Sandra‘s Closet

For S/S 2020, adidas Originals teams up with one of the hottest rising stars in the global fashion scene, China’s very own Angel Chen.
Comprised of four new footwear styles, each available in two colorways, this capsule collection channels a sophisticated yet eye-catching aesthetic capturing Chen’s unmistakable way through bold and colorful graphics.

Angel Chen

Angel Chen is quickly becoming one of the brightest creative talents to emerge from China’s nascent fashion scene. The name behind the brand, Angel Chen, moved to London at the age of 17 to study at the prestigious Central Saint Martin’s College of Arts and Design.

During her placement year, she interned for Marchesa, Vera Wang and Alexander Wang in New York. Following her graduate collection in 2014, Chen was chosen by i-D as one of five designers-to-watch and launched her eponymous label the following year. She listed within BOF 500 in 2017, secured a finalist position with the renowned Woolmark Prize in 2018 and participated and placed 4th in Netflix’s Next in Fashion in 2019.

Angel Chen’s colorful approach to fashion coupled with a core-concept of fusion of Eastern
and Western aesthetics has made it a noticeable bright young label. This remains the case with each new collection she puts out under the eponymous brand founded in 2014, which she describes as «innovative, colorful, unrestrained and expressive.»

These four words could equally be applied to Angel Chen’s first team up with adidas, which takes the form of four new footwear styles. Each is presented in two colorways and, in their brightly playful execution, channel the mood and look of 80s and 90s fashion.

The capsule collection draws inspiration from Chinese calligraphy while celebrating China’s successes and cultural reasonance in sports such as Ping Pong, Kungfu and Diving. Each bold style features colourful contemporary graphics and exaggerated silhouettes.

Angel‘s newly gained international recognition resulted in highly anticipated commercial
collaborations for Angel Chen with H&M and M.A.C.; and most recently with adidas Originals. Stocked internationally at 70 retailers, including Bergdorf Goodman, Selfridges, Lane Crawford, Net-A-Porter and Galeries Lafayette, Angel Chen is part of a new wave of young brands
making an impact globally.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © adidas Originals
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Now showing at Sandra’s Closet: «The back pack is back». At least this is what is written on the cassette sticker with DIY scrawl on my newest collector’s item: the Louis Vuitton S/S 2020 Video Tape Clutch.

Yesterday I had a quick stopover in Zurich to change my luggage as I am leaving today for Sylt. I have so many great things to show your from my travels, so please stay tuned. I tried to do a little digital detox for the past two weeks and it worked pretty well.

My look: Zinnia halterneck polka-dot linen and cotton-blend voile jumpsuit by Zimmermann, printed silk turban by Fendi, video tape clutch by Louis Vuitton, quilted leather mules by Bottega Veneta, cat-eye marbled-acetate sunglasses by Gucci, GG Running 18-karat white gold diamond hoop earrings, GG Running diamond X ring, and GG Running double diamond ring with chain, all by Gucci Fine Jewellery, and Pasha C chronograph in steel (2000) by Cartier.

The Pasha watch will be relaunched in September by Cartier, so I thought it is a great idea to dust mine and sport it again. To find out more, click here please.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © David Biedert Photography
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise. 

Greetings from Lake Como, where I am staying at one of my favorite hotels in the world, Villa d’Este. It is simply a heaven in one of Italy’s most desirable locations: Cernobbio. This Renaissance era palace is a portal to another world, with a touch of Italian Old World charm it is a true luxurious experience. Walking through the beautiful gardens, I am wearing my favorite summer uniform, a floral Zimmermann gown and a Bottega Veneta bag. The linen fabrics are easy to pack and look great even a little bit wrinkled.

My look: Zinnia floral-print linen midi dress and Aurora oversized butterfly acetate sunglasses, both by Zimmermann, Almost Bare metallic leather sandals by Aquazzura, Jodie mini knotted leather tote by Bottega Veneta and Royal Oak 37mm 18-karat frosted rose gold watch by Audemars Piguet.

Looking at the terrible news from Beirut, I am so thankful that I am in such a beautiful and safe environment. Sending prayers to Lebanon. Everyone, stay safe! It is not the easiest time we are living in at the moment. So enjoy every day to the fullest!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission. 

