When Louis Vuitton launched its first collaboration with Marc Newson over 10 years ago, he was already the most celebrated industrial designer of his generation. His portfolio spanned virtually every field, from furniture to aircraft, and his futuristic aluminium chair, the Lockheed Lounge, had repeatedly commanded staggering sums at auction.

For Louis Vuitton, he created a limited-edition biomorphic rucksack in 2014 to celebrate the Monogram, and since 2016 has crafted an exclusive glass bottle for Louis Vuitton fragrances.

But another ambitious project, blending heritage and creativity, was quietly underway: to conceive a reliable and revolutionary suitcase that would be to 21st-century travellers what the trunk once was to Louis Vuitton’s contemporaries.

In 2016, the Horizon was launched. Reduced to its simplest form, the suitcase captures the boldness, sleek lines and innovative materials that define Marc Newson’s work, inspired by his own experiences as a seasoned traveller.

Over the past decade, the Horizon has established itself as an iconic Louis Vuitton piece. Available in canvas or leather, it can be personalised with colours and motifs from the House’s seasonal collections.

2026: The launch of Horizon Aluminum

To mark the 10th anniversary of this collaboration, Louis Vuitton is embarking on a new chapter with the Horizon Aluminum, the House’s first aluminum suitcase.

Renowned for its durability and boundless recyclability, aluminum perfectly embodies Louis Vuitton’s Art of Travel and Marc Newson’s creative vision. A signature material of the designer’s work, aluminium also echoes the House’s history, when, at the end of the 19th century, Louis Vuitton designed aluminum trunks for explorers. This fusion of heritage and innovation has produced a new generation of suitcases, crafted for the modern traveller.

Like so often in design, the simpler an object appears and the more fluid its aesthetic, the more complex its design tends to be. This is certainly true of the Horizon Aluminum, whose demanding specifications are rooted in durability and sleek lines. It was in the very qualities of aluminum and in Louis Vuitton’s heritage that Marc Newson found the solution.

The shell is created through a series of stamping and laser-cutting processes. This stamping process allows aluminum sheets to be shaped whilst retaining the rounded curves that form the signature features of the Horizon suitcase.

The final stage of the stamping process involves creating embossed patterns in the aluminum to reinforce the case’s structural rigidity. One of the technical challenges lies in embossing the Monogram motif instead of the usual grooves typically found on this type of case. More than simply a signature feature, the Monogram thus becomes a key structural element.

True to his minimalist aesthetic, Marc Newson then set about making mechanical components such as rivets and hinges invisible, as these would detract from the Horizon’s clean lines.

A true technical feat, to preserve the purity of the design, traditional rivets have been replaced by an ultra-thin frame system attached to the shell. This concept of shells crafted from a single-piece, full-depth 3D mould, with no folding or riveting, is a first in luggage design.

Horizon Aluminum is the first rivet-free aluminum suitcase on the market

Traditional external hinges have been replaced by innovative concealed hinges. Similar to an elegant watch mechanism, this new type of hinge is now integrated into the interior of the suitcase without taking up any additional space. Built to travel in all conditions and withstand any challenge, the Horizon Aluminum offers exceptional resistance to impact, yet bears any dents and scratches as cherished souvenirs, acquired during its travel adventures.

Another hallmark of excellence is the optimised interior capacity, designed to accommodate essentials and personal belongings. The Trolley system is located on the outside of the case, and the interior lining is thermoformed to create a perfectly flat main compartment, providing unrivalled capacity compared to other products on the market. The main compartment features two retaining straps, whilst the zipped upper compartment also houses a zipped pocket.

The innovative extra-wide telescopic handle provides exceptional grip and outstanding ease of rolling. The enlarged wheels, crafted from a flexible material, absorb shocks and vibrations, ensuring a smooth and noise-free experience. The high handle and the leather-covered side handle make it easy to carry by hand.

A signature feature of Louis Vuitton, VVN or black leather, with its natural and refined feel, adorns the corners and handles. Security is at the heart of this design. In addition to its highly resistant shells and frame, the Horizon Aluminum is fitted with TSA-certified locks (Transportation Security Administration), facilitating suitcase checks during security inspections.

A protective cover with openings for the wheels, top handle and trolley protects the suitcase during storage while allowing discreet mobility. The ingenious leather luggage tag can double as a bag hook to secure any extra bag on top of the suitcase.

