Sonia Rykiel To Cut Jobs After Founder's Death

PARIS, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 26th Oct, 2016 ) : Struggling French fashion house Sonia Rykiel, whose "Queen of Knitwear" founder died in August, said Wednesday it plans to lay off around a quarter of its 330 staff.

The ready-to-wear company, known for its multi-coloured stripy outfits, said it planned to cut 79 posts owing to "unfavourable" global fashion market conditions. The pioneering, flame-haired Rykiel, who died aged 86, launched the brand in 1968, swiftly gaining renown notably with her so-called Poor Boy Sweater, a shorter skinny sweater for women with long sleeves.

Four years ago the brand invited Chinese investment fund Fung Brands (now First Heritage Brands), a holding of the Fung family in Hong Kong, to take an 80-percent capital stake. Earlier this year, the fund took the stake to 100 percent.

In announcing the job losses, the company said it had to approach the current market climate realistically, citing "extremely difficult" conditions notably in Eastern Europe and Asia. Recent terror attacks on France and Belgium weighed on performance, the firm said while welcoming strong showings elsewhere, including in the United States which had helped overall sales to rise last year for the first time since 2008.

However, these "encouraging results will not alone ensure sustainable growth." The cuts will see some lines disappear, including the more competitively-priced Sonia by Sonia Rykiel aimed at younger buyers and its children's collection. Instead, the goal is to concentrate creative strategy on the original Sonia Rykiel line, the firm said.