Sandra‘s Closet

Portrait Hotels: Where the Ferragamo Legacy Meets the Art of Personalised Living

Some hotel collections are built on amenities. The Portrait Hotels are built on something far rarer: the belief that true luxury is not a standard to be met, but a life to be lived.

The Ferragamo S/S 2023 fashion show was held in the open-air courtyard of the Portrait Milano

Born from the Lungarno Collection, the hospitality arm of the Ferragamo family, Portrait is the brand’s most refined expression yet. Three iconic addresses, three Italian cities, one guiding philosophy: that a hotel should feel less like a destination and more like a home you never knew you had.

At the heart of each Portrait property is a dedicated Lifestyle Team whose sole purpose is to dissolve the distance between guest and city. Personal recommendations, curated experiences, and an instinctive attentiveness to individual preference transform every stay into something entirely one’s own. As proud members of the Leading Hotels of the World, the Portrait addresses occupy some of the most storied corners of Rome, Florence, and Milan.

Portrait Roma unfolds across 14 magnificent suites on the Via Condotti, Rome’s most distinguished address, steps from the Spanish Steps and the eternal theatre of the Dolce Vita. The crown jewel, the Penthouse Trinità dei Monti, opens onto a private terrace with views of one of the world’s most iconic monuments. A rooftop lounge completes the picture: breakfast as the city stirs, cocktails as it glitters.

Portrait Firenze is a suite-only sanctuary poised above the Arno, a quiet remove from the energy of the Ponte Vecchio and the boutiques of the Via Tornabuoni. Florentine architect Michele Bönan designed interiors that feel at once personal and timeless, translating the city’s Renaissance sensibility into the language of contemporary elegance. Here, the hotel does not surround the city. The city surrounds the hotel.

Portrait Milano, the collection’s most ambitious chapter, opened in 2022 within a magnificently restored former archiepiscopal seminary on Corso Venezia. Architect Michele De Lucchi oversaw the building’s meticulous transformation, while Michele Bönan furnished 73 rooms and suites with his signature blend of warmth and precision. At the heart of the property, the Piazza del Quadrilatero, a sweeping open courtyard of over 2,800 square metres, creates a new promenade connecting two of the city’s most elegant streets. The property also houses Longevity, a pioneering urban spa that fuses biohacking technology with the holistic principles of Blue Zone philosophy, a first of its kind in a major European city.

Across all three addresses, the Portrait spirit remains constant: craft over convention, intimacy over grandeur, and the quiet confidence of a family that has always understood that the finest things in life are made, not manufactured.

I had the privilege of experiencing this world first-hand at an intimate dinner in Zurich, hosted at Ornellaia alongside Valeriano Antonioli, CEO of the Lungarno Collection. The evening was a culinary journey through Italy in miniature: sparkling Bollicine from Trentino to begin, followed by a menu that moved gracefully from Milan to Florence to Rome, mirroring the very cities where the Portrait houses reside. To sit next to the man who steers this remarkable collection, and to hear the story of the brand told with such passion and conviction, was a reminder that behind every great hotel is a great vision. I left the evening with a deep appreciation for what Portrait Hotels represents and a genuine excitement to experience the properties themselves.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Portrait Hotels and © Sandra Bauknecht
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Last Thursday felt like the perfect start to Art Weekend in Zurich. With Art Basel about to begin, the city was already buzzing with collectors, artists, curators, and friends arriving from all over the world. There was a special energy in the air, the kind that only comes once a year when the art world gathers in Switzerland.

With General Manager Mandarin Oriental Savoy Dominik G. Reiner and German Artist Paul Schrader

My evening started at the Mandarin Oriental Savoy Zurich, where I attended an intimate reception for German artist Paul Schrader, whose works are currently on display throughout the hotel. I was particularly impressed by how naturally his pieces fit into the elegant surroundings of the Savoy.

His work has a quiet confidence that immediately draws you in without demanding attention. Just as enjoyable as the exhibition was meeting Paul himself, warm, approachable, and refreshingly down-to-earth.

With Christoph Niemann at Tao’s

Later, I joined Galerie Gmurzynska for a dinner at Tao’s celebrating the opening of Christoph Niemann’s exhibition. Niemann is one of those rare artists whose work manages to be clever, playful, and sophisticated at the same time. His ability to transform everyday ideas into visual stories has earned him international recognition, and the exhibition is a wonderful reflection of that creativity.

