Sandra‘s Closet

The most exciting part of my trip to Paris was the launch event for the “Mary Katrantzou for Longchamp” collection at the famous concept store Colette. As you know, I am a huge fan of Mary and her designs. Her talent is truly outstanding and I was so happy to see her again. (For a previous post, please click here.)

Below you see the text from the official press release. Can you imagine how honoured I felt to be mentioned in the same breath with Emmanuelle Alt,  Suzy Menkes or Glenda Bailey.

Please enjoy the photos of the evening and have a look at those beautifully printed bags:

For this occasion, the facade of the famous colette concept store was spectacularly covered with one of the exclusive prints from the “Mary Katrantzou for Longchamp” collection. It will stay like this one week.

Sweet Mary Katrantzou with me wearing (of course!) Mary Katrantzou

A unique “Mary Katrantzou for Longchamp” Le Pliage bag, 1 meter high and 2,5 meter large, was exposed in the interior courtyard.

The bags on display.

Love this tote bag with the poetic digital “Lanterne” print, €320.

The “Aquarium” print on the tote bag , €350, is awesome. The little pouch, € 55, to the right is already in my closet as each guest got it as a gift. Thank you so much!

The bottles of champagne served were all printed with the colours of Mary’s inspirational theme “When East meets West” for this new collection.

Some pieces of Mary’s must-have S/S 2012 collection were already on display. I am crazy for those dresses! Flower prints and underwater world inspired themes are huge fashion trends for the season.

Mary’s ultimate accolade: Fashion’s most powerful ladies all came to see her designs.

Suzy Menkes, Mary Katrantzou and Sophie Delafontaine, Artistic Director of the Longchamp House

Jean Cassegrain, Owner of Longchamp with Glenda Bailey, editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar US and Mary Katrantzou.

Mary, you can be so proud of yourself!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Longchamp and © Sandra Bauknecht

A city arises from the middle of nowhere in a feverish vision, like a mirage. Under the azure blue of a cloudless sky, Las Vegas keeps the desert dust at bay in the hypnotic ballet of neon lights. Along the Strip, the luxury hotels and casinos set the scene for a modern fairytale in which all dreams are possible. Amongst them stands the Bellagio Hotel. Its sumptuous gallery will welcome an entirely remodeled CHANEL boutique in end of this month.

Peter Philips, Creative Director of CHANEL Makeup, creates a gold-plated collection and strews stardust over polyester dreams.

The iconic gold of CHANEL elegance slips into every texture. A silky powder on the skin, sunny lacquer on the nails or a sheer whisper on the lips, it highlights a radiant face that’s on a lucky streak.

LUCKY STRIPES

The Exclusive Creation of the collection concentrates the entire spirit of Las Vegas in its traditional square case. Lined up in rows, four shades of sand and bronze sweep through every variation of a fabulous desert in which gold embraces the sun and shines. On the surface of the colours, an embossed star design seems to extend a warmwelcome to the city of dreams. For an illuminating makeover, a beveled brush is ideal for choosing and blending shades, sweeping lightly over the cheekbones, face or eyelids.

CHF 85.-

ROUGE COCO SHINE BRILLANT

The extremely melt-away texture and playful spirit of the most mischievous CHANEL lipstick get into the game with a total golden look. BRILLANT: faithful to the style of Coco Chanel, its sheer golden shade gives a fun twist to the traditional codes ofelegance.

CHF 46.-

LE CRAYON LÈVRES VEGAS GOLD

It accentuates the centre of the upper lip with a golden line. A makeup tip that adds a touch of light and emphasizes the fullness of a sparkling smile.

CHF 34.-

LE VERNIS GOLD FINGERS

A semi-sheer golden lacquer glides over nails like a talisman for a Midas touch.

In Switzerland available starting February 20, 2012 in CHANEL stores only.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Chanel

If I whetted your appetite for some serious Tom Ford shopping, have a look at the retailers list by clicking here. Good news is that a new Tom Ford boutique just has opened its doors in St. Moritz on the famous Via Serlas (see photo above).

Germany has got its first Tom Ford shop since last month in Munich.The 1400 square foot, two-story franchised flagship store is located at Falckenbergstrasse adjacent to Maximilianstrasse (see photos below).

My New Year’s Resolution for 2012: I want a “Ford Fiesta”!
With this in mind, Happy New Year!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Marion Heinrich, © Sandra Bauknecht

This year, Pomellato’s Nudo Ring celebrates its 10th anniversary. For the ad campaign, the Italian jeweler is again teaming with Tilda Swinton.

I have been loving the sleek jewels from the beginning. You can wear only one or stack them up to two or three, playing with the colours.
For its anniversary, Pomellato presents a bigger, stronger version of its iconic piece, featuring gems in bold tones, including London blue topaz, Madera quartz, amethyst, lemon quartz, along with a limited edition in olivine and mandarin garnet.

Rings in rose gold and white gold with blue London topaz, Madeira quartz, amethyst, prasiolite and lemon quartz, £ 2.020

Nudo in amethyst.

Nudo in blue topaz. New Nudo in madeira quartz.

Nudo in madeira quartz, blue London topaz. New Nudo in amethyst.

New Nudo in lemon quartz, peridot. Nudo in lemon quartz.

