A gloomy fog had begun to close in around the basin in the Tuileries gardens just before the Sonia Rykiel show began, but the burst of color that hit the runway brought with it summertime in all its glory. From the very first jacket trimmed with oversize buttons, right sleeve plunging in rainbow stripes, the show packed heat. A poppy-red fuzzy coat may have been added for comic relief, but the spiraling pinwheels placed over the breast in one top bubbled with the eroticism that was the real message of the show.

The look was sleek and sexy, the quintessence of a Parisian woman. Skin tight skirts, strapless tops plunging over the shoulder, enormous cabbage brooches pinned to the side - Sonia Rykiel had much to say. For evening, a transparent black lacy dress was dripped in emerald green, and pale apricot chiffon was sewn of rectangles. By the time the finale of T-shirts spelled out the text of the program notes, it was all clear: the Sonia Rykiel woman loves chocolate, sex, the Eiffel Tower, beautiful things, men, music and power.

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