Sandra‘s Closet

Saturday night as part of the 11th Zurich Film Festival, I attended the wonderful IWC Schaffhausen “For the Love of Cinema” Gala Dinner at the Park Hyatt hotel during which Oscar winner Christoph Waltz presented the first-ever Filmmaker Award, worth CHF 100,000 in sponsorship. The award was set up by the Association for the Promotion of Film in Switzerland, which was founded last December by Marc Forster, IWC CEO Georges Kern, the co-directors of the Zurich Film Festival Nadja Schildknecht and Karl Spoerri, and the CEO of Ringier, Marc Walder.

To celebrate the occasion, the Swiss luxury watch manufacturer had invited some 200 VIP guests from the worlds of film, media, politics and commerce.

On the red carpet

Bernhard Burgener, Norbert Preuss and Michael Steiner (“Und morgen seid ihr tot”) and Lisa Blatter and Jan Gassmann (“Europe, She Loves“) receive the Filmmaker Award. 

From the four nominated films, the jury picked two winners: “Und morgen seid ihr tot” (“Tomorrow You’ll Be Dead”) and “Europe, She Loves”. Christoph Waltz, who presented the award, shot to fame with roles in “Inglourious Basterds” and “Django Unchained” by the American cult director Quentin Tarantino.

Christoph Waltz

“I am proud to be here in person to present this award, which is very important for the Swiss film industry. Providing sponsorship for filmmakers is a necessary and relevant task, one which makes a significant contribution to the diversity of Swiss film,” said the two-time Academy Award winner. The two winning projects were also each presented with an IWC watch – the Portugieser Automatic in stainless steel with a black dial and a special rotor engraving with “1st Filmmaker Award Zurich 2015”.

Actor Christoph Waltz, IWC CEO Georges Kern and director Marc Forster during dinner.

Philipp Fankhauser and band performed at the gala. 

After the dinner, we continued the party at Club Adagio into the small hours of the morning. It was a truly amazing night… thanks IWC Schaffhausen for having me!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Lennart Preiss/Getty Images for IWC

Last Wednesday, the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Days Zurich 2013 officially started with the opening gala. More than 26 designers from America, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Switzerland presented their collections from November 13 – 16, 2013 at the Schiffbau in Zurich.

I started the night with an event for American Express Centurion where I gave the exclusive clientele an insight into the world of fashion and catwalk shows. Before the runway presentations started, we enjoyed a gorgeous dinner in the VIP tent, prepared by no other than Frank Widmer from the Park Hyatt, one of the official partners of the MBFDZ.

The first designer to present that night was Gabriele Colangelo, who is said to probably succeed Jil Sander after her  recently-announced departure from her namesake label. The charming Italian, who had worked for Roberto Cavalli and Versace, has a minimalist aesthetic which could be quite a nice fit for Jil Sander. For this season, he was inspired by Japan, Samurai trousers and sandals. If you look close, his devotion to texture can be seen in many details.

Gabriele Colangelo with me backstage

The Swiss designers Eliane Diethelm and Joanna Skoczylas presented their bridal collection LBD White, romantic creations for the most beautiful day in your life.

Polish designer Maciej Zień launched his first collection at the age of 17 and has made a brilliant career during the last 15 years. In Zurich, he presented his S/S 2014 collection with interesting details that showed a lot of skin.

The German twins Daniela and Annette Felder who are based in London immersed the Swiss fashion crowd in a watery-themed S/S 2014 collection for their eponymous label Felder Felder. Models appeared on the runway with damp skin and slicked-back hair giving the impression they had just emerged from the waves.

The Felder twins with me and below with Lena Gercke.

It was a great night and I had a lot of fun. Stay tuned for the upcoming posts about the other three events.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht, © Mercedes-Benz Fashion Days Zurich,
A huge thank you to © Andrea Monica Hug and © David Biedert for those lovely pictures of me

I started my crazy road trip through the US in the city in which I had lived for 2 years: Beautiful CHICAGO. It always feels so great to be back, seeing your friends, wallowing in memories and going to your favourite restaurants (Gibsons, Le Colonial, NoMI at the Park Hyatt and RL Restaurant at the gigantic Ralph Lauren store). The weather was amazing and I enjoyed going for a stroll through downtown.

My look: Mint green collarless jacket (50% off on sale), floral printed dress (50% off on sale), both by Marni, leather and chain bracelet, “Lucky Clover” earrings and necklace, mint green ballet flats, sky-blue Marcie hobo bag, all by Chloé and glitter sunglasses by Miu Miu.

By the way, the crowds weren’t waiting for me. The presidential family had lunch at Gibsons at the same time we had. Enjoy some shots of this wonderful city.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht