PARIS (AP) — Fashion designer Sonia Rykiel, dubbed the "queen of knitwear" and seen as a liberating force for women, has been laid to rest at Montparnasse Cemetery.

Family members, fashion designers Albert Elbaz and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and former prime minister and friend Lionel Jospin were among those attending Thursday's burial.

Jospin praised Rykiel's vision of women, "inscribed in modernity."

Longtime friend Castelbajac said that "her work is about freedom ... about changing things and changing the rules."

A fixture on Paris' fashion scene since 1968, Rykiel, with her relaxed style and bright orange hair, symbolized a new era of freedom.

Rykiel, who died Aug. 22 at 86, figured in director Robert Altman's satirical 1994 look at the fashion industry, "Pret-a-Porter."

Daughter Nathalie, sister Francoise and son Jean-Philippe led the procession.