This Thursday, August 6th, the monthly Prada Timecapsule, an exclusive product drop of 50 items, occurring once a month, will be launched on prada.com – at 3pm CET – for 24 hours only. To find out more, click here for the previous post.

Enabled by the new Prada e-commerce platform, this new section is now available solely in Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom),
Japan, South Korea, China, USA and Canada, and for the first time in Brazil and Hong Kong, reaching other markets over the course of 2020 following the new prada.com layout-relaunching calendar.

This series of drops offer a classic boxy shirt, one of Prada’s wardrobe essentials, presented as unisex in an original printed version. The print’s motif is inspired by a theme related to the month of launch and includes a specific limited edition number 1/50, 2/50….

For this release, Prada presents a new cotton popeline shirt for both women and men, featuring an exclusive black, light-blue and white graphic print, inspired by the biking world. Available in XS, S, M, L, XL for €790,00 here for only 24h.

Next drop will be on September 3rd, 2020.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Prada

Introducing the Polo Ralph Lauren face mask collection, featuring two models—the Polo cloth mask and the Polo high-filtration mask – for all the ways you work and play. While Ralph Lauren hasn’t announced a firm release date, you can sign up for updates on the brand’s webstore (you will find the link below). It’ll be worth the wait, as it’ll become the new grail for masks, there are not many designer face protections around, and shopping them will help a good cause.

Fifty percent of the net purchase price (excluding VAT) of each mask will be donated to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for WHO, powered by the UN Foundation.

The Polo Cloth Mask
80% Particle Filtration
Antimicrobial-treated cotton inner lining to preserve fabric freshness, two layers of non woven filtration, breathable outer layer. Sign up now here, coming fall 2020.

The Polo High-Filtration Mask
95% Particle Filtration
The most advanced option, the Polo High-Filtration Mask features an antimicrobial-treated shell and inner lining to preserve fabric freshness, a customizable fit, and disposable filters for a higher level of breathability. Sign up now here, coming fall 2020.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Ralph Lauren

Uncover a new glow with the all-new Orgasm X Collection: a provocative pink so deeply flattering, it’s enough to make you blush. Buildable. Blendable. Indispensable.

ORGASM X BLUSH (42.90 CHF)
– The authority in cheek, discover new blush in its iconic shade range and bestselling powder formula. Cult-favorite NARS Blush delivers a weightless, natural-looking rush of color in matte, satin, and shimmering finishes.

ORGASM X CHEEK PALETTE (39.20 CHF)
– Three stimulating shades. One for every pleasure. Hit all the right spots with a coveted cheek trio for a naturally dimensional glow. Featuring new Orgasm X Blush and cult-favorite Orgasm Blush, plus Orgasm Highlighting Powder for sultry, second-skin luster. Build the thrill.
Shades (from left to right):
ORGASM HIGHLIGHTING POWDER (golden shimmer)
ORGASM BLUSH (peachy pink with golden shimmer)
ORGASM X BLUSH (shimmering deep coral pink with gold pearl)

QUAD EYESHADOW (65.- CHF)
– A limited-edition selection of Quad Eyeshadow Palettes in two new shades inspired by Orgasm and new Orgasm X – because too much is never enough. Matte, shimmer, shine.
Quads:
ORGASM – Shades:
• Golden shimmer (top left)
• Light pink champagne (top right)
• Shimmering light cocoa (bottom left)
• Matte Coral (bottom right)

ORGASM X – Shades:
• Pink rust shimmer (top left)
• Sparkling amber (top right)
• Dusty rose matte (bottom left)
• Black with red shimmer (bottom right)

OIL-INFUSED LIP TINT (36.- CHF)
– Sensorial texture. Insatiable color. Sheer pleasure. Indulge your lips with a surge of hydration in new, limited-edition shade Orgasm X. Infused with water-absorbing molecules to help create a fuller look, and loaded with antioxidants for seductively plush lips that beg to be sealed with an X.
Shades:
ORGASM (sheer peachy pink with golden shimmer)
ORGASM X (Limited-edition; sheer shimmering deep coral with gold pearl)

