiel Parkinson's Disease Revealed In New Book

January 1988

July 2009

The 81-year-old Fashion designer writes, "I don’t want to show my pain. I resisted, I hesitated, I tried to be invisible, to pretend that nothing was wrong. It’s impossible, it’s not like me,” according to WWD.

 Sonia Rykiel has revealed she has been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for 15 years. The French designer, who has written several novels, revealed she had long kept her condition a secret, but had decided to speak out because she could no longer disguise the symptoms, which include trembling.  and who has appeared increasingly frail in her last public appearances. Rykiel decided to reveal her illness in a new book cowritten with Judith Perrignon. “N’oubliez pas que je joue” (“Don’t forget it’s a game,” in English), from publishing house L’Iconoclaste. The book features Rykiel’s reflections on the disease, interspersed with Perrignon’s recollections of several meetings with the designer.

Sonia Rykiel's Spring-Summer 2009 show

Rykiel has had many long years inspiring fashion and I don't doubt the positive impact the designer will have on the public's awareness of the disease and its impact.

March 1984 - With French Minister of Culture Jack Lang along with Kenzo, Anne-Marie Beretta, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Chantal Thomass, Alix Gres, Yves Saint-Laurent, Issey Miyake, Pierre Bergé and Emanuel Ungaro.



Source: WWD.com.