The Sonia Rykiel label was founded in 1968, upon the opening of her first store, making clothing, accessories, and fragrances.

[2] In 1948, at the age of 17, she was employed to dress the window displays in a Parisian textile store, the Grande Maison de Blanc.

[4] In 1953, Sonia married Sam Rykiel, owner of Laura, a boutique selling elegant clothing.

[4] Rykiel often wore her clothes from her own label and stuck to wearing dark green, brown, navy, and black garments.

[8] In 1962, unable to find something to wear during her pregnancy, Rykiel used an Italian clothing supplier to design and create a dress and a sweater, which incorporated high cut arm holes and a shrunken fit to cling to the body.

[5] In October 2008, at a fashion show celebrating the brand's 40th anniversary, tributes were paid to Rykiel.

Thirty fashion designers, including Ralph Lauren, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Giorgio Armani, showcased their visions of the "Rykiel woman".

[13][17][18] That same year, Canadian designer Geraldo da Conceição succeeded April Crichton as the artistic director of Rykiel.

[22] For its advertising campaigns, Sonya Rykiel has been working with photographers including Dominique Issermann (1979–1993),[23] Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott (2013),[24] Craig McDean (2014)[25] Juergen Teller (2015)[26] and Glen Luchford (2016).

[29] In late 2019, brothers Eric and Michael Dayan bought the Sonia Rykiel company for a reported sum of 10 million euros.

She wrote several books about fashion, a collection of children's stories, magazine columns and an epistolary novel with Régine Deforges.

[12] In 2012, she co-authored N'oubliez pas que je joue (Don't forget it's a game) with journalist Judith Perrignon.

"[37] The Sonia Rykiel brand and its designs were the subject of an exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris from 20 November 2008 to 20 April 2009, curated by Olivier Saillard.