What made the evening truly special, however, were the people. The conversations flowed effortlessly, old friendships were renewed, new connections were made, and there was a shared excitement for the week ahead.

Tao’s Zurich

A wonderful evening, a beautiful reminder of why Zurich becomes such a captivating place every June, and the perfect beginning to what promises to be an inspiring Art Basel week.

LoL, Sandra

With wonderful Galerist Isabelle Bscher of Galerie Gmurzynska

Friends for a long time: Marco Diemer 

Handbag designer Peter Nitz with whom I hosted an event for Patek Philippe a few years ago.

Photos: Courtesy of Mandarin Oriental Savoy and © 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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Yesterday in London was one of those days that remind me why I love this city so much.

TABAYER

Two invitations, both about jewelry, both in the hands of houses that understand beauty as something more than surface. First, lunch at Hide in Mayfair with Tabayer hosted by The Floorr.

With the loveliest hosts Lupe Puerta (The Floorr) and Nyree Tanielian

Founded in 2021 by Nigora Tokhtabayeva, it is one of the most quietly compelling jewelry brands to emerge in recent years. Each piece is rooted in the ancient symbolism of protection, reinterpreted through a modernist, sculptural lens and crafted in Italy using Fairmined certified gold and ethically sourced diamonds. The signature Oera collection draws on Inanna’s Knot, a Mesopotamian symbol of fertility and guardianship, distilled into forms that feel both elemental and entirely of the moment. Jewelry that carries weight, in the most beautiful sense of the word.

With my dear friend Lupe Puerta, founder of The Floorr.

With my dear friend Anouschka who flew in from Frankfurt for the occasion.

BVLGARI

Lupe and I on the steps of the Bvlgari store on New Bond Street.

Later in the evening, I headed to Bvlgari for a truly special night filled with champagne, whisky tasting, and inspiring conversations. The event celebrated the latest creations presented during Watches and Wonders, including the stunning new Bvlgari Octo Finissimo timepiece, which once again showcased the brand’s incredible innovation and elegance.

With Catherine Eberle-Devaux, Bvlgari Watch Communication Director, and Dr. Bill Lumsden, who heads up Glenmorangie’s innovations and has been with the company for more than 25 years. I had met him before at an event in Zurich and it was lovely to see him again.

But beyond the jewelry and watches, evenings like these are always about something even more meaningful to me,  reconnecting with friends in London, sharing conversations, exchanging ideas, and simply enjoying the atmosphere of being surrounded by beautiful things and inspiring people.

With lovely Akram from the Bvlgari London team. We have been knowing each other from Valentino.

It was one of those rare days that felt effortless from beginning to end, and I went to bed feeling genuinely grateful.

LoL, Sandra

With fashion designer Olga Vilshenko.

Beautiful Bvlgari handbags designed by Mary Katrantzou.

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
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A Return to Time: Notes from Watches and Wonders Geneva

There are few places where time feels as tangible as at Watches and Wonders Geneva. For one day, everything revolves around it, interpreted through craftsmanship, design, and an almost obsessive attention to detail.

This year, the fair revealed more than technical innovation. It signaled a shift in mood, subtle, but unmistakable.

Patek Philippe New Models 2026

BVLGARI celebrates old-school glamour with its newest Serpenti watches.

There is a clear return to old-school glamour and with it, a strong retro influence. Not nostalgia in its simplest form, but a deliberate reinterpretation of the past. Vintage codes are everywhere: softened silhouettes, intricate bracelets, and, most notably, the reappearance of the secret watch.

These pieces conceal their dials beneath decorative covers, blurring the line between jewelry and timekeeping. They are intimate, almost private objects, designed to be discovered rather than displayed. It is a language that echoes the elegance of earlier decades, yet feels entirely contemporary in its execution.

At the same time, craftsmanship is moving back to the center of the conversation. Not just as a technical necessity, but as a form of artistic expression. The level of detail, the patience, and the human touch behind these pieces feels more important than ever.

One example that stayed with me came from CHANEL. A chess set, already sold and therefore no longer on display in its final form, was presented through prototypes. Each figure was meticulously crafted, with the Gabrielle Chanel silhouette wearing a tweed jacket, entirely set with diamonds, that emphasized the effect of the material. It was less an object and more a demonstration of what true craftsmanship can achieve: intricate, precise, and deeply intentional.

Audemars Piguet Etablisseurs Galets

At the same time, a structural shift within the industry is becoming increasingly visible. The market is stretching apart.

Van Cleef & Arpels is expanding its Jour Nuit collection with a new timepiece in honor of the Moon. Within the Midnight case, the watch features two overlapping complications: the first one animates the Jour/Nuit display, while the second one illustrates the actual Moon phase. 

BVLGARI

On one end, brands are leaning heavily into haute horlogerie, producing exceptional, highly complicated, and often extremely limited pieces. These watches are not simply products; they are statements of craftsmanship, created for collectors who value rarity as much as technical mastery. Prices reflect this shift, reaching levels that position these timepieces firmly within the realm of art and investment.

Celebrating 100 years of the Rolex Oyster with this beautiful and affordable Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36 «Jubilee Edition».

On the other end, the more accessible segment remains present, but quieter, almost overshadowed by the spectacle of high-end innovation. The middle ground is thinning, and the contrast between the two extremes is becoming more pronounced.

A Testament to Métiers d’Art: Van Cleef & Arpels, with its latest Perlée Extraordinaire Fruits Enchantés collection, is capturing the ruby-red intensity of perfectly ripened raspberries.

Yet within this high-end focus, creativity is flourishing. Freed from the need to appeal to a broad audience, brands are allowing themselves to be more expressive, more daring, and more niche. Watchmaking, in this sense, is becoming increasingly cultural. These are no longer just instruments or even luxury goods, they are narratives, identities, and statements.

Collectors today are not simply buying watches; they are engaging with meaning.

Walking through the fair, it quickly becomes clear that the experience goes far beyond the watches themselves. Some booths are consistently extraordinary, fully immersive environments that tell their own story. Officine Panerai, known for its diving heritage, brought that world to life with a stand that felt like stepping into the depths.

Van Cleef & Arpels created something entirely different, a poetic garden, complete with a swing, where time seemed to slow down.

And Audemars Piguet offered a more introspective atmosphere, with a library-like setting that invited you to pause, reflect, and look closer.

I leaned into the spirit of the fair with a Moschino look, complete with a watch-shaped bag and a hat featuring a clock detail. A subtle nod to the theme of time, and one that, quite unexpectedly, drew a lot of attention throughout the day. I was frequently stopped, photographed, and even interviewed, an unusual but fitting part of the experience.

Yves Piaget with me (click here for a previous post from 2012).

Amidst all of this, it is often the quieter, more personal moments that stay the longest. Seeing Yves Piaget again was one of them. Having been for many years an ambassador for Piaget, it made the encounter feel all the more meaningful.

Relaunch of the Piaget cocktail ring collection, for which I hosted an private garden party in my house in 2013.

There was something genuinely special in being recognized, in that brief moment of familiarity within such a fast-moving environment. A small exchange, a shared memory, and somehow, it stays. I still have the Piaget rose.

Ulysse Nardin

And perhaps that is what defines the fair as much as the watches themselves. It is not just an industry event, it is a cultural moment, where craftsmanship meets storytelling, and where timepieces become part of a larger narrative.

I predict a huge success for the BVLGARI Octo Finissimo Watch in satin-polished 18 kt yellow gold case.

What remains after a full day is not simply a memory of products, but a clear impression:

The future of watchmaking may well lie in its past.

In craftsmanship over scale.
In rarity over ubiquity.
In intimacy over display.

And in the enduring desire to make time feel, once again, timeless.

Trying on Cartier‘s latest Bagnoire collection, that I am completely obsessed about.

Some of the most remarkable pieces deserve a closer look, and I’ll be returning to a few of them in more detail over the coming weeks.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
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When Time Meets McDreamy: A TAG Heuer Moment in Geneva

Surrounded by some of the most extraordinary watches in the world… and yet, meeting McDreamy might have been the real highlight.

At Watches & Wonders in Geneva, where every brand competes to redefine time through design and innovation, it’s easy to get lost in the details, movements, materials, complications.

But some moments cut through all of that.

Meeting Patrick Dempsey, forever McDreamy from Grey’s Anatomy, was exactly that kind of moment. Effortless, charismatic, and completely at ease, he represents the spirit of TAG Heuer in a way that feels natural rather than staged.