MINI ORGASM EYESHADOW PALETTE (39.90 CHF)
– The signature universally flattering Orgasm glow, but now reimagined in a travel-size eyeshadow palette. Featuring six shades of endless pleasure.
Shades:
FULL MOON (metallic pale pink – top left)
MAXIMUM PLEASURE (shimmering golden peach -top middle)
DANGER GIRL (matte coral – top right)
WILD ONE (metallic golden pink – bottom left)
PATTAYA (sparkling iridescent copper – bottom middle)
SEDUCED (sparkling amber – bottom right)

ULTIMATE ORGASM SET (66.60 CHF)
– A travel-ready set of Orgasm Blush, Orgasm Afterglow Lip Balm, Orgasm Oil-Infused Lip Tint and a deluxe travel makeup bag.
Products Included:
MINI ORGASM BLUSH (peachy pink with golden shimmer)
FULL SIZE ORGASM AFTERGLOW LIP BALM (sheer peachy pink with golden shimmer)
FULL SIZE ORGASM OIL-INFUSED LIP TINT (sheer peachy pink with golden shimmer)
DELUXE TRAVEL MAKEUP BAG

«I never anticipated Orgasm becoming so successful. Looking back, I think the combination of the name and the shade made it so popular… Without such an audacious name, I don’t know if it would have become so iconic.» – Founder and Creative Director, François Nars

For the Orgasm X Collection campaign, François Nars photographed one of his current muses, model Yoon Young Bae, in a New York City studio, with an effortlessly glowing beauty look.
To recreate the collection’s campaign look, start by applying Radiant Creamy Concealer underneath the eyes. Next, using fingertips, apply Natural Radiant Long-Wear Foundation all over the face for an even finish.
Then, using the #20 Allover Eyeshadow Brush, apply Shade 3 from the Orgasm X Eyeshadow Quad all over the eyelids. Then, use the #21 Small Eyeshadow Brush to apply Shade 4 onto the bottom of the eyelids, Shade 2 on top of the eyelids, and Shade 1 on the bottom lash line. Then apply Shade 1 and Shade 2 from the Orgasm Eyeshadow Quad to the inner eye corners.
To define cheek bones, add overall dimension, and contour, sweep Orgasm and Orgasm X Blush onto the cheeks using the #16 Blush Brush.
Fill lips with the Orgasm X Oil-Infused Lip Tint to complete the look.

All products are now in stores.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Nars

Graceful, fluid, En Passant is a luminous, mobile and charming perfume. It was born of Frédéric Malle’s collaboration with Olivia Giacobetti, who, in 2000, was the first woman to enter the exclusive circle of the world’s best perfumers chosen by the Perfume Publisher to compose the classics of tomorrow. Frédéric Malle chose her for the qualities of her perfume writing: a modern writing style that doesn’t follow fashions. A feminine, youthful, free and very personal writing. According to Malle, «Olivia has that rare ability to create an ambiance, to capture an atmosphere, like a great photographer.»

In the collection of Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle, En Passant is one of the soliflores, perfumes built around a single flower—here, lilac. But an idealized, reworked lilac, cleansed of its dusty, slightly honeyed notes. A purified, aerated lilac, as if it had transcended itself. Evocative of spring, the fleeting moments of childhood, youth and innocence, the lilac of En Passant naturally leads us into the green gardens of the Île de France region.

With En Passant, Frédéric Malle chose to add to his perfume collection a fresh, pure, transparent feminine composition, as light and elusive as a breeze. But a persistent breeze, bursting with the scent of lilac beneath the soft rays of the spring sun. A breeze that caresses although signaling its presence. A breeze that passes through at the same time as its trace renders it indelible.

Photo: Henri Cartier-Bresson

En Passant is a vegetal perfume both airy and architectural. Imagine the implacable lines of a minimalist sculpture by Donald Judd, or a repetitive musical loop by Philip Glass.
When Frédéric Malle speaks of En Passant, he first refers to the photographs of Henri Cartier-Bresson. Which is to say that, beneath the lightness of the breeze, in this apparently weightless air that can only be that of spring, is concealed the idea of the passage of time and the decisive moment that immortalizes the instant.

