24HOURS JULIE DE LIBR AN
The Sonia Rykiel designer’s life by the numbers.
My son wakes me up, and I prepare his breakfast and get him ready for school. From seven o’clock to 8.15, it’s all about him. I make him oatmeal with rice milk and fruit or toasted Poilâne bread with Nutella – that’s the more decadent extreme. I just have oatmeal and water with fresh ginger. It helps me stay healthy. I have Birman cats – two “Choupettes” – that my father gave to my son. The cats are lovely, a brother and sister named Gaston and Gastine, only they love leather, so they attack my bags and my shoes. They bite them like a toy, like catnip, and they attack fur and feathers. We brush them all the time, but they have long white hair, and I’m often dressed in black. I use a Scotch roller every time I leave the house. They come and scratch the doors in the morning for breakfast, so I have not just my son but the cats waking me up. 8.15AM After I walk my son to school, I go back and do an hour of gym – running in the Jardin du Luxembourg or doing yoga or Pilates. I have an instructor who comes to my house. That’s my time where I can breathe. 9.15AM I have a coffee and take my shower. The cats want to be in the bathroom with me; they follow me like dogs. I wash my hair with Shiseido shampoo. I have long hair, so I use a mask instead of conditioner, and I’ve discovered a great Kiehl’s styling cream. I’ve been using La Prairie moisturiser for my face – I kind of switch around. I was going to skincare expert Joëlle Ciocco in Paris, but I haven’t had time lately. My make-up is simple: BB cream from Ren, black eyeliner and mascara from Chanel, and I’m hooked on Baume de La Mer lip moisturiser. My trick is to use Laura Mercier luminiser under my eyes. It makes you look like you just went on vacation. In the shower, I think about what I’m going to wear, and I get dressed quite fast. Where I lose time is finding my clothes, because my wardrobe is not as organised as I’d like. I have my basics – jeans and a white T-shirt – and I just dress around that. I’m in heels almost every day, so I have a lot of them; one of my guest bedrooms has become a walk-in closet. My clothes all have a story: bags from when I was at Louis Vuitton, shoes I did while I was at Prada. I’m creating an archive. The new Sonia Rykiel clothes have just arrived, so now I’m allowed to wear them. I’ve been enjoying wearing socks with sandals – I like the attitude. I often buy blazers and jackets for my husband from places like Comme des Garçons, but I end up wearing them myself. I try not to go into his closet, though, since mine is already dominating! To tell you the truth, it reassures me that my closet is bigger than my husband’s because I’m more comfortable with a man who isn’t too into his clothes and looking at himself in the mirror. I don’t like men who are too precious, at least not as a husband. 9.50AM I’m lucky I live close to the office because I’m always late. It’s my worst habit. My husband has had to get used to it; he had no choice. I take a Vélib bicycle, which is like Citi Bike, or walk or jump in a car if I’m very late, and I do my make-up on the way. I carry this huge Hermès canvas-and-leather bag
filled with books and references, or my