When I was in Los Angeles for the TOM FORD Ford F/W 2015 show, I was invited to visit the brand’s presentation of the upcoming beauty launches at the Sunset Tower hotel. The moment I entered the suite, my eyes were immediately drawn to two clutch bags placed above the fireplace.

This amazing piece of art is finished with a lipstick holder at one side and comes with the ‘Vanilla Suede‘ shade from the brand’s beauty collection (you can use every TOM FORD lipstick shade of course). It’s lined in leather and has a zipped pocket, so you can keep your essentials neatly organized inside. The concealable snake chain strap offers an alternative way to wear this elegant Italian-made piece.

Those clutches are highly limited and only available at selected retailers. Therefore I am so happy that a few are now available online. Just click on the highlighted links below to be transferred directly to the store. Those bags will literally be on everyone’s lips!

LoL, Sandra

Gold glitter-finished Plexiglas® clutch

Silver glitter-finished Plexiglas® clutch

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht, Stills: Courtesy of Tom Ford

As the London men’s collections came to a close, a fashion show with a difference took place. The master of ceremonies, Mister Tom Ford himself, presented his Fall/Winter 2015 Menswear collection at Howick Place. Like a trouper on stage, he took the microphone to explain his new looks that were shown in groups of extremely handsome male models.

Ford mixed in an interesting way sportswear and suits, by adding sneakers to the formal looks. Houndstooth and leather, dufflecoats and psychedelic patterns, all elements reminiscent of the ’60s signed off the younger attitude of this F/W 2015 collection.

Being a gentleman of taste and class, he knows how to strike a pose. His designs are admired by both, men and women. His manners seem so British, the Texan boy is rarely seen. When he entered the room to start his show, he spotted me wearing one of his key looks of the season. With a big smile, before greeting everyone, he said: «Nice dress!». He is witty, he is funny and so handsome.

In the evening, the trendy, exclusive «Chiltern Firehouse» was the site of Tom Ford’s celebration for his latest men’s fragrance, NOIR EXTREME. A stylish crowd, among them Lily Allen, Alexa Chung, David Gandy, came to experience his new scent.

«With NOIR EXTREME, Tom Ford aims to capture that exact moment when a man reaches extreme new heights: his sophistication becomes magnetic, transfixing the world at large.»
Being known for decadent and opulent ingredients, this deep woody oriental scent offers a base of amber-drenched accords that give rise to citrus notes of mandarin oil and neroli, adding heat from spiced cardamom and nutmeg. At the heart of the fragrance is the tantalizing Indian Kulfi—an accord inspired by the ancient royal concoction prepared for 16th century Mughal Emperors. This milky creation, which traditionally consists of Himalayan snow combined with hints of pistachio, is delivered unexpectedly into the core along with floral notes of rose absolute, jasmine and orange flower. Elegant sandalwood and a melting vanilla ember, enigmatically sustaining the masculine fire finish off Tom Ford’s new fragrance creation.

Wearing many hats and managing them all with perfection, fashion designer, movie director, model or master of his own fragrance empire, he himself seems like the perfect «Noir Man» in an extreme version, contemplating his own American dream. The one we all would like to live…

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Tom Ford and © Sandra Bauknecht 

The Met Gala is an annual fundraising event for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art‘s Costume Institute in New York City and marks the grand opening of its annual fashion exhibit. Celebrating this year’s theme “China, Through The Looking Glass”, it seems to be one of the most challenging yet. See below who honored China’s heritage and its present culture on the red carpet best.

This year’s award to best dressed of the night goes to:

Rihanna wearing Chinese designer Guo Pei

The butt girls:

Jay Z and Beyoncé in Givenchy

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West in Roberto Cavalli

Donatella Versace and Jennifer Lopez, both in Atelier Versace.

Best Chinese inspirations:

Zendaya Coleman in Fausto Puglisi

Karolina Kurkova in Tommy Hilfiger

I am always looking forward to seeing Sarah Jessica Parker‘s outfit because she has never let us down in pulling off the best looks. And let’s just say the headpiece combined with her H&M dress is divine.

Georgia May Jagger in Gucci and Alessandro Michele

Chloë Sevigny in J.W. Anderson

Very sophisticated: Tom Ford and Rita Ora in his design.

Alexa Chung in Erdem

George Clooney and Amal Clooney in Maison Margiela

Not so inspired by the Chinese theme… but great to watch:

Jeremy Scott kissing Kate Perry‘s hand who is wearing Moschino.

Also Madonna wore Moschino.

