Sandra‘s Closet

Football fever meets fashion! Ahead of the World Cup Final, I have rounded up the best designer football bags of the season for you. My personal favourite is the Moschino version, which I am lucky to call my own. Slung over the shoulder, it is the perfect accessory to watch the final in style. And one thing is certain: with one of these beauties on your arm, you will always score, fashion-wise. GOAL!

LoL, Sandra

Football bag by Moschino

Crystal-embellished football clutch bag by Judith Leiber

Football bag by Louis Vuitton

Vintage plexiglass football bag by CHANEL

Football bag by Kate Spade

Football bag charm by Kurt Geiger

Photos: Courtesy of the Brands and © Sandra Bauknecht/ Zosia Prominska
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Fun fact: I love watching football, and I love dressing for it even more. Football outfits are a category of their own in my closet, and just wait, I will show you.

My Look: Soccer

But first things first. Congratulations, Murat Yakin. The best Swiss World Cup run in years, ended by a refereeing decision nobody will defend. What a tournament, what a team, and the whole country stood behind them. Switzerland already has the best chocolate, the best watches and the best mountains.

Murat Yakin with me

Now the internet has decided we also have the best looking coach. To all the girls worldwide suddenly interested in Swiss football: hands off, he is very much taken, and his wife is wonderful. Proud of this team. Hopp Schwiiz.

My Look: Let’s Eat Cake

And if you are wondering how this photo happened: pure coincidence, he walked in while I was celebrating my birthday with my girls, and since we know each other, of course he stopped to say hello.

Moments like these remind me why I am so proud to be Swiss. A small country with a big heart, and right now, with a team that gave us every reason to celebrate.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
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Summer holidays are in full swing, and yet CHANEL almost makes me wish for the first day of school. The house has turned the humble geometry set into the chicest collector’s piece of the season, complete with ruler, compass and protractor, all dressed in its unmistakable codes. I was always rather good at geometry, but with this set, my circles would have come out nothing short of couture. No one draws the line quite as elegantly as Chanel, quite literally. Available for € 1,200. Class dismissed!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © CHANEL
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The Alpina Gstaad x Harry’s Bar: A London Favourite Returns to the Alps

Gstaad is speaking with an Italian accent this summer. From July 18 to 31, 2026, the legendary London private members’ club Harry’s Bar returns to The Alpina Gstaad for its first ever summer residency, trading Mayfair for mountain air and bringing its celebrated Northern Italian cuisine to an al fresco setting in the heart of the Swiss Alps.

This collaboration holds a special place in my heart. As a Committee Member at Annabel’s, which belongs to the Birley Clubs family just like Harry’s Bar, I know first hand the magic these houses create: impeccable food, effortless glamour and that rare feeling of being among friends the moment you walk in. Seeing a piece of this world transplanted to Gstaad, where Harry’s Bar so rarely appears outside its London home, feels like a little gift to the Alps.

Expect long, convivial lunches in the alpine sunshine that melt into stylish evenings under the open sky, with the club’s timeless signature dishes taking centre stage. After a successful winter appearance in February, Club Director Luciano Porcu promises a summer entirely in the spirit of Harry’s Bar: excellent food, even better company. A presto!

When to go:
Dinner is served daily from 7:00 pm to 10:30 pm throughout the residency. From Friday to Sunday, lunch is also available from 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Alpina Gstaad / Harry’s Bar
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Quiet Luxury Meets Rothko: Loro Piana‘s F/W26 Campaign in Houston

Houston might not be the first city that comes to mind when you think of quiet luxury, yet Loro Piana proves it is exactly the right one. For its F/W 2026 advertising campaign, shot by Mario Sorrenti, the Italian house travels deep into the cultural landscape created by legendary collectors John and Dominique de Menil.

About The Menil Collection
Philanthropists and art patrons John and Dominique de Menil established the Menil Foundation in 1954 to foster greater public understanding and appreciation of art, architecture, culture, religion, and philosophy. In 1987, the Menil Collection’s main building opened to the public. Today, the Menil Collection consists of a group of art buildings and green spaces located within a residential neighborhood in central Houston. The Menil remains committed to its founders’ belief that art is essential to human experience and welcomes all visitors free of charge.

The journey begins at the former de Menil residence, a historic landmark with interiors by couturier Charles James, and continues through the luminous galleries of the Menil Collection, designed by Renzo Piano and opened in 1987. The most moving stop is the Rothko Chapel, home to fourteen canvases by Mark Rothko, a space that is neither museum nor church but pure contemplation in colour and shadow.

About Rothko Chapel
Rothko Chapel in Houston is an iconic non-denominational space dedicated to contemplation, dialogue, and human rights. Housing fourteen monumental murals by Mark Rothko, the Chapel serves as both a meditative environment and a platform for global discourse. It convenes artists, activists, scholars, and community leaders through programs that engage spirituality, social justice, and civic responsibility.