Accompanying the Horizon Aluminum, the Vanity Case features the same aesthetic and technical design cues: aluminium embossed with the Monogram, no rivets, an ultra-slim frame, concealed hinges, an ultra-slim TSA combination lock, and VVN or black leather trim.

Its versatile interior features a patch pocket on the base, two small patch pockets at the front, and a central divider with a zipped pocket. The central divider is fully removable via a press-stud system, creating a single, more spacious compartment. An elastic strap on the back of the Vanity Case allows it to be secured to the suitcase’s telescopic handle.

Care and Repair

Built to stand the test of time, Horizon Aluminum incorporates innovative technology that makes maintenance and repairs easier. The lining is simple to remove in-store, offering access to all components, including the wheels. Leather elements can be restored or replaced on request. This focus on Care and Repair forms part of a local approach enabling all repairs to be carried out in- store or at Louis Vuitton’s regional workshops, bringing the service closer to the client.

Designed to stand up to the demands of the modern traveller, Horizon Aluminum embodies the Louis Vuitton Art of Travel, capturing the essence of the House passed down from generation to generation.

A high-tech masterpiece, a travel companion of exceptional elegance, a suitcase that sets a new standard in high-end luggage. Through its innovative engineering, clean lines and exceptional durability, the Horizon Aluminum marks a new chapter in the Louis Vuitton travel experience.

For tips how to pack your suitcase perfectly, click here for a photo shoot with Louis Vuitton about «The Art of Packing.»

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Louis Vuitton
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise.

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 
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise.

Some backdrops are simply made for fashion. And L’oscar London, with its theatrical baroque interiors and that extraordinary butterfly wall, happens to be one of them. Before heading out to celebrate my dear friend Monica’s birthday, I took a moment in my hotel to capture this look, and honestly, the setting did half the work.

There is something deliciously dramatic about L’oscar London. The décor is bold, layered, and unapologetically opulent, the kind of place where every corner feels like a stage set. That butterfly wall in particular is pure magic, both whimsical and grand at once. The perfect mirror for a night that was about to unfold in equally spectacular fashion.

My Chicago girl chose The Berkeley for her London birthday celebration, and what a celebration it was. The kind of evening that reminds you why dressing up matters, why effort has its own reward, and why the best friendships are the ones that make you fly across cities without a second thought.

So yes, a social butterfly in every sense. Not the restless kind who flits from surface to surface, but the kind who transforms, who shows up, who makes the moment.

And the outfit? Very much part of the story.

My look: Rachel black jumpsuit by Nadine Merabi, Angel platform sandals by Gucci, VSLING mini top handle handbag in black with sparkling embroidery by Valentino, silver-tone crystal clip earrings and crystal-embellished snake necklace, both by Alessandra Rich.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht / @georgiashane
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise.

Christian Louboutin’s «Einsnail On The Feet»: The Surreal Salad Shoe of Fall 2026

Christian Louboutin’s Fall 2026 collection takes a wonderfully surreal turn with Einsnail On The Feet, one of the season’s most imaginative shoe designs. 

Lettuce-like leaves appear to bloom from the shoe, while a tiny snail becomes the witty finishing touch. On the pump version, the snail is detailed with hand-set strass, adding a precious, playful sparkle to the botanical theme.

There are three key versions: the Einsnail On The Feet Pump 100, crafted in multicolored Botanica printed crepe satin; the Einsnail On The Feet Mule 100, made in black patent calf leather; and a flat loafer version for men called Einsnail On The Feet Dandydeco, which translates the same whimsical garden-inspired concept into a more relaxed silhouette.

All feature Louboutin’s signature red sole and the distinctive lettuce-and-snail embellishment that defines the design.

What makes the model so compelling is the contrast between classic glamour and surreal humor – something I absolutely adore and that has always been part of Sandra’s Closet.

It is wearable fantasy that feels more like a collectible fashion object than a conventional shoe, exactly what I am obsessed with. For Fall 2026, the garden becomes a stage and the shoe its most unexpected star.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht / Christian Louboutin
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise.

There is something about a great hotel entrance that sets the tone for everything that follows. Leaving L’oscar London for a morning appointment, dressed in a look punctuated by dots in all sizes, that just add the right amount of decadent drama.

L’oscar, London’s intimate jewel on Southampton Row and part of the Swiss Michel Reybier Hotel Group, was a first for me. It will not be the last. More on this very soon.

