Roman Polanski has been on a lot of minds lately, Sonia Rykiel s included. She, however, had reasons other than the obvious to be giving thought to the beleaguered director: His film Tess was the very loose inspiration she claimed for her pre-fall collection. What Rykiel wanted to get across was the idea of a country girl coming to the city. What we got was a kind of sophisticated prairie chic, with a dominant silhouette of long, languid skirts and high-waisted, sometimes tiered, dresses. The languor is pretty much a Rykiel signature, as are the knits that appeared here oversized, as though the country girl might have borrowed her farmer father s cardigan. But Rykiel also wisely showed the slim, structured looks that define Parisian chic to the world. Where the doomed romance of Tess made its presence felt most strongly was in a funereal color palette of earth tones, army greens, and anthracites. A trim poppy-red coat, belted high and accessorized with a great big detachable fur hood that tied with a red ribbon, was a bright spot. The same lightheartedness boosted the stellar footwear, especially the stiletto booties quivering with Mongolian lamb and the knee-high numbers that would have gladdened the heart of a cross-dressing hussar.