Sorrenti captures an intergenerational cast, including Sigrid de L’Epine and her husband, artist Jean-Charles Blais, wandering through these spaces. The collection speaks the same language as its surroundings: moss green, brick red, stone, deep brown and chalk white echoing velvet sofas, mineral facades and the depth of Rothko’s monochromes. In the campaign film, the clothes live rather than pose, a couple strolling through the streets, a hand resting on a dog’s coat, everything shaped by movement and the incomparable touch of Loro Piana fabrics. Even the soundtrack has history: saxophonist Richard «Dickie» Landry, a close collaborator of the de Menils, weaves his improvised sound through the film.

Beyond the imagery, the house supports the Menil Collection ahead of its 40th anniversary in 2027 and contributes to the preservation of the Rothko Chapel. Fashion as patronage, done with the discretion the brand is famous for.

After Niemeyer’s Casa das Canoas, Cocteau’s Villa Santo Sospir and the Fondation Maeght, Houston is the newest chapter in Loro Piana’s collection of extraordinary places. And honestly, I already want to book a flight to Texas and go back to Houston where I had just recently been. Stay tuned!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Loro Piana, The Menil Collection and The Rothko Chapel, Credits: Photographer: Mario Sorrenti Stylist: Aleksandra Woroniecka Creative Direction: Atelier Franck Durand Video Direction: Luca Werner Hair: Tomo Jidai Make-up: Aaron de Mey Models: Jean-Charles Blais, Robert Forrest, Selena Forrest, Jackson Giles, Jacqui Hooper, Noor Khan, Long Li, Colin Otto, Sigrid de L’Epine DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise.

Pony Kids and Petticoats: Simone Rocha’s F/W 26 Love Letter to Ireland

High above London, inside the faded grandeur of the Alexandra Palace Theatre, Simone Rocha sent out one of the most poetic collections of the season. The Victorian venue, left in a state of beautiful arrested decay, was the perfect stage for what the Irish designer does best: romance cut through with reality.

For F/W 2026, Rocha turned her gaze homeward. The collection unfolded in three chapters rooted in Irish culture. The first act conjured Tír na nÓg, the mythical Celtic land of eternal youth, painted in moss green, olive and deep ruby, with a voluminous satin gown cinched at the waist that felt like folklore made fabric.

The final act celebrated the Weird Sisters, the eccentric siblings of the Yeats family who shaped the Irish Arts and Crafts movement, honoured through rich tapestry prints and tweeds that felt loved and lived in.

But it was the middle chapter that gave the collection its heartbeat: Pony Kid. Rocha drew on Perry Ogden’s cult 1999 photo book Pony Kids, which documented the working class children of Dublin, from both Traveller and Settled communities, who kept and traded horses at the Smithfield Horse Fair. Ogden captured them in the sportswear of the era, tracksuits and trainers worn with a fierce, tender pride. Together with Mike Newell’s 1992 film Into the West, these images of Irish kids and their ponies became the emotional core of the show.

The new Pony Kids collection by Simone Rocha is available now here.

This reference also unlocked the season’s big surprise: Simone Rocha’s debut collaboration with adidas originals, woven directly into the mainline rather than presented as a separate capsule. The designer, who spent her own teenage years wearing adidas running shorts under vintage tutus, made the pairing feel completely natural. Track jackets came with pouf sleeves and her signature pearl zipper pulls, tracksuits erupted in ruffles and scalloped edges, sporty knee high socks were bedazzled with trefoil logos, and a picot edged dress in ivory paper nylon carried a Rocha redesigned trefoil. Lace boiler suits and frills on your tracksuit, as she put it herself.

Of course, the Rocha girl was never far away. Corsages and ribbons trailed from masculine coats, equestrian prize ribbons were pinned to tailored trousers, and hints of vintage lingerie flashed beneath sheer layers. A moss green gown with an oversized bow, a curvy ruby sequin dress with a matching cap and shearling lined aviator jackets in olive grounded the fantasy in wearable, statement making reality.

What I love most about this collection is its emotional intelligence. Rocha took the myth of eternal youth and the very real, disappearing world of Dublin’s pony kids and stitched them into one wardrobe where a ballgown and a track jacket speak the same language. It is femininity with grit, nostalgia without sentimentality, and proof once again that Simone Rocha is one of the most compelling storytellers in fashion today.

The Adidas pieces will no doubt sell out in a heartbeat, but for me the true magic lies in the juxtaposition. Frills on a tracksuit have never looked so poetic.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Simone Rocha
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Barénia Pleine Fleur, the new creation inspired by the house’s heritage leather and its absolute quality, redefines the captivating world of the Hermès chypre. For this third creation, Hermès perfumer Christine Nagel offers the Hermès woman – a radiant, magnetically seductive woman – a luxuriant floral bouquet tempered by a fresh top note.

Embracing and adapting the dictum of Director Artistic of Hermès Pierre-Alexis Dumas that there is «no creation without memory», Christine Nagel thought back to the hundreds of preliminary trials conducted while developing Barénia. All at once she realised that the white lily was the perfect emblem for a modern, adventurous woman.

The lily lends the scent a unique roundness, evoking the softness of a petal and the stirring sensation of skin against skin. The elegant calyx converses with orange blossom, its more discreet companion, tempering its headier facets to reach a closer accord with this small white flower which graces the bitter orange tree in springtime – a centuries-old symbol of innocence and purity.

Naturally, the profile of this fragrance, created to adorn a bold, liberated woman, also includes the notes at the very heart of the Hermès chypre. The gourmet aroma of roasted oak wood, reminiscent of rum, whets the appetite, and Gayo patchouli adds sensuality.

And the miracle berry? As a child, Christine Nagel read a Beninese fairytale in which a sorcerer extols the virtues of a small West African fruit with the power to change sour to sweet, an image that has lingered in her memory ever since.

Now she has brought the tale to life, working with this elusive botanical scent – from which she has managed to capture a warm, dried apricot fragrance – to breathe a magical spirit into her incomparable chypre.

The refillable Barénia Pleine Fleur bottle is lacquered in an orange-pink hue, and housed in a box marked with a white H against a background matching the shade of the glass. The bottle also bears a silver-toned plate embossed with Clou Médor studs. This eau de parfum is available (CHF 209 / 100ml) in selected Hermès retail outlets worldwide.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Hermès
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Silk that behaves like leather and packs like a parachute: Louis Vuitton’s newest material innovation, Silk Tech, has landed in select stores worldwide as of July 9th, 2026, spanning ready-to-wear, bags and luggage, travel essentials, footwear, and accessories.

First unveiled on the F/W 2026 Menswear runway in Paris under Creative Director Pharrell Williams, Silk Tech is a twill-woven hybrid of silk and reclaimed nylon. The result is water-repellent, crease-resistant, anti-fraying, and featherlight, with a sheen and hand so refined it could easily pass for supple leather.

The inspiration reaches back to the early 20th century, when silk parachutes and hot air balloons proved just how much strength the delicate fibre could carry. By weaving silk with nylon, the House has evolved that legacy into an even stronger, super-refined structure that combines mechanical prowess with pure textural pleasure.

Silk Tech debuts in the classic brown-and-gold Monogram, a knowing nod to Louis Vuitton’s iconic coated canvas and its tradition of elevating utilitarian materials into objects of desire. And the performance is real: a Silk Tech City bag can support up to 50 kilograms.

The range covers everything from hooded windbreakers, down puffers, and athleisure pieces to a permanent line of bags and travel goods, including the Christopher East-West and Nano, the Track Backpack, the Speedy 30 and 40, the Keepall 50, the Alma Shoulder, the Nil XL and 45, the Rush Bumbag, and the LV Trainer and LV Tilted Sneaker.

Travel just got lighter, and considerably chicer.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Louis Vuitton
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Salsa has rhythm, whether you dance it or spoon it. This summer, the Aquazzura Bar serves both at once with an exclusive taco that lands every Tuesday in the Secret Garden of the Hotel de Russie, styled with tequila, salmon and lime.

The Aquazzura Bar is the result of a remarkable collaboration between the Italian luxury brand Aquazzura and Rome’s legendary Hotel de Russie. Tucked into the hotel’s Secret Garden, it unfolds as a small oasis of calm where Mediterranean flair meets Italian elegance, the perfect hideaway for intimate summer evenings under the open sky.

Throughout July and August, every Tuesday brings exclusive tacos to the menu, created especially for Taco Tuesday and available for a limited time only. Fresh and smoked salmon meet creamy avocado, fiery jalapeños and the delicate citrus note of finger lime, a harmonious composition that pairs beautifully with one of the bar’s signature tequila cocktails. Taco Tuesday becomes a delicious summer ritual: relaxed, refined and full of intense flavour.

Taco Tuesday Experience: € 32

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Hotel de Russie / Aquazzura
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Making the natural even more beautiful sits at the very heart of everything Hermès creates. It is this philosophy that inspired Gregoris Pyrpylis, Creative Director of Hermès Beauté, to design products that enhance the skin’s natural radiance. For 2026, the maison expands its lip universe with two nurturing new essentials: a nourishing lip mask with a regenerating effect and glossy finish, and an invisible lip balm that turns daily care into a refreshing beauty ritual.

The Lip Balm

Housed in a refillable case designed by Pierre Hardy, the colourless balm nourishes and protects with shea butter, plant based waxes and castor oil. Ceramides shield the lips from environmental stress and prevent dryness, while white mulberry combined with a hyaluronic acid complex delivers comfort and hydration. Sesame seed extract leaves the lips beautifully smooth.

Composed of 95 percent ingredients of natural origin, the balm works both as a daily protective treatment on its own and as the perfect base under lipstick.

The Lip Mask

The nourishing mask blends shea butter with castor, macadamia, jojoba and sweet almond oils and waxes for instant and lasting nourishment. A hyaluronic acid complex and sesame seed extract ensure optimal hydration and a smoothing effect, while ceramides strengthen the hydrolipidic barrier. Antioxidant astaxanthin, which also gives the formula its signature orange hue, fights free radicals.

Made with 97 percent ingredients of natural origin, the mask comes with a lacquered wooden applicator brush that echoes the design of Les Pinceaux Hermès.

The Rouge Hermès lip balm and lip mask will be available from September 2026 in selected Hermès stores worldwide. Two little luxuries I already know will live in my handbag.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Hermès
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