Nudo in madeira quartz. New Nudo in tangerine garnet, madeira quartz.

Rings in rose gold and white gold with peridot and tangerine garnet, price on request

Good news for my Zurich based readers, we have our own Pomellato store since last week at Weinplatz 10.

Dear Santa, please bring me one or two or three… such a wonderful gift!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Pomellato

A little Christmas greeting from Paris, where I am at the moment, that hopefully will fill you up with holiday cheer! The gigantic tree at Galeries Lafayette is pretty impressive and puts you immediately in the mood for shopping. Paris during the festive season is absolutely the best.

Next to the Galeries Lafayette, the famous department store Printemps attracts the customer with a Chanel – installation of miniature Karl Lagerfeld puppets doing all sorts of things.

There is only one thing to say: “J’adore Paris!”

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Seeking inspiration this Christmas? Looking for something truly special that your beloved one will always remember? A special piece of jewelry or those one-of-a-kind Altiplano watches by Piaget are a gift that everyone’s guaranteed to love. One detail that makes them so special is the enamel orchid motif on the dial.

The craftsmanship of enamelling is difficult to master, and the artisans possessing such skills are an increasingly rare breed. With precision and technique, successive layers of crushed raw enamel are applied and baked, increasing both the intensity and the purity of the colours. Although a highly risky process, after over 20 separate firings in an oven, the enamel image is set forever, and its colours retain their radiance down through the ages.

See for yourself the one-of-a-kind works of art of the enamel specialist combined with those of the Piaget watchmakers:

Piaget Altiplano watch, 38 mm. Case in 18K white gold set with 78 brilliant-cut diamonds (approx. 0.7 ct.). Dial in enamel orchid motif. Manufacture Piaget 430P ultra-thin hand-wound mechanical movement. Unique piece.

Boutique exclusivity

As those beauties are unique pieces and boutique exclusives, you will have to visit the Piaget store nearest to you to explore them. For a store locator, please click here.

For my Zurich based readers, I recommend a visit to the new store on Bahnhofstr. 38. that opened its doors last Thursday. Please see photos below.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Piaget

“I loved working on the Lady Dior handbag. Most of my work builds on objects that already exist, which I then transform. I applied the same philosophy.”

- Anselm Reyes

When Fashion meets Art… Dior is collaborating with Berlin artist Anselm Reyle for S/S 2012. The original and vibrant collection of leathergoods, accessories and makeup, currently presented exclusively in a Miami pop-up Dior store during the Art Basel show is a dream and will be available worldwide in January 2012.

Dior has given to the artist total freedom on the creation of this collection and the outcome is vibrant and colourful. I definitely would like to own one of those bags!

ANSELM REYLE’S MAKEUP COLLECTION FOR DIOR

A „Camouflage“ Eyeshadow Palette
Adorned with the „Camouflage“ motif created for Dior, an eyeshadow palette offers a mixed harmony of violet, grey and black. Shiny and matt effects recall the artist’s leitmotifs and compose sophisticated eyes.

High-Impact Nail Lacquers
The nail lacquers are playful complements that set the tone in explosive colours. Bold violet of ultra-violet, deep black of untitled black, vivid pink of pink graffiti, vibrant blue of electric blue and a subtle silver of metallic silver compose an electrifying quintet that brings to mind Anselm Reyle’s passion for neon shades.

Here are some photos of the Dior pop-up store,
Miami Design District, 191 NE 40th Street, Miami, FL

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Dior

As you already know, I am a huge fan of Matthew Williamson. So of course, I paid a visit to his NYC store in the Meatpacking District on 14th street during my last visit.

The shop’s bridal section is just so wonderful. If I weren’t married already, it would be my absolute dream to wed in one of those gowns. If you are based in Europe, I recommend a visit to the London store.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Welcome to Everlane, the new online, members-only shop that has opened its doors today. Everlane co-founder Michael Preysman explained to Style.com the idea behind his new concept: „We just never understood why the most beautiful and simple products needed to cost so much. We’ve just cut out the middlemen so we can take smaller margins without sacrificing on quality at all.”

Everlane’s small collection of luxury basics will be all under $100, created by a team of in-house designers, including former brand directors from American Apparel. This means that you can buy your favourite basic tee in good quality for less than $15.

The Essentials Collection is available year-round, starting with four colors. Each month, there will also be a range of limited-edition pieces. For the festive season, the new e-commerce site is working on a collection of gift items, including canvas backpacks, iPod cases, jewelry, and scarves.

As there’s already a wait list to join, I invite you to sign up by clicking here.

LoL, Sandra

In Galleria del Corso in Milan: in the space formerly occupied by the Excelsior cinema, the Gruppo Coin has opened the new luxury concept store EXCELSIOR with 4000 sqm dedicated to fashion, food and design on seven floors, built by renowned French architect Jean Nouvel.

The flow of technological reflections takes visitors through a multisensorial shopping experience, from the basement (the Eat’s Store) to the top floor, the home of the luxury accessories. Customers can shop a large selection of beauty products, enjoy the patisserie Ladurée, a Tiffany store and fashion brands such as Givenchy, Chloé, Valentino, Holly Fulton and Proenza Schouler. Believe me, you could spend the whole day in this shopping temple!

LoL, Sandra

Designer clothes

Beauty temple

Olfactory bar

Ladurée

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht