Sandra‘s Closet

The trunk table clock is the latest addition to today’s objects of desire. The perfect combination
of the art of travel, close to Louis Vuitton’s heart, and watchmaking craftmanship. Rather than just an accessory, a timepiece showcased in its tailor-made trunk.

The table clock, made to the same high standards as a watch, reproduces the Tambour Moon Dual Time concave dial and makes the perfect gift for a watch-loving connoisseur.

Similarly, it features a double time-zone, essential for globetrotters, and a bright dial displaying coloured flags. These emblematic Louis Vuitton symbols call to mind the customised patterns of the trunks of bygone days. As for the 80 mm-diameter hemispheric steel case suspended in its trunk, it draws inspiration from 18th century navy chronometers – indispensable, high-precision tools for long-distance navigators, allowing them to calculate longitude. A counterweight makes this table clock automatically turn towards the person opening the trunk for the utmost visibility. Once extracted from its case, it will keep this orientation when placed on a table or desk.

The trunk, a travel icon since the House was founded in 1854, acts as a case. Covered in Monogram Eclipse canvas on the outside, the trunk’s interior is lined in microfibre, reproducing the flags on the dial and the Louis Vuitton signature. With its symbolic trunk, the Trunk Table Clock sits perfectly in tune with Louis Vuitton’s heritage and further celebrates the exceptional Art of Travel.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Louis Vuitton / ©Philippe Lacombe

I am moving houses at the moment. The only problem is that the new house is not ready yet and completely under construction. It is a fact, there is no way you can live there. Therefore I need to move in an interim solution and store some of my stuff. No fun, I can assure you that. However, I am not losing my smile and lend a hand with the refurbishing whenever I can. In style… of course.

My look: Intarsia knitted track jacket, and matching knitted track pants, both by Stella McCartney, ruffled boxy shirt in olive green by Miu Miu, heart monogram-print face mask by Dolce & Gabbana, Multi Pochette Accessories in monogram canvas and rubber LV Archlight sneaker, both by Louis Vuitton.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: David Biedert Photography
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She has surfed the waves, flown in a Monogram hot-air balloon and been transformed into a soft, cuddly toy. Now, Vivienne, the iconic Louis Vuitton mascot, makes her entry into the world of jewellery. Vivienne is unlike anyone else. Having blissfully become part of the Louis Vuitton family, this charming character, originally conceived as a decorative object, adapts to any situation and every whim. Risen to the ranks of an emblematic mascot, she exudes fun and vivacity through all the crafts of the House, while keeping her unique zest for life, cheekiness and offbeat personality.

Launched in 2019: Maison Vivienne, the cutest and most stylish doll house ever

For the first time, her adventures take her into the marvellous world of jewellery. Just as amusing and uninhibited as ever, her preciousness is elevated with every new pendant.
Through high artisanal craftmanship, new objects of desire are born by combining coloured jewels with a variety of precious materials. Drawing inspiration from the two Monogram flowers – respectively round and pointed –, Vivienne stands upright on her legs with her diamond eyes wide open, while her Louis Vuitton-engraved arms remain movable, free to nonchalantly swing from side to side.

Available in two sizes and in different styles, Vivienne adds a significant chapter to her story – her family has grown. Small pendants come in a choice of the three golds, or in a gold and diamond variation with red or black lacquer. While a bigger, medium version – available in the three golds or half-paved – can also be used as a brooch.

• Pendant Vivienne, small, yellow, pink and white gold, diamonds
• Pendant Vivienne, small, yellow, pink and white gold, black lacquer and diamonds
• Pendant Vivienne, small, yellow, pink and white gold, red lacquer and diamonds
• Pendant Vivienne, medium, yellow, pink and white gold, diamonds
• Pendant Vivienne, medium, yellow, pink and white gold, and diamond paved

I love those pendants, totally on my wish list!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Louis Vuitton

After last year’s first collection of six Capucines bags created by contemporary artists, Louis Vuitton unveiled a new edition of its Artycapucines project.

Beatriz Milhazes, Jean-Michel Othoniel, Josh Smith, Henry Taylor, Liu Wei and Zhao Zhao have all created beautifully imagined and stunningly worked versions of the iconic Capucines bag.

From the 30th October, each bag in the Artycapucines collection will be released in a limited edition of 200 in selected stores worldwide. Price per bag: CHF 7900.

Louis Vuitton Capucines by Beatriz Milhazes
Based upon a new work created by Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes for the Artycapucines project, Milhazes’ bag is a technical and artisanal achievement. 18 different types of leather are worked to the same thickness and then inlaid onto the bag’s lambskin base using innovative and novel marquetry techniques. To complete the kaleidoscopic variety of the different textures and aspects, the bag also has two areas of gold leaf and an inlaid, injected silicone gel peace sign. The LV logo uses enamel marquetry and gel to match the exact colours of the design over which it is placed.

Louis Vuitton Capucines by Jean-Michel Othoniel
Jean-Michel Othoniel’s Artycapucines is a graceful and joyous object. The bag’s main body is intricately hand-woven in raffia, while along the top edge of the bag is a hand-embroidered trim that uses a type of black satin silk more generally used in haute couture. The bag’s handle is made of large black resin beads that echo the French artist’s best-known large-scale works, such as his Le Kiosque des Noctambules Palais Royal Métro entrance in Paris. The bag is completed by a striking charm whose three resin beads act as an exclusive and portable Othoniel sculpture.

Louis Vuitton Capucines by Josh Smith
New York-based artist Josh Smith’s design is based upon one of his signature «name» paintings. To recreate the work, the bag’s cotton canvas exterior is first embroidered with white-coloured stitches to replicate brushstrokes, creating a sensation of depth. The fabric and stitches are then painstakingly printed, before the letters of Smith’s name are embroidered across the entire bag. The LV signature is in metal inlaid with wood, while the handle is made of pure pear wood. Its silk inner lining is printed with Palm #3, another of Smith’s striking and brightly coloured paintings.

Louis Vuitton Capucines by Henry Taylor
Henry Taylor’s Artycapucines brings together the Californian artist’s striking and expressive 2017 portrait A young master – a portrait of the late Noah Davis, the Black American artist and founder of LA’s Underground Museum – with the latest cutting-edge laser printing and traditional marquetry. Reproducing the painting on leather to replicate its original brushstrokes and varied textures required over 100 experiments to test different methods of 2D and 3D printing. The bag’s taupe Taurillon leather background was then used as a «blank canvas» into which this tactile portrait on leather was inserted using precise and demanding marquetry techniques. The result is a portrait that is also a remarkable sculptural bas-relief.

Louis Vuitton Capucines by Liu Wei
Beijing-based artist Liu Wei is renowned for provocative, unclassifiable work that jumps between media. His Artycapucines is based upon Microworld, a large-scale sculptural installation shown at the 2019 Venice Biennale. Variously sized aluminium petals from this sculpture are recreated for the bag using five different types of silver-coloured leather that are meticulously thermo-moulded and inserted directly into the bag’s exterior or attached using Louis Vuitton-engraved rivets. The bag’s handle is made in black Plexiglas, which brings a retro-futuristic touch, and is held in place by rings covered in metal spheres, each individually attached and with a different finish to match those in the original artwork.

Louis Vuitton Capucines by Zhao Zhao
Chinese artist Zhao Zhao’s Artycapucines is based on his 2018 sculpture, In Extremis No.3. For his bag, the artwork’s metal components are transformed into 353 individual laser-cut patches made of 5 different types of leather, which are either hand-embroidered, machine-embroidered, printed – with seven different patterns – or worked into relief. They are then assembled and meticulously sewn together into a single panel that follows the precise design layout that Zhao created. The resulting pattern covers the entire surface of the finished bag to create the impression that the original work has been moulded to fit precisely around the Capucines.

Aren’t they all very special! I love when fashion meets art…

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Louis Vuitton 

Happy Monday to all of you! Being in quarantine made me realize once more to be grateful for every day when you wake up healthy, for every moment you can spend with someone you love. In challenging times it’s more than important to focus on positive things, work on your goals and dreams. Take time for yourself to think! Become your own muse, your own motivation, and your source of inspiration. You don’t need anyone else, just yourself. This will also help you to gain confidence and most importantly self-love which will make you shine from the inside.

