Sandra‘s Closet

Noon at Globus Zurich, first floor, and the beauty department has a beautiful centre of gravity: two counters standing side by side, Memo Paris and its more secretive younger sister, Floraïku Paris. Waiting to welcome us was John Molloy, the Irishman who built both maisons with his wife Clara, a glass of something chilled in hand and a story ready for every bottle.

I could have listened to him all afternoon. Somewhere between the neroli and the vanilla we discovered that John shares a birthday with my daughter, one of those small coincidences that makes a conversation feel like a reunion. He had come bearing gifts, too: salt from Menorca, gathered on the island where he and Clara keep a house and spend a good part of the year. The timing was perfect, because Menorca is also the name of Memo Paris’s newest fragrance.

Memo Paris, founded in 2007, has always treated perfume as a form of travel, each scent the memory of a place. Menorca, composed by Sophie Labbé, is that island at first light.

Menorca, Memo Paris
Top: bergamot, lemon, ginger
Heart: neroli, iris, carrot seed
Base: salty musk, mineral notes, sandalwood

It opens bright and sunlit, then settles closer to the skin: neroli warmed by iris and earthy carrot seed, before a salted, mineral musk arrives like seawater drying on the arm after a morning swim. Knowing that John and Clara truly live that landscape of salt flats, dry stone walls and limewashed houses made the scent feel less like a launch and more like an invitation into their summer.

The second house, though, was the one I had really come to understand. Floraïku Paris is the Molloys’ quieter masterpiece. Born in 2017 after a journey to Japan, it takes its name from the haiku, and Clara writes a short poem to accompany every scent. Where Memo carries you across the world, Floraïku slows everything to the pace of a tea ceremony. The collection is organised into three rituals: Enigmatic Flowers, Secret Teas and Spices, and Forbidden Incense.

Each bottle hides inside a lacquered bento box, its sculpted cap lifting away to become a travel spray. John’s years in fashion, including a long chapter at Kenzo, show in this almost obsessive attention to object and gesture, while Clara, who spent a year learning Japanese, gave the house its soul. I had the pleasure of meeting her on another occasion, when she passed through Zurich. You can read about that afternoon at Odéon here.

The fragrance at the heart of the day was Sand and Skin, revisited this season as a Limited Edition.

Sand and Skin Limited Edition, Floraïku Paris
Top: Lysylang and Mahonial (luminous ylang and soft mimosa facets)
Heart: amyris, sandalwood, cedar, patchouli, ylang-ylang
Base: Madagascar vanilla, benzoin, labdanum

Warm, golden and unmistakably sensual, it is Madagascar vanilla and benzoin melting into ylang-ylang, wood and resin, the scent of skin that has spent a whole day in the sun. Here the afternoon closed a beautiful circle.

The artist quietly sketching our portraits, Mauro Carraro from Geneva, is the very illustrator who dressed this Limited Edition, his signature midnight blue and gold leaf drawn into sinuous ropes that move like sand across the cap. To be drawn by the same hand that shaped the bottle, on the day of its Zurich debut, is exactly the kind of detail Floraïku does so beautifully.

We ended where every good story should, upstairs at Roofgarden Globus, lunch above the rooftops of the city, the light long and the conversation unhurried.

Menorca, CHF 275. Sand and Skin Limited Edition, CHF 320. Both now available at the Memo Paris and Floraïku Paris counters, Globus Zurich, Beauty Department, first floor.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht and Andrea Monica Hug for Memo Paris
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London’s oldest luxury hotel has handed three of its finest bedrooms to Sir Paul Smith, and the result is one of the most charming things to happen in Mayfair this summer. Opening in July 2026, the Paul Smith Grand Suite at Brown’s Hotel is conceived as a private London residence rather than a hotel suite, with three generous bedrooms connected by a bespoke Paul Smith corridor.

The collaboration brings together two great British institutions: Brown’s, the grande dame of Albemarle Street, and one of Britain’s most beloved designers, Paul Smith, who started his design empire in a small Nottingham shop in 1970. Created with Olga Polizzi, Director of Design at Rocco Forte Hotels, the new suite evolves the much celebrated Sir Paul Smith Suite into something larger, warmer and even more personal.

Everything here carries his handwriting. Curtains in the iconic Signature Stripe, developed with Maharam Fabrics, are tied back with original Paul Smith ties, a detail I find completely irresistible. Rugs from the 2026 collection with The Rug Company anchor the rooms, while Harris Tweed adds a quiet nod to his current ready to wear collection.

British craftsmanship runs through the whole apartment like a red thread. Hand painted porcelain lamps by Lyngard, ceramics commissioned from Charlotte Salt and Elaine King, glass pieces by Emsie Sharp and Stewart Hearn. Add English antiques, historic Japanese screens and Sir Paul’s own collected treasures, and you have a residence with layers, humour and a real sense of a person living in it.