And fittingly, the brand itself delivered one of the most compelling statements of this year’s fair. In a year dedicated to the chronograph, TAG Heuer revisited its most iconic model: the Monaco.

The new Monaco Evergraph feels bold and forward-looking, built around a completely reimagined movement that replaces traditional components with flexible structures, pushing precision and performance into new territory. It’s technical, architectural, almost futuristic. Co-developed with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, it brings a distinctly experimental edge to contemporary watchmaking.

Operating at 5 Hz with a 70-hour power reserve and COSC certification, it reflects a clear focus on precision and long-term reliability. Co-developed with Vaucher Manufacture Fleurier, the movement adds a layer of serious watchmaking credibility to its experimental edge, while the open-worked architecture reinforces its technical character.

Alongside it, the Monaco Chronograph takes a more restrained approach. Rooted in the original 1969 design, it refines the icon with sharper lines and improved ergonomics, now housed in a 39mm Grade 5 titanium case that feels both modern and wearable. Inside, the in-house Calibre TH20-11 delivers an 80-hour power reserve and a bi-compax layout inspired by the historic Calibre 11, while signature elements like the left-side crown remain intact.

Together, they capture what TAG Heuer does best: balancing heritage with innovation, without ever losing its identity.

And maybe that’s what made the moment with Dempsey feel so aligned. In a space defined by exceptional watches, it was presence, not just precision, that made it memorable.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
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«Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art» – an exhibition that sets out to explore the rare moment when clothing transcends function and becomes pure expression – opened at the Victoria and Albert Museum with a quiet sense of occasion that felt entirely fitting.

The evening began, as such evenings should, with a sense of anticipation. London suspended between history and spectacle, the museum preparing to open its doors to a world that has always lived slightly beyond the real.

With my dear friend Pernilla Bennet of House of Bennet at the opening.

I had flown in for the occasion, drawn not only by the promise of the exhibition but by something more personal, a long-standing admiration for Elsa Schiaparelli and the singular universe she created. Dressing for the night felt less like choosing an outfit and more like stepping into a dialogue with her legacy.

I wore Schiaparelli, of course, an ensemble rich in detail, anchored by those unmistakable buttons that are never merely functional but small sculptures in their own right. There is something transformative about wearing Schiaparelli: you don’t simply dress, you participate.

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

With actress and singer Minnie Driver at the opening reception.

Almost as if the spirit of Elsa Schiaparelli was still quietly moving through the room.

With one of the UK’s first hijab-wearing models, Ikram Abdi Omar, both in Schiaparelli.

The Opening: A Living Surrealist Moment

The reception unfolded with a kind of cinematic elegance. Guests moved through the museum like characters in a dream Elsa herself might have approved of, where fashion, art, and personality dissolve into one another. It felt fitting, because Schiaparelli never believed in boundaries.

Elsa was not simply a designer; she was an instigator of ideas. She introduced shocking pink as a cultural statement, elevated the ordinary into the extraordinary, and treated garments as canvases for wit and subversion. Her fascination with the surreal, lobster dresses, skeleton gowns, tears rendered in silk, was never decorative. It was a way of seeing.

She brought so many extraordinary ideas into fashion. Her eye for surrealism, her collaborations with artists like Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau, her instinct for symbolism and illusion, and her fascination with remarkable details, especially her extraordinary buttons, helped redefine what couture could be.

On display is the Schiaparelli Harlequin Coat from the S/S 1939 Haute Couture collection entitled «Commedia dell’ Arte» inspired from Man Ray’s 1939 painting entitled «Les Beaux Temps».

Elsa did not merely create beauty; she created conversation. Her work had humor, elegance, and often an intentional sense of disturbance. That was part of her brilliance. She understood that fashion becomes unforgettable when it surprises the eye and unsettles expectation just enough to make people look again.

A Morning with the Past and Present

The following morning offered something rarer: stillness, and the privilege of understanding.

I was guided through the exhibition by Sonnet Stanfill, Senior Curator of Fashion at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), whose clarity and sensitivity brought the entire curation into focus. It was a deeply impressive experience and one that stayed with me on a very personal level.

One room is dedicated to Elsa Schiaparelli’s amazing jackets with incredible details.

What makes this exhibition remarkable is its rhythm. Rather than isolating history, it stages a conversation, one room dedicated to Elsa’s original creations, the next to the contemporary vision of Daniel Roseberry.

Daniel Roseberry’s dreamy designs.

This alternation is more than curatorial, it is philosophical. It allows you to see, almost viscerally, how a house survives time without becoming static.

Three rare pieces from Elsa Schiaparelli’s iconic 1938 Circus Collection.

From Elsa to Daniel Roseberry – a legacy reimagined, the inspiration found within the exhibition itself.

Elsa’s pieces remain astonishing: technically daring, intellectually mischievous, and deeply emotional. But what I just love as much is how seamlessly Roseberry’s work stands beside them. He has achieved something exceedingly rare. His designs do not imitate; they translate. The codes, bold symbolism, sculptural silhouettes, that slightly disquieting elegance, remain intact, yet they are sharpened for a contemporary eye.

Daniel Roseberry with me

For me, he is one of the most compelling designers working today. There is precision in his work, but also courage. He understands that Schiaparelli must provoke, not just please.

Walking through the exhibition, I felt something unexpectedly personal: a renewed conviction in the beauty of collecting fashion. To preserve, to curate, to believe that garments carry memory and meaning. And, quietly, the thought emerged, perhaps one day, my own collection Sandra’s Closet will live in a space like this.

Conversations at Annabel’s

From the museum, I hurried to Annabel’s, where another layer of the story unfolded in conversation.

On stage, Daniel Slater, Director of Exhibitions at the V&A, spoke alongside Francesco Pastore, Head of Heritage and Culture at Schiaparelli, about the making of the exhibition. What appears effortless to the visitor is, in truth, the result of years, seven, as it turns out, of discussion, negotiation, research, and patience. To gather these pieces, to shape them into a coherent narrative, required not only expertise but devotion.

Toward the end, Delphine Bellini, CEO of Schiaparelli, joined the discussion, and I found myself asking a question that had lingered with me: why choose Daniel Roseberry, at the time a relatively unknown name outside industry circles, despite his important work with Thom Browne?

Her answer was as precise as it was revealing. Roseberry had submitted a portfolio so extraordinary, so clear in its vision, that the decision became inevitable. What he offered was not just skill, but perspective: an ability to bridge heritage and modernity through what she described, beautifully, as a «quite disturbing view.»

It is exactly that tension, between beauty and unease, elegance and provocation, that defines Schiaparelli at its best.

Daniel Roseberry’s now-iconic look worn by Gigi Hadid in Cannes with its sculptural lung necklace born from an unexpected production accident, turned into one of Schiaparelli’s most striking modern signatures.

A House That Refuses to Sleep

What this exhibition ultimately makes clear is that Schiaparelli is not a house anchored in nostalgia. It is alive, restless, intelligent, and unwilling to settle.

Elsa once stood at the intersection of fashion and art, reshaping both. Today, under Daniel Roseberry, that spirit continues, not as imitation, but as evolution.

And as I left, still carrying the echo of the night before and the clarity of the morning after, one thought remained: some maisons dress the body, others shape identity. Schiaparelli does something rarer, it changes the way you see.

And that, perhaps, is the real triumph of «Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art»: it shows that the most powerful fashion does not simply dress the body. It leaves a mark on the mind.

Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art runs until 8 November 2026 at V&A South Kensington.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
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A Black Rose Moment: Inside Sisley Paris’ Elegant Zurich Launch

Some launches feel less like presentations and more like an atmosphere. The unveiling of the new Black Rose Concentrate by Sisley Paris was exactly that.

At the Mandarin Oriental Savoy in Zurich, everything echoed the essence of the Black Rose: deep, velvety tones, refined florals, and a setting that felt intimate yet impeccably composed.

At its center: the new Black Rose Concentrate – Radiant Youth Serum (Concentré Rose Noire). What defines it is not only its immediate radiance and plumping effect, but its ritual. The formula is activated before use, freshly blending its key ingredients. In that moment, it turns into a soft, luminous pink, an elegant indication of its freshness.

This activation preserves the potency of the formula, which remains at its peak for six months. Rooted in Sisley’s botanical expertise, the serum combines the iconic Black Rose complex with hydrating and smoothing actives, leaving the skin visibly softer, fresher, and more radiant. And like the entire line, it is delicately scented with the signature Black Rose fragrance, subtle, refined, and unmistakably luxurious.