Stella McCartney framed by Cara Delevingne, Sofia Richie, and Zhu Zhu, all dressed in her designs.

Alexander Wang kissed by Lady Gaga in Balenciaga

Miley Cyrus and Zoë Kravitz dressed in Alexander Wang.

Kendall Jenner in Calvin Klein Collection

Robert Pattinson and FKA twigs in Christopher Kane (definitely not my favorite gown of the night).

Supermodel Joan Smalls arrived at the Met Gala in a black tulle and purple silk one-sleeved Roberto Cavalli gown with cutouts and sheer paneling. Her date was the newly appointed designer of the Italian fashion house Peter Dundas. Isn’t this gown to die for?!

Anna Wintour in Chanel

LoL, Sandra

Photos via: Alessandro Garofalo / Indigitalimages.com, Moschino, Vogue and Style.com

As part of the 10th Zurich Film Festival (ZFF), Swiss luxury watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen invited me for the opening of the “Timeless Portofino” exhibition.

CEO Georges Kern was joined by Hollywood actress Cate Blanchett and renowned photographer Peter Lindbergh to present the amazing result of a photo shoot which involved a host of stars, such as Emily Blunt, Zhou Xun, Ewan McGregor, Christoph Waltz among others and was organized by IWC especially for the launch of its new Portofino Midsize collection. Before the exhibition set off around the world, IWC celebrated the world premiere with around 250 guests and invited them to a glamorous gala dinner (see yesterday’s post here). Enjoy my outfit post and the photos that I took from above upon the arrival of the famous guests as I was already inside the exhibition.

My look: Embroidered wrap-over mini-dress by Balmain, metallic and matte-leather pumps and Sac De Jour Nano leather shoulder bag, both by Saint Laurent, sunglasses by Tom Ford, statement necklace by Dior, «Mitza» ring by Dior Haute Joaillerie and Portofino midsize watch with diamonds by IWC Schaffhausen.

LoL, Sandra

Photos in collage: © Sandra Bauknecht and  Harold Cunningham/Getty Images for IWC
All other photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Last week, I flew back to Los Angeles for a week filled with amazing experiences, events and more. Friday night before the Oscars, there was no hotter ticket in town than the Tom Ford show and I was completely excited to attend. There was so much “show” around the actual show as Hollywood’s A-list came to join the designer for his first fashion runway presentation ever held on the West Coast. The catwalk was drenched in real white rose petals that also fell from the ceiling during the show.

“I’m showing to a room full of entertainers,” Ford said postshow. “I’d better give them some showmanship. I thought, It never snows in Los Angeles. Let’s make it snow rose petals.“

The clothes were different from his previous collections. More subtle and less obviously sexy, a very interesting vibe. I truly adored the looks reminiscent of the ’70s. Bohemian patchwork, denim, gorgeous fringes, gowns and lots of fur.

Enjoy all my photos of this amazing night, see who was there and which celeb wore the same dress like me.

LoL, Sandra

My fabulous London girlfriends from Net-à-Porter.

Scarlett Johansson wore the same python dress like me. Funny coincidence.

Nicole Ritchie

Amber Valetta and Nicole Ritchie

Gorgeous couple: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Jason Statham

Reese Witherspoon

Gwyneth Paltrow

Miley Cyrus

Jennifer Lopez

Rita Ora with me

Naomi Campbell

Brian Atwood

Amy Adams

Rachel Zoe with me

Julianne Moore

Robbie Williams

Jay Z with Beyoncé

Elton John with me

Anna Wintour with me

What a front row!

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht, Dimitrios Kambouris, Getty Images for Tom Ford, Michael Buckner, Getty Images for Tom Ford

The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were held last night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Rapper LL Cool J hosted the show for the fourth consecutive time. In all, 83 Grammy Awards were presented, one more than in 2014.

Sam Smith accepts the Best New Artist award from singer Taylor Swift onstage

Sam Smith was the big winner at the 2015 Grammys, taking home four awards for best new artist, best pop vocal album, record of the year and song of the year. In an upset, Beck took home album of the year for Morning Phase, beating out Beyonce’s Beyonce.

But what interests us most are the best dressed winners and of course the worst as well. Enjoy, from a dreamy Giambattista Valli frock on Rihanna to Taylor Swift’s sexy Elie Saab gown, most of the celebs hit all the right notes on the music industry’s biggest night.