Mayfair, tailored.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Brown’s Hotel
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An Evening of Leather and High Jewelry: YVY x Bvlgari in Zurich

Stepping into the YVY showroom, I was immediately reminded why Yvonne Reichmuth is one of the most exciting names in Swiss design. The evening brought together two worlds that, on paper, could not be more different: the sensual, handcrafted leather universe of YVY and the Roman glamour of Bvlgari. In reality, the pairing felt effortless, bold, and refreshingly new.

Wonderful Yvonne Reichmuth with me

Yvonne has built her reputation on leather, above all her signature corset belts, sculptural statement pieces that have become true collector’s items. What surprised me most that evening was discovering how far her vision reaches beyond accessories. Her showroom revealed a whole range of beautiful garments, each one carrying her unmistakable signature: precise craftsmanship, a strong silhouette, and that perfect balance between edge and elegance.

What made the collaboration with Bvlgari so compelling was the courage behind it. Instead of following the usual event formula, both houses dared to try something different, to walk a new path and to let their aesthetics speak to each other. Supple leather next to a gleaming mix of white and yellow gold creates a tension that is impossible to resist, and the guests clearly felt it too.

Culinary surprises were part of the evening as well. Star chef Ralph Schelling treated us to a completely unexpected menu, entirely vegetarian and absolutely delicious, proving once again that plant-based cuisine can be every bit as luxurious as the setting it is served in. Paired with generously flowing champagne, his creations added yet another layer of indulgence to the night and kept the conversations sparkling until late.

The crowd itself was one of the highlights of the night. Loyal YVY clients mingled with Bvlgari devotees, quite a few of whom I was delighted to see again, while I also met wonderful new faces. This kind of mix is exactly what makes an evening memorable: genuine conversations, shared passions, and the feeling that everyone in the room truly appreciates craftsmanship.

With beautiful Christa Rigozzi and Yvonne Reichmuth

For the occasion, I put together an outfit inspired by Yvonne’s aesthetic, the world of Bvlgari, and, with a wink, the current football fever sweeping the country. All the details on my look will follow very soon in a separate post, so stay tuned.

The evening’s mastermind Christelle Huwiler.

I have to confess that my arrival was slightly more dramatic than planned. Shortly before the event, I found myself quite literally stuck in a dress that refused to let me go, and in the end it had to be cut open to free me. Not every evening starts with a pair of scissors, but it certainly makes for a good story, and it made the glamour that awaited me at YVY all the sweeter.

Evenings like this one prove that Swiss design and Italian high jewellery share more common ground than one might think: a love of beauty, a devotion to craft, and the confidence to break new ground. Grazie, Bvlgari, and merci, Christelle and Yvonne, for a truly special night in Zurich.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht/ Zosia Prominska
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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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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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Walking into the John Madejski Garden on Wednesday evening, you could feel that this one was special. The V&A Summer Party was turning ten, and the museum had pulled out all the stops, throwing open its courtyard for what has quietly become the most coveted night in London’s summer calendar.

With interior designer Pernilla Bennet of House of Bennet

A decade ago the museum turned its annual fundraiser into something far cleverer than a gala. The concept is simple and rather brilliant. Every summer the V&A invites a committee of leading creative voices to shape the evening and, crucially, to bring emerging talent into the room.

One of my favorites and definitely one of the most outstanding talents at the moment: Harris Reed, who officially stepped down as the creative director of Nina Ricci in March 2026, after a three-and-a-half-year tenure, is now focusing entirely on his eponymous namesake demi-couture label that is to die for!

Another designer I adore is London-based Molly Goddard, who is a real sweetheart, and truly deserves the title «Queen of Frill».

This year that committee included Harris Reed, David Furnish, Grayson Perry, Sandy Powell and Yinka Ilori, and the result is a guest list where a fresh Central Saint Martins graduate might find themselves deep in conversation with the patron who goes on to change their career. The party raises vital funds for the museum, but it also does something money cannot buy. It keeps British creativity alive, connected and celebrated.

Opening speech by Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Returning this year carried its own meaning, because the party had taken a break in 2025. In the past the evening often doubled as the curtain raiser for a major new show. When I last attended in 2024, the night marked the opening of Naomi: In Fashion, the museum’s glorious tribute to Naomi Campbell. This year there was no exhibition opening to coincide with the celebration, which personally speaking I missed. Half the thrill has always been stepping into a brand new world the moment the doors open.

The weather, for once, played its part beautifully. Glasses of Nyetimber caught the last of the evening light, Jessie Ware took to the stage, and the garden hummed with that particular energy you only find when fashion, art, music and a little British eccentricity collide all at once.

Performance by Jessie Ware.

I will be honest with you. I did not see everyone. The garden was so full of wonderful people that I spent most of the night lost in the kind of conversations you simply do not want to walk away from. That, for me, is the real luxury of an evening like this. Not the spectacle, but the company.

Photos: @gettyentertainment

The room held its share of icons, too. Mick Jagger, effortless as ever. Ellie Goulding, radiant. Maya Jama, Akshata Murty, Edie Campbell, Olly Alexander and Munroe Bergdorf were among the faces moving through the candlelit garden, alongside what felt like the whole of London’s fashion and art world gathered in one glorious place.

Always fun seeing my friend Mark-Francis Vandelli, who stars in «Ladies of London».

Ten years in, the V&A Summer Party has lost none of its magic. It remains a love letter to creativity, a celebration of one of the great cultural institutions of our time, and proof that the best nights are the ones spent among brilliant people under a perfect summer sky.

Here is to the next ten.

LoL, Sandra

So nice seeing Juergen Teller again with whom we worked so much at Marie Claire Germany many years ago. He is one of the best photographers I know that has a very special language.

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
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Where Fashion Meets Wallpaper:
A Morning at Annabel’s with Martin Brudnizki and de Gournay

Few interiors in London stop me the way Annabel’s does. As a member of the Membership Committee at the club, I spend a fair amount of time on Berkeley Square, and yet Martin Brudnizki’s work hits differently every single time. His studio MBDS created something genuinely unique here: a universe of controlled fantasy, English eccentricity and absolute attention to detail. The kind of space that makes you want to dress up just to be worthy of it.

Last Tuesday, I was at the club for breakfast with Martin Brudnizki and Hannah Cecil Gurney of de Gournay to see a new installation celebrating the English summer, which London, with its characteristic sense of humour, chose to mark with a day of horizontal rain. Inside, none of that mattered. The new de Gournay panels are breathtaking: a sweeping floral composition alive with birds, painted in that unmistakable hand that de Gournay has made its signature. Lush, layered, luminous. The moment I saw them, my mind went immediately to the Erdem collaboration, and for very personal reasons.

Those who have followed my interiors journey over the years will know that my previous home was conceived as a love letter to fashion. I dedicated each room to a different designer, with de Gournay as the connective thread running throughout. My study was entirely devoted to the Erdem x de Gournay collection: chinoiserie of birds and blossoms, handpainted in watercolour, in a design that Erdem Moralioglu and Hannah Cecil Gurney brought into being with a shared obsession for the handmade, the romantic and the rare. I lived inside that collaboration, quite literally. And I dressed to match it.

So when I sat down for breakfast last week, I wore my Erdem x de Gournay Giudita tie-neck belted floral-print silk-voile dress. The only possible choice. It felt like a small homage, and it was received as such.

Over breakfast, Martin and Hannah spoke about something that I think many people do not fully understand about the de Gournay design process: the role of the client. The vision, when it is strong and specific, is not a constraint. It is the starting point from which something truly singular can be made. My own vision for that home was fashion, always fashion. With de Gournay, we translated it into walls, into rooms, into an entire way of inhabiting a space. A collaboration in the truest sense of the word, unfolding slowly, with intention.

I will write more about this process another time, because it deserves the space to be explored properly. For now: a dress that was exactly where it needed to be, a room that understood it completely, and a conversation at the table as beautiful as everything else around it.

LoL, Sandra

With my beautiful girlfriends Marijana Matthäus and Monica Perlman.

Photos: Courtesy of Annabel’s / © Sandra Bauknecht 
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Just in time for the summer season, the Costa Smeralda is getting its most glamorous and quintessentially Italian makeover yet. Dolce & Gabbana has partnered with the legendary Hotel Cala di Volpe to transform one of Europe’s most storied luxury retreats into a sun-drenched stage set worthy of a Vogue editorial.

The Cala di Volpe needs little introduction. Designed in the 1960s by French architect Jacques Couëlle and nestled into a breathtaking Sardinian bay, the property has long been regarded as a sculptural masterpiece, its whitewashed terraces and terracotta rooflines evoking the romance of a traditional fishing village. It is, in short, the perfect canvas for Italian fashion’s most theatrical house.

At the heart of the collaboration is the iconic Majolica print, one of Dolce & Gabbana’s most beloved and enduring signatures. Rooted in the centuries-old ceramic tradition of Sicily, the motif draws directly from the hand-painted tiles of Caltagirone, a city whose majolica staircases and intricate decorative craftsmanship have defined the island’s visual identity since the Arabs brought the art form to Sicily in the 9th century.

Domenico Dolce, himself a Sicilian, has woven this heritage into the brand’s DNA since the print first gained widespread attention with the S/S 2016 collection. What makes the Majolica print so compelling is its characteristic bi-chromatic palette: elaborate botanical and arabesque motifs rendered in rich contrasting hues against a light ground, evoking the hand of a master ceramicist translated into fabric.

Each season, Dolce & Gabbana reinterprets the print in a new signature colour. Last summer, that colour was a luminous lemon yellow (gialla). This year, the house has moved on to a vibrant orange (arancione). And it is that very yellow, from the 2025 season, that forms the backdrop of the Cala di Volpe takeover, tying the hotel’s sun-soaked aesthetic directly to one of the most talked-about print stories in recent fashion memory. I have the perfect outfit for the occasion, click here to see it.

For this exclusive partnership, the Majolica Gialla pattern envelops the two terraces of the hotel’s iconic Atrium Bar, the chicest meeting point on the entire coastline. Elaborately decorated cabanas and hand-painted vases complete the immersive tableau, turning every corner into a moment.

Beyond the visual takeover, the brand has opened an exclusive pop-up store directly within the hotel, offering a curated edit of ready-to-wear and accessories conceived specifically for this setting. Think effortless summer dressing with the unmistakable DG sensibility: bold, sun-kissed, and unapologetically luxurious.

For anyone fortunate enough to be on the Costa Smeralda this season, a stop at Cala di Volpe is more than a hotel visit. It is a full Dolce & Gabbana lifestyle experience, set against one of the Mediterranean’s most spectacular backdrops.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Cala di Volpe and © Sandra Bauknecht
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Ralph Lauren and the USPS Just Made Stamps Worth Collecting
For nearly six decades, Ralph Lauren has been synonymous with American style. Now he is leaving his mark on something even more quintessentially American: the postage stamp.

To celebrate the United States’ 250th anniversary, the U.S. Postal Service invited the designer, and 2025 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, to curate «American Icons,» a 13-stamp commemorative pane. It is the first time in USPS history that a single individual has been handed the creative reins over an entire official stamp issuance, and the result feels exactly as considered and layered as you would expect from Lauren.

The pane draws from his personal archives and the visual touchstones that have shaped his career over the decades. Twelve stamps line the outer edges, each one a quiet portrait of American life: Jackie Robinson’s worn baseball glove, a Diné blanket woven by Naiomi Glasses, a pickup truck, the Empire State Building. At the centre sits a 13th stamp, larger and anchoring the entire composition, featuring Lauren’s own knit flag design framed in blue denim and marked simply «1776 to 2026.»

Separately, the USPS is also releasing a 2026 U.S. Flag Mail Use Stamp, its design pulled directly from the distinctive knit texture of Lauren’s iconic Flag Sweater.

A Ralph Lauren project without a wearable counterpart would be incomplete, and so a limited edition capsule collection launches globally on June 9, the day of the official dedication ceremony. The lineup brings back a reimagined American Flag Sweater alongside a classic Polo Shirt and a tailored Ball Cap, each piece rooted in the same heritage the stamps celebrate.

The stamps are available now for pre-order through USPS locations and online. The apparel drops June 9 at select Ralph Lauren stores and on ralphlauren.com.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Ralph Lauren #AmericanIconsStamps
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This week, I had the absolute pleasure of being invited to the Zimmermann boutique here in Zurich for an exclusive event celebrating their new collection and it was nothing short of magical.

The boutique was alive with beautiful cocktails, wonderful conversations, and enchanting musical performances that set the most perfect atmosphere. It was one of those rare evenings where everything just felt at ease, the people, the energy, the setting, and of course, the clothes.

(If you like my Zimmermann look, click here for the details).

Zimmermann needs little introduction for those who follow fashion. Founded in Sydney in 1991 by sisters Nicky and Simone Zimmermann, the Australian label has grown into one of the world’s most beloved luxury brands. Known for their dreamy femininity, intricate craftsmanship, and that signature blend of romance and ease, Zimmermann has a way of making every piece feel like it was made just for you. Their designs draw heavily on delicate prints, flowing silhouettes, lace detailing, and an almost poetic sense of movement, clothes that feel as beautiful to wear as they look.

I have to confess: Zimmermann is one of my absolute favourite brands. I own an embarrassing number of their pieces and I regret none of them (scroll down and you see most of my Zimmermann outfits). Every single item tells a story and has a place in my heart (and my wardrobe).

The new collection did not disappoint. Seeing it up close, feeling the fabrics, and discovering the details in person was a true treat. If you ever get the chance to visit the Zurich boutique, do not hesitate, it is a beautiful space worthy of the brand it represents.

TO SHOP THE NEW ZIMMERMANN COLLECTION ONLINE, CLICK HERE PLEASE.

Thank you, Zimmermann, for such a wonderful evening. Until next time.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht and @SelinaSeibel
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