At the heart of the formula is an advanced antioxidant and soothing complex designed to protect and prolong a youthful radiance. A new, exclusive molecular extract of Black Rose, rich in anthocyanins, helps to defend the skin against environmental stressors such as UV exposure, pollution, and daily stress. Combined with knotweed extract and vitamin B12, it works to soothe, strengthen, and maintain the skin’s natural balance.

Experiencing the full Black Rose routine again underscored its coherence:
The Black Rose Precious Face Oil comes first, preparing and nourishing the skin. The Black Rose Eye Contour Fluid follows with a cooling, subtly firming effect – ideal for tired eyes and light enough to layer. Finished with the Black Rose Skin Infusion Cream, the result is skin that feels hydrated, plumped, and quietly luminous- all enveloped in that elegant Black Rose scent.

What stayed with me, however, was the ease of the afternoon itself, thoughtful conversations, a beautifully curated lunch, and that rare sense of shared attention.

A launch that felt less like a debut, and more like a continuation of something already deeply refined.
Available now for CHF 236.00 (30ml).

LoL, Sandra

With my lovely colleagues Zoe and Elena.

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
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Fashion is obsessed with what’s new. But the most beautiful things in life usually reveal themselves only over time.

Last night in Munich, I was reminded of that. My friend was celebrating her 50th birthday in her beautiful home, one of those places that instantly tells you something about the person who lives there. Effortless elegance, thoughtful details, a certain calm confidence that cannot be staged.

I have known her for more than thirty years. That thought alone already carries its own kind of luxury. When she appeared to welcome her guests, she was wearing a silver dress made of tiny metallic plates. It shimmered softly as she moved through the rooms, catching the candlelight with every step. Sculptural, powerful, almost like armor, its metal discs manage to feel both strong and elegant at the same time.

And in that moment, it felt strangely perfect. Because the older we get, the more we understand that a little armor is not such a bad thing. Life inevitably leaves its marks, experiences, lessons, challenges. But some people carry those years with such grace that they become part of their style.

Fashion, of course, moves quickly. Every season introduces new silhouettes, new colors, new rules about what is suddenly essential. But real style has very little to do with speed. It reveals itself slowly. I have watched my friend move through decades of life, different chapters, different cities, countless conversations that stretched late into the night. Through all of it, one thing has always remained unmistakably hers: an extraordinary sense of taste.

Not the kind dictated by trends. The kind that comes from instinct. You see it in the way she dresses. You see it in the way she has created her home. And you see it in the life she has built around herself. There is something deeply luxurious about that kind of consistency.

In fashion we often talk about investment pieces, the coat you keep for twenty years, the bag that never loses its relevance, the dress that somehow always feels right no matter how trends change around it. Friendships can be like that too. They deepen with time. They gather stories and memories. And after decades they become something rare: a constant in a world that moves very quickly.

Standing there last night, watching the silver dress catch the candlelight as she laughed with friends who have been part of her life for half a lifetime, I had a quiet thought. In a culture that celebrates the new, the most luxurious things are often the ones that last. A beautifully tailored coat. A home filled with memories. And a friendship that has been part of your life for more than thirty years. Perhaps that is the most timeless style of all.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
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For S/S 2027, ZEGNA will present its fashion show in Los Angeles, stepping outside the traditional Milan Fashion Week calendar for a singular, time specific moment. The show will take place on June 5, alongside the arrival of VILLA ZEGNA, the brand’s invitation-only temporary private club, opening right after the show and remaining in Los Angeles for a few days. Made in full alignment with Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana , this choice underscores ZEGNA’s commitment to extending Italian savoir-faire into a global cultural stage, while preserving its strong and enduring bond with Milan.

The S/S 2027 show will be central to a carefully orchestrated sequence of experiences in Los Angeles, bringing together top clients, friends of the brand and international press. VILLA ZEGNA offers a curated environment where guests can experience the brand beyond the runway. Following previous editions in Shanghai, New York, Dubai, Miami and Milan, VILLA ZEGNA arrives in Los Angeles as part of an ongoing cultural journey, shaped each time by its context while remaining rooted in intimacy and human connection.

Los Angeles is chosen not as a fashion capital, but as a cultural one: a city where creativity has long been shaped through cinema, storytelling, and image-making. From Hollywood’s cinematic legacy to its enduring influence on global visual language, Los Angeles represents a place where narratives are crafted, a global destination for long journeys, where distance, time, and landscape invite a slower form of discovery.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht and Courtesy of Zegna
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