My look: Monogram long sleeve fitted shirt, and Onthego MM tote, both by Louis Vuitton, pleated grosgrain-trimmed striped cotton-seersucker midi skirt by Thom Browne, leather exaggerated-sole sneakers by Alexander McQueen, pink hair clip by Gucci, Loulou heart-shaped sunglasses by Saint Laurent, 4810 hoop earrings in pink gold with diamonds by Montblanc, Panthère de Cartier Manchette 22mm 18-karat rose gold and diamond watch and love bracelets, all by Cartier.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
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Breaking news from LVMH this morning, Kim Jones will join Fendi as artistic director for womenswear collections. In his first substantive foray into womenswear, he will oversee haute couture, ready-to-wear and fur. The designer will continue in his role as artistic director at Dior Homme, another LVHM-owned Maison.

I loved Kim’s first Dior Homme campaign for S/S 2019: shot by the legendary Steven Meisel, models were posing in relaxed tailoring. 

Previously, Jones worked as menswear director at Louis Vuitton, before he moved to Dior’s menswear in 2018 where he invigorated the House by mixing sports and streetwear references with skillful luxury tailoring. Jones even reinterpreted some of the iconic pieces like the Bar Suit for men. Born in 1973 in Hammersmith, London, he is a graduate of Central St Martins College of Art and Design. He was raised in Kenya, where his father worked as a hydrogeologist. Throughout his childhood, he also traveled through Ecuador, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Botswana, and brought this wanderlust into his adult life. He claims to have visited Japan «around 70 or 80 times.»

Celebrity friend: David Beckham wore a Dior Homme suit designed by Kim Jones for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding.

Jones knows the industry from all angles. As well a being a designer, he’s worked as a stylist and art director for Dazed & Confused, Arena Homme+, Pop, AnOther, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, 10 Men, V Man, i-D, Numéro Homme, and Fantastic Man.

While streetwear’s and activewear’s presence in the luxury fashion sphere might seem normal these days (especially during the recent pandemic), it hasn’t always been the case. However, Kim Jones was one of the first designers to preempt the merge.

Karl Lagerfeld with Silvia Venturini Fendi

With the death of Karl Lagerfeld last year, Fendi lost its designer of more than 54 years. This was the longest time ever, a designer had reigned at a fashion house. Silvia Venturini Fendi, who had stepped into Lagerfeld’s role in the interim, will return to focusing on accessories and menswear collections, Fendi’s statement said.

Punk meets couture: Dior Homme’s ad campaign for F/W 2019

«Kim Jones has continuously proven his ability to adapt to the codes and heritage of the LVMH houses while revisiting them with great modernity and audacity,» said Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of LVMH, the luxury conglomerate that owns both brands.

According to Fendi, Jones will present his first ready-to-wear collection for the label in the F/W 2021 during Milan Fashion Week in February, that will hopefully take place.
Are you ready for the next level of FENDIMANIA?

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Fendi / Dior

Yesterday was probably one of the most emotional days in my life. My daughter went off to college, flying to the US by herself as I was not allowed to accompany her due to the current pandemic. This truly breaks my heart. Not only letting her go is pretty tough on me, but not being there for her to settle in is even harder. However, I know that she will be fine, she grew into an amazing and independent woman and I am proud of her.

We took those photos this week, when she caught me thinking on my balcony. Not only I am loosing my daughter at home, but also my photographer. That is also pretty tough for me!

My look: Dioraura cashmere sweater, and medium Bobby bag in latte, both by Dior, ribbed modal and cotton-blend jersey tank by Saint Laurent, chain-embellished macramé and leather pumps, both by Bottega Veneta, chain-trimmed mid-rise skinny jeans by Gucci, Monogram denim shawl in blue yellow fluo and Nanogram whistle pendant, both by Louis Vuitton, and Royal Oak 37mm 18-karat frosted rose gold watch by Audemars Piguet.

Empty nest syndrome? I prefer to think of it as Martin Luther King Day… «Free at last!» Life is just in front of me, that is the beauty of having been a young mum!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
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Louis Vuitton’s men’s ad campaign for F/W 2020 was shot by my favorite photographer on earth, Tim Walker. I adore his surrealistic approach to photography, transforming every photo in a piece of art. Below you can read about the inspiration behind the campaign and the collection imagined by the Maison’s Men’s Artistic Director Virgil Abloh.

Black Imagination: The transformative process of rethinking and overturning the inherited and often unconscious expectations tied to Black identities through history, and creating an encouraging Black consciousness for the present and the future.