«Olivia Giacobetti possesses the special ability to create an ambiance, to capture an atmosphere, like a great photographer.»
Publisher & Founder, Frédéric Malle

Olivia Giacobetti has an uncanny ability to create an atmosphere. Having completed her training at Robertet, she founded her own perfume laboratory, Iskia, and dedicated her career to doing precisely that. She is the brains and the nose behind the fig accords that have been present in home scents for years. The perfumes that move her most are «echoes of everyday life and nature: fleeting emotions, moods, details, attitudes… the many small fragments of life that bear new images». Her compositions capture the authenticity of a single moment. They are, in other words, odes to transience.

Perfume 100ml: 210€, $290, £175 – Perfume 50ml: 140€, $205, £123
Perfume 30ml: 115€, $145, £88 – Perfume 10ml: 42€, $57, £35
Body Wash 200ml: 50€, $65, £40

TO SHOP EN PASSANT ONLINE, CLICK HERE PLEASE.
And to all my Swiss readers, Happy 1st of August!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Frédéric Malle and © Sandra Bauknecht
© Henri Cartier-Bresson

Louis Vuitton reveals its F/W 2020 campaign directed and photographed by Nicolas Ghesquière, Artistic Director of Women’s Collections and I am loving the pieces.
Representing total creative investment in a very personal collection, the campaign expresses contemporary freedom and the pure pleasure of clothing that is open to all manner of audacity.

To photograph this campaign, Nicolas Ghesquière invited Louis Vuitton’s friends and family to his photography studio, a creative laboratory on the Quai Voltaire in Paris: among them were close friends whose personality inspires him, kindred spirits, and favourite faces. Celebrity friends, beloved models, astonishing artists and athletes include Léa Seydoux, Marina Foïs, Noémie Merlant, Akon Changkou, Stacy Martin, Dina Asher-Smith, Lous and the Yakuza and Sora Choi. In all, 20 personalities he wished to represent in their essence. The same holds true of the House’s iconic bags that accompany this stylistic exercise — the Capucines, the Twist, the Pont 9 and the Dauphine.

With the same candor, Nicolas Ghesquière incorporates the new line «SINCE 1854.»
A precious jacquard inscribed with a fundamental date, 1854, sprinkled among Monogram flowers in a nod to the year the House was created. Already iconic, this Monogram distills the Louis Vuitton spirit on timeless pieces such as the Dauphine, the Neverfull and the Petit Noé. The signature «SINCE 1854» also figures on a wardrobe of essentials and accessories.

Says Nicolas Ghesquière of the campaign, «I thought it would be interesting to extend my work to photography, to follow through to the end of the creative process and give the collection its final punctuation. In this portrait gallery, everyone is there for my own personal reasons, and I liked discovering new connections with people I knew already. I also wanted to bring unity to different aspects of the House, a circular vision of what happens here. To give a timeless aspect to creations that are very anchored in the season. For me, moving into photography came from a desire to reflect the feeling we share when we’re working on a collection.»

The campaign will be unveiled in September 2020 publications worldwide.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Louis Vuitton

Black is prized for its understated elegance and endless wearability, but it’s not always the obvious choice when it comes to summer dressing. However, worn correctly, it has year-round appeal. Add a fancy logo and a little sparkle to this iconic color and mercury rises…

My Look: Cropped sequin-embellished cotton-blend tweed jacket, sequin-embellished cotton-blend tweed midi skirt, cropped sequin-embellished cotton-blend tweed top, and silver-tone crystal clip earrings, all by Alessandra Rich, Elephant mini crystal-embellished suede shoulder bag by Loewe, Kate 100 suede pumps by Christian Louboutin, and crystal-embellished cat-eye metal sunglasses by Valentino.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
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Recently, I discovered the 4protection Novigel 2% concentrate with 2% OM24® through a dear friend who recommended it for all sorts of skin concerns and it is truly a miracle product. Its active complex neutralizes free radicals, inhibits collagenase and repairs skin tissue – as proven by ETH study. It provides an intensive regeneration of skin changes and irritations, and reduces age spots and pimples. Furthermore, it promotes deep acting recovery of stressed skin. The oil free and pH-neutral formulation is also suitable for children. You can apply it to the skin as often as needed.

Novigel 2% Intensive Repair Serum is available for example at my favorite pharmacy at Paradeplatz in Zurich for CHF 38.90 (40ml).

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht and © Omni Medica
This post is not sponsored. I am just a fan of the product.