Au Revoir, Homme

(PARIS) Sonia Rykiel has pulled the plug on her nearly two-decade old men's line Rykiel Homme, effective following the Spring 2009 collection which will be shown in Paris in July. "After 18 years of existence, menswear has not exceeded five percent of total sales and is losing money," Nathalie Rykiel, brand manager and daughter of Sonia, said in a statement. The line, which launched in July 1990, is being abandoned in an effort to concentrate on the women's and children's collections. According to reports, Rykiel Homme's largest market share is in France. Abroad, it has never met the same margins as its women's counterpart, which account for 60 percent of company sales.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the house of Rykiel, where designer Gabrielle Greiss was recently named creative director for the main collection.  According to a brand spokeswoman, the current priority is a focus on U.S. distribution. Rykiel's main women's label has been picked up by Maxfield in Los Angeles, Joan Shepp in Philadelphia, and Ikram in Chicago for fall, as well as at Net-a-porter.com. The spokeswoman noted that the contemporary line, Sonia by Sonia Rykiel, is also experiencing similar positive growth.