The utopian idea of «Heaven on Earth» creates the framework for the Louis Vuitton F/W 2020 Men’s campaign. Photographed by Tim Walker, the images widen the collection’s surrealist lens through the metaphorical language of clouds. Applying his ongoing premise of Boyhood – seeing the world through the unspoiled eyes of a child, Virgil Abloh employs clouds as a symbol of freedom, unity and peace. Evading constraint, territory and possession, they are dreamlike bodies floating across a sky observed universally across borders and beliefs.

The title of the F/W 2020 collection, «Heaven on Earth» is an image of the core values embodied by Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton: a dream world that transcends prejudice as an objective to inspire inclusivity and unity-in-diversity through his work. It is underpinned by the overarching philosophy of Black Imagination and the continual imbuement of Black representation
within fashion, luxury and beyond. Shot in London, the campaign lends its platform to young creative talent from across the arts, featuring the likes of British actor Michael Ward and Ghanaian model Ottawa Kwami as part of its cast.

The collection studies the anthropology of the suit and the reprogramming of traditional dress codes. Virgil Abloh investigates the lifelong relationship formed by adolescent and young men with shirting and suiting in a material and figurative exercise in freedom, presented within the familiar constrictions of tailoring. The firm symbol of convention, trade and success, the tapered silhouette departs its corporate comfort zone. Twisted and turned, the dress codes of an old world are neutralised, re-appropriated and embraced for a progressive joie de vivre.

Isn’t it so impressive to explore how much work, inspiration and thought went into one picture.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Louis Vuitton
DISCLOSURE: This post is NOT sponsored. I just adore the photos.

Bored during quarantine? Worry not as the LV playing cards with matching LV pouch Arsene, or the new Vivienne playing card set will keep you entertained. If cards are not your style, how about a backgammon set as perfect companions.

Playing games is an extraordinary method to bond with loved ones. In my family, it is a tradition that we play during the holidays for example. Personally speaking, I am not only enjoying the socializing aspect of this form of entertainment. Many games involve the memorizing aspect, and this can be helpful to keep your mind focused and also help in improving your concentration level. Furthermore, I can be very competitive, especially when it comes to Scrabble…

I hope you will enjoy today’s selection of luxurious editions of the most popular games:

Crocodile-effect leather backgammon set by Aerin
CHF 3540

Walnut and stainless steel domino set by Brunello Cucinelli
CHF 1110

Brass and stone Tic-Tac-Toe set by Blue Carreon

CHF 1160

Domino box by Louis Vuitton
€ 2160

Playing Cards and Pouch Arsène by Louis Vuitton
€360

Playing Cards and Pouch Vivienne by Louis Vuitton
$ 720

Enzo crocodile-embossed leather playing cards set by Aerin
CHF 365

Solitaire game by Louis Vuitton
€ 1310

Backgammon set by Brunello Cuccinelli
CHF 6045

Shagreen and beech wood Jenga set by Aerin
CHF 1235

Walnut tic-tac-toe set by Brunello Cucinelli
CHF 480

Gifting such as game is always a great idea as those sets look also great as decoration.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of the Brands
DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission.

From Louis Vuitton to Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello and Versace, here are some to die for sports accessories with a couture twist. They make the perfect gift for those fit-friends who are only obsessed with the best. The luxurious boxing gloves for example will turn your home into a workout studio that even the pros will be astonished by and with those marble dumbbells there are no more excuses not hitting the gym. And if you are still not convinced, imagine how your living room would become so instagrammable decorated with the CHANEL wakesurf board…

LoL, Sandra

Monogram dumbbells by Louis Vuitton
€ 1950

Marble dumbbells by Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello
€ 1295

Boxing gloves by Versace
€ 2445

Jump rope «Christopher» by Louis Vuitton
€ 480

Vintage skateboard by Hermès
CHF 6844

Tennis racket cover in Monogram canvas by Louis Vuitton
€ 1370

Beach rackets by Hermès
€ 640

Beach rackets by Louis Vuitton
€ 2390

Ping-pong set «James» by Louis Vuitton
€ 1630

Golf kit «Andrew» by Louis Vuitton
€ 625

Volleyball by Louis Vuitton
€ 1950

American football by Berluti
€ 1500

Skimboard by Louis Vuitton
€ 1410

Black wakesurf board by CHANEL
CHF 7500

Photos: Courtesy of the Brands, Neiman Marcus
DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission.