Sandra‘s Closet

Sad news today: The founder of the famous Italian fashion house Missoni, Ottavio Missoni, died this morning at his home in Sumirago at the age of 92.
Born in 1921 in Ragusa on the Dalmatian coast, he had a natural gift as he was a very talented runner which gave him the nickname “son of Apollus.” At the age of 16, young Missoni made the Italian national team, and still today, he held the national 400-meter record for a 16-year-old.

After he had met his lifelong partner, Rosita Missoni, in 1948, the couple founded the company in the 1950s and their famous zigzag knits have been considered Italian sophistication in perfection for many decades since today. Among their fans have been celebrities such as Lauren Bacall, Marcello Mastroianni, Madonna and Diana Vreeland, the legendary Vogue editor.

Rosita and Ottavio have three children which have been all working in the family business. A blow to the family came earlier this year as Vittorio, the oldest son, who was in charge of the management of the company, was aboard a small airplane that went missing in Venezuela.

Rest in peace, Mr Missoni and thank you for the beautiful colourful knits. Your legend will live on…

LoL, Sandra

Photo: © Davide Maestri, © Jürgen Teller

In celebration of their tenth anniversary, Italian fashion brand Forte_Forte presented their luxurious highly limited edition capsule collection “10” at Vestibule in Zurich last week.

Forte_Forte  is designed by Paolo and his sister Giada Forte, who is the soul of the label and had come all the way from Italy for this special event (see photo above with me). It was a true pleasure to meet the lovely designer who is expecting her first child in July.

Giada, who studied knitwear design, is in charge of the creative part and her brother Paolo, who worked in the family knitwear company before, looks after the financial aspects.

Forte_Forte offers delicate, feminine pieces that are rich in special finishings and impress with lovely hand-made details, such as precious embroidered labels and small beautiful perfumed bags in which they are sold.

A very special and beautiful collection!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Forte_Forte, Vestibule and © Sandra Bauknecht

According to an announcement on the company’s official Facebook page, iconic fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer Rousseau died Sunday in Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of 81, surrounded by her family. “Lilly has been a true inspiration to us and we will miss her,” the statement said. “In the days and weeks ahead we will celebrate all that Lilly meant to us. Lilly was a true original who has brought together generations through her bright and happy mark on the world.”

It all started with a juice stand. When 21-year-old Lilly married Peter Pulitzer, they moved soon from NYC to Palm Beach where the newly married wife opened a juice stand next to her husband’s citrus groves. To hide the stains from the juice, she wore a sleeveless dress in colourful printed cotton.

Lilly Pulitzer – the clothing label was born. The “classic shift dress” shot to international fame and demand when Lilly’s old schoolmate Jacqueline Kennedy née Bouvier, now the First Lady, was photographed wearing a “Lilly” while on vacation. “Jackie wore one of my dresses – it was made from kitchen curtain material – and people went crazy. They took off like zingo. Everybody loved them, and I went into the dress business.” (From the book: Essentially Lilly, A Guide to Colorful Entertaining). And the rest is history.

Lilly Pulitzer is not as known in Europe than it is in the US. When I lived in Lake Forest, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, I spotted those colourful prints for the first time. I have to admit that I never really warmed up to them but somehow they always remind me of the great time I had living there and I have a great respect for the company the iconic fashion designer built up. I even mentioned it once in my column.

R.I.P. Lilly! My thoughts are with the Pulitzer Rousseau family.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Lilly Pulitzer

Three designers have recently caught my eye with their beautiful, outstanding collections and I am convinced that we will see much more of those rising fashion stars in the near future.
Be among the first ones to detect them.

MOSCOW – VIKA GAZINSKAYA

Moscow’s former stylist and fashion week favorite channels her distinctly avant-garde style into a namesake ready-to-wear line that is clean, modern, and sculptural. Think futuristic-inspired pencil skirts and bold ruffle sleeved blouses. Watch out for S/S 2013‘s sculptured dresses, flared skirts and elegantly-edgy meteorological motifs – all meticulously produced in the designer’s Moscow-based studio.

CLICK HERE TO SHOP VIKA GAZINSKAYA.

MADRID – DELPOZO

Elegant, enchanting and delicate – Delpozo’s beautiful designs are a celebration of all things feminine. Creative Director Joseph Font takes a couture-like approach with intricate hand-embroidery, pretty appliqués and fabulous floral prints.

CLICK HERE TO SHOP DELPOZO.

LONDON – MOTHER OF PEARL

Fashion and art stylishly collide in Maia Norman’s collections. Each season the designer collaborates with a well-known artist, and for spring she translates New York based Francesco Simeti’s wallpaper prints into peplum-detail tees and cropped pants with a signature sporty spin.

CLICK HERE TO SHOP MOTHER OF PEARL.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Via Le 21ème, Vogue Spain and Zimbio

Hell, yes! Diesel ignites yet another firestorm by appointing Nicola Formichetti, (Do you remember his first Mugler collection for F/W 2011 where Lady Gaga appeared on the runway?), to be the commander-in-chief of the brave army that will spread Diesel’s marching orders far and wide. Starting with F/W 2013, the multifaceted, volatile, OTT stylist, designer and social media star will become the new artistic director of the lifestyle brand.

“I finally met somebody as crazy as I am,” said Renzo Rosso, founder of Diesel. “Nicola shares my vision and I find it incredibly inspiring to work with him: two creative planets are colliding to generate fresh, mad, insane ideas. With his help, I want to break more rules and bring the real Diesel to a new generation.”

Nicola Formichetti will start his new role with the DIESELREBOOT project now. He plans to mobilize an emerging global creative community to collaborate with him. Check out www.dieselreboot.tumblr.com.

Nicola will also oversee all creative activities of the main line, including the areas of product, communications and interior design. He will bring his own interpretation to the brand’s way of living – unpredictable, original, fun – coordinating the existing Diesel Creative Team and his new fresh recruits from different fields.

Sounds pretty promising to me…

LoL, Sandra

Photo: Courtesy of Diesel

After my last outfit post, I have received so many questions about the tee I am wearing in it.
Brian Lichtenberg is a Los Angeles based designer who has taken the fashion industry by storm. By incorporating a cheeky sense of humour, he seeks inspiration from high end fashion labels such as Balmain, Gucci and Hermès. And strangely enough, no lawyer is in sight…

The brand’s signature “Homiés South Central” and “Féline Meow” versions are by far one of the hottest pieces out for this season. Be sure to get one today.

YOU CAN SHOP BRIAN LICHTENBERG ONLINE HERE.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Brian Lichtenberg

Congrats to my beloved British fashion designer Stella McCartney! She has been awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) by HM the Queen at Buckingham Palace yesterday for her services to the fashion industry. Besides her eponymous label that she had founded in 2001, she has been collaborating with Adidas on a sportswear line for many seasons. In 2012, she created the Olympic 2012 kit for Team Great Britain.

Wearing a bespoke, navy blue cinched skirt suit from her own collection and a vintage platinum hairpiece by Cartier, Stella looked gorgeous as she attended the ceremony at Buckingham Palace. Stella McCartney joins fellow designers Dame Vivienne Westwood and Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen, as well as Jimmy Choo founder Tamara Mellon in being awarded the Order of the British Empire. Well deserved!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Reuters, © PA

During Paris Fashion Week, the lovely Mary Katrantzou welcomed me at her showroom to explore her newest F/W 2013 up close.

For fall 2013, Mary Katrantzou surprised. Her designs have developed, trading her focus on bold prints and vibrant colors for strong silhouettes and new shapes, without loosing her identity. Monochromatic hues, embroideries that look like print giving this outstanding collection an effect that has been even more striking on me. Referencing Edward Steichen’s iconic imagery, the turn of the century’s photography, Mary created dream-like pieces.

My favourites? The eerie landscapes and ghost-like dresses, as innovative as the legendary photographs they are reminiscent of.

Mary Katrantzou with me

I was so proud when I found myself in a folder at the entrance of the showroom with “celebrities” wearing Mary Katrantzou. Thank you!

To the left: MISTY MARIA dress, to the right: REFLECTO coat

New clutches for F/W 2013

Me in SANFRAN dress and FREELAGO clutch

Me in DIJON PINK blouse dress with matching leggings

Wearing VERSICOLOR coat

I love the FAUWI dress

Sporting two-layered ORLYON dress

Mary’s jacquards are among her bestsellers. Here you see me in the new KARDIA dress.

Amazing REFLECTOR dress.

Like a ghost: Me in TIA MARIA dress.

If you like the designs as much as I do, then I have a great surprise for you:
YOU CAN PRE-ORDER THE BEAUTIFUL MARY KATRANTZOU F/W 2013 COLLECTION NOW!
TRUNKSHOW ENDS ON MARCH 16 AT 11 PM EDT.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Sometimes you have to be lucky… and in this case it was me. Coming pack from Los Angeles to repack for Paris Fashion Week, I had the chance to attend the opening party of the new Diesel Black Gold shop-in-shop at Jelmoli which is the biggest one in Europe. Especially for the night, Andreas Melbostad, Creative Director Womenswear, had flown in from New York. I was very honoured to be among the guests invited to an intimate dinner at Clouds afterwards where I got the chance to talk to the designer of Norwegian origin who had worked for the likes of Calvin Klein, Nina Ricci and Yves Saint Laurent before.

Andreas Melbostad with me

The new shop-in shop at Jelmoli

Dinner at Clouds

One day after I got back from Paris Fashion Week, just one week after the amazing dinner party, Diesel celebrated its recently opened shop on Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse.
And some famous guests came …

Two great parties in one week! Thank you, Diesel!

LoL, Sandra

For the outfit post, please click here.

Actor Adrien Brody with me

Joseph Fiennes, framed by his wife Maria Dolores Diéguez to the left and me to the right

Photos: © David Biedert, © Sandra Bauknecht and Courtesy of Diesel

Monday, I attended during Paris Fashion Week the Roger Vivier Cocktail to celebrate the launch of the book ‘Roger Vivier’, held at the boutique on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. The tome will be available from April 2nd in the Roger Vivier boutiques and in fine bookstores.

Among the guests was Inès de la Fressange (see photo with me above), a French model, aristocat, designer of fashion and perfumes, and former muse for Karl Lagerfeld (Inès walked in the Chanel S/S 2011 runway show at the age of 54.). She has a very cute section on the Roger Vivier homepage, called “Ines’ Little Diaries”. Personally speaking, she looked absolutely stunning and was very lovely to talk to.

Inès de la Fressange and Bruno Frisoni

Today, designer Bruno Frisoni is at the helm of Roger Vivier. He’s one of the most charming designers in fashion and his witty humor can be seen perfectly in the picture I took of him at the event. He knows well how to design shoes in which ladies feel elegant.

Roger Vivier himself (1907–1998) was a French fashion designer who specialized in shoes and became famous for his stiletto heel. He was called the “Fragonard of the shoe” and many critics compared his creations to Fabergé. He designed the footwear for Queen Elizabeth II that she wore to her coronation in 1953 and the famous “buckle” shoes, Catherine Deneuve sported in the iconic French movie “Belle de Jour”, together with Yves Saint Laurent clothing.

Blogger girls from left to right: Me, Elisa Nalin, Tamu McPherson and Eleonara Carisi.

When we left the event, every guest got this cute little iPhone cover.

YOU CAN SHOP A LARGE SELECTION OF ROGER VIVIER AT LUISAVIAROMA AND MYTHERESA.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht, Stills: Courtesy of Roger Vivier