Rihanna in Giambattista Valli Couture

Taylor Swift in Elie Saab

Beyoncé in Proenza Schouler

Nicki Menaj in Tom Ford

Rita Ora in Prada

Ariana Grande in Atelier Versace (one of my favorite looks)

Awkward moment: Miley Cyrus in Alexandre Vauthier grabs Katy Perry’s boob who wore Zuhair Murad

Weird boob situation: Lady Gaga in Brandon Maxwell

Kiss of the night: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian in Jean Paul Gaultier Couture

Also in love: Nicole Kidman in Thierry Mugler Pre-fall 2015 with her husband Keith Urban

Ageless beauty: Jane Fonda in Balmain Pre-fall 2015

Looking cute: Charli XCX in Moschino…

… but how cute is her doggy?!

And last but not least: Queen M Madonna in Givenchy Couture…

… who still knows the best how to seek attention in the right moment.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images, Valerie Macon/Getty Images, Reuters, Wireimages

This will be my new beauty addiction for February: this limited edition collection consists of 50 clutch sized lip colors named after the characters in Tom Ford’s life. Finally, I can fit my favorite lip color in the teeny-tiny little bags that we all will carry this summer. Here is the selection to choose from, another tough one.

NUDES TO BROWNS
Holden – Vanilla suede (existing shade)
Beau – Blush nude (existing shade)
Henry – Warm sable (existing shade)
Gustavo – highly pearlized rich mocha with purple pearl
Pavlos – intense cherry brown

SILVERS TO BLACKS
Casey – highly pearlized white
Orlando – highly pearlized pinky platinum
Peter – highly pearlized rose gold
Stavros – highly pearlized rich grey
Alasdhair – rich blackened orchid

METALLICS
Kyril – highly pearlized clean white silver
William – Pink dune (existing shade)
Sebastian – highly pearlized gold copper
Omar – highly pearlized intense rich bronzed copper
Blake – highly pearlized reddish copper

LIGHT PINKS TO MAUVE
Ian – highly pearlized metallic pink rose
Flynn – neutral pale pink
Addison – Pink dusk (existing shade)
James – Twist of fate (existing shade)
Richard – Negligee (existing shade)

POP PINKS TO ROSES
Alexander – light rose pink
Patrick – pasty muted coral
Michael – vibrant pinkish coral with small level of pearl
John – hot blue pink with heavy pearl
Giacomo – deep rose

FUCHSIAS TO MAGENTAS
Preston – bright pop blue pink
Justin – vibrant rich blue pink with blue pearl
Cooper – Pure pink (existing shade)
Jack – rich blue orchid
Francesco – intense blue magenta

CORALS TO ORANGES
Luca – highly pearlized pink/peach coral
Matthew – pasty coral yellow undertones
Adriano – True coral (existing shade)
Tomas – highly pearlized burnt metallic orange
Rafael – bright tangerine

REDS
Rory – clean yellow gold
Diego – more intense version of “Firecracker”
Alejandro – Slander (existing shade)
Luciano – Deep blue cherry red
Leonardo – Smoke red (existing shade)

VIOLETS TO ORCHIDS
Olivier – highly pearlized soft lavender pink
Julian – light pearlized pasty white lilac
Pablo – bright magenta
Xavier – Violet fatale (existing shade)
Liam – rich grape

PLUMS
Colin – Indian rose (existing shade)
Cary – Casablanca (existing shade)
Didier – Moroccan rouge (existing shade)
Guillermo – rich purple fig
Wes – intense blackened plum wine

I want all the boys for me… The limited edition collection will be available in Switzerland from February 23, 2015 at the Tom Ford counters Jelmoli Zurich and Globus Geneva.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Tom Ford

Ladies, I am sure you all have a Samantha in you or at least one in your group of girlfriends. If you are asking yourself about which Samantha I am talking, I am talking about the sex-obsessed blonde bombshell from the Sex and the City series who would have surely appreciated Tom Ford’s newest necklace launch.

The so-called “penis necklace” is now available for purchase on tomford.com. No need to be shocked. The fascinus is the divine embodiment of the phallus, and was a common motif in Roman art. As in nature, Tom Ford’s phallus jewelry comes in different sizes, from small, medium to large. In order not to get a wrong impression and to offend anyone, it is definitely no time to be frugal.

Tom Ford’s S/S 2003 ad campaign for Gucci became a controversial talking point…

The genius who gave us the Gucci G on pubic hair knows that sex sells. Just make sure that under the Christmas tree you don’t get it mixed up with grandma’s present once it’s wrapped.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Tom Ford and Gucci, via Vogue UK and Sex and the City

As always, I would like to keep you ahead of the game and put together the most important S/S 2015 runway trends! Scroll through my forecast to see what will stay and which styles will be on everyone’s shopping list next season.

S/S 2015 TREND 1
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER
Tom Ford – Saint Laurent – Louis Vuitton

Sequins and metallics are here to stay and will surely make you feel sexy under the disco ball next summer.

S/S 2015 TREND 2
PRIMA BALLERINA
Valentino – Giorgio Armani – Vionnet

Soft and pastel, the long tutu tulle skirts and dresses seen gracing the runways were inspired by ballerinas. A must for your next red carpet moment.

S/S 2015 TREND 3
LUXURIOUS HIPPY 
Chloé – Emilio Pucci – Etro

70s inspired looks seemed like a common theme throughout the fashion weeks. Long, light and flowing dresses or lace materials are the way to work the luxury bohemian trend. My favorite!

S/S 2015 TREND 4
JUMPSUITS 
Christian Dior – Céline – Sonia Rykiel

Fashion-forward utilitarian looks, the jumpsuit might not be the most comfortable piece of clothing but next summer definitely the the most up-to-date one.

S/S 2015 TREND 6
KIMONO GIRLS 
Gucci – Marni – Alexander McQueen

Ethnical prints and long silhouettes tied at the waist, the kimono was a huge source of inspiration for a number of fashion houses this season.

S/S 2015 TREND 7
KHAKI – THE HUE TO STAY 
Chanel – Marc Jacobs – Ralph Lauren

Call it haute safari gear for the wilds of the shopping streets. Khaki has become a fashion classic and is here to stay. It is up to you if you opt for for a safari-style or military-inspired look.

S/S 2015 TREND 8
DENIM – HEAD TO TOE 
Prada – Burberry Prorsum – Fendi

It is all about denim head to toe. Next season the beloved fabric is reinvented in in all sorts of blues and with eye-catching stitchings.

S/S 2015 TREND 9
POP ART
Peter Pilotto – Balmain – Junya Watanabe

Some of the world’s leading pop-artists, such as Roy Lichtenstein, Mondrian and Sonia Delaunay were the force behind a lot of collections. Circle motifs, bright colors and bold, intersecting stripes gave the runway an energetic vibe.

S/S 2015 TREND 10
POLKA DOTS
Marc by Marc Jacobs – Moschino – Dolce & Gabbana

A simple and extremely joyful print, the polka dot, hasn’t lost its impact over the last seasons.

S/S 2015 TREND 11
ANDROGYNOUS & ASYMMETRIC TAILORING
Anthony Vaccarello – Jean Paul Gaultier – Maison Martin Margiela

Conquering the male wardrobe, the designers used the codes of masculine suits, but added a touch of sexy. The trend reveals itself in the asymmetric cuts which are a must next summer.

S/S 2015 TREND 12
PATCHWORK BABYDOLLS
Rodarte – Stella McCartney – Mary Katrantzou

The babydoll makes its comeback in an array of fabrics and lace patterns. Patchwork is the key to success!

S/S 2015 TREND 13
BLACK MESH
Balenciaga – Akris – Proenza Schouler

Worn all-over or a as a single piece, mesh is next summer’s answer to sportswear. The sheer fabric works day and night and has been spotted all over the catwalks.

S/S 2015 TREND 13
BLACK AND WHITE
Narciso Rodriguez – Givenchy – Thakoon

Black and white – the probably most classic color combination. This season, designers set about experimenting with the codes of femininity through black and white suits and used this ultra-refined palette for maximum optical effects.

S/S 2015 TREND 14
MIX AND MATCH
Giambattista Valli – Fausto Puglisi – Prabal Gurung

Conceptual and experimental, the next season silhouettes take center stage with pieces in an array of different colors and all sorts of materials. The probably most modern trend of all.

S/S 2015 TREND 15
HEMLINES
Matthew Williamson – Versus Versace – Elie Saab

Business in the front, party in the back, the new hemlines play with length.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Via Style.com

Supermodel Cara Delevingne is undoubtedly taking over the world, just named one of the industry’s highest-paid models by Forbes. Her face can be seen in multiple ads, she has walked a gazillion of runway shows, Mulberry named a bag collection after her and the blonde beauty is one of the “Instagirls” on the cover of American Vogue’s famous September issue.

Her latest coup, as the face of Tom Ford Black Orchid fragrance, has landed her in a pool of orchids photographed by Mario Sorrenti. Aren’t her eyebrows just divine?!

LoL, Sandra

Vogue US Cover September 2014 shot by Mario Testino

Chanel F/W 2014 Ad Campaign photographed by Karl Lagerfeld