My look: Bow-embellished polka-dot silk-shantung jacket, matching polka-dot silk head scarf, polka-dot grain de poudre flared pants, Crasher VLogo sequined leather sandals, VLogo chain necklace, matching VLogo chain bracelet, all by Valentino, Brixton stretch-jersey camisole by The Row, walnut clutch by JW Anderson, Linda sunglasses by Tom Ford, and Mitza ring by Dior Fine Jewellery.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht / @georgiashane
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise.

Hotel Cala di Volpe is wearing Dolce & Gabbana’s Majolica Gialla this summer. I have been wearing it longer. The sun chose yellow first. So did I.

My look: Majolica pleated printed cotton-poplin midi dress, Majolica leather and twill-trimmed raffia tote bag, and Keira printed leather platform sandals, all by Dolce & Gabbana, Bronte gold-plated earrings by Jennifer Behr, Mitza ring by Dior Fine Jewellery, and Tank Américaine in yellow gold with diamonds by Cartier, and Lisa square-frame metal sunglasses by Saint Laurent.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise.

Gone too soon.

Still processing this. Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, known to so many of us as @jerrygogosian, was found dead in her hotel room at the Rosewood São Paulo on May 31st. She was 40. The circumstances of her death remain under investigation.

She gave us sharp wit, irreverence, and an insider’s eye on an art world that too often takes itself far too seriously. Her memes circulated like gospel. She said what people only dared to think. And just days before she died, she encouraged us all to «let the rich woman inside fly.»

What many may not have noticed is that in recent months, she had quietly turned to painting, sharing 87 delicate watercolors on her personal Instagram. Mostly flowers. A softer, more private side of a woman the world knew for her sharp edges.

But her passing is a reminder of something we need to keep telling ourselves: we never truly know what someone is carrying behind the version of themselves they choose to show the world. The funniest, the sharpest, the most brilliant voices are not immune to darkness and struggle.

So check in on the people you love. Be a little kinder than necessary. You never know what today looks like for someone else.

Rest, Hilde. 🖤

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht and via @hildehelphenstein
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise.

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
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise.

If you have been following along, you already know that I am completely head over heels for Cartier‘s new coloured LOVE bracelets. The press team sent me a few more gorgeous images and I simply had to share them with you. They are just too beautiful to keep to myself. Enjoy!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Cartier
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise.

Starting this May, the first Balenciaga shoes crafted in collaboration with Manolo Blahnik, featured in the Fall 26 Collection, Body and Being, launch in select stores.

The essence of couture is evoked through excellence and expertise: working with specialist artisans in defined areas to achieve superlative quality and preeminence in a medium. This ideology both defines the identity of the House of Balenciaga and shapes Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli’s distinct approach to fashion.

Consequently, Balenciaga has chosen to partner with Manolo Blahnik, a revered master shoe designer with over five decades of experience, for a trio of styles.

«This collaboration came to life for very personal reasons. I simply like Manolo. That’s it. I know him personally and have admired him for a long time. To me, Manolo Blahnik is synonymous with elegance and as he’s Spanish, like Cristóbal Balenciaga – there’s a certain shared sensibility there,» stated Piccioli.

Balenciaga | Manolo Blahnik comprises a low-heeled mule and a slingback with either a 105mm or a 50mm heel. Décolleté silhouettes reveal skin – the body- a display linked intrinsically to the human form’s primacy in Piccioli’s Balenciaga.

In and of themselves a dialogue, the styles draw from archival Manolo Blahnik designs chosen by Piccioli, executed in silk-satin, and lined with leather in Balenciaga’s signature grey.

Asymmetrical crystal leaf ornaments are handembroidered to drape across a low-cut vamp, echoing Blahnik’s distinct flair for applying equal parts preciosity and grace, fusing jewelry with footwear. These elegant gestures simultaneously recall archival 1960s Balenciaga bijoux, underscoring a consistent kinship and aesthetic symbiosis between creators.

A campaign of still life photographs shows the shoes in situ: closeups demonstrating their fine craftsmanship among other precious objects of the wardrobe.

TO SHOP THE COLLECTION ONLINE, CLICK HERE PLEASE.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Balenciaga / Manolo Blahnik
DISCLOSURE: We may earn commission from links on this page, but I only recommend products I love. Promise.