Sandra‘s Closet

Spring is here and it feels so good. This week, I wore this colourful outfit to a business meeting.

My look: Fringed skirt by Matthew Williamson, silk top by Alexander McQueen, stingray sunglasses by Louis Vuitton, floral coat by Stella McCartney and Birkin bag bei Hermès.

Enjoy your weekend!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Still looking for a little Easter surprise. Here are some suggestions that are perfect for those who want to declare their love within a budget or feel good when helping others.

Dodo belongs to famous Italian jewelry brand Pomellato and is definitely their sweetest collection. The dodo pendants are a happy company of animals who speak the language of feelings and emotions. Each dodo reveals a little bit of who we are and what we want to say, sending a wonderful personal message to our loved ones.

Those who look like innocent little lambs and those who pass for big bad wolves often make a perfect couple. Why not giving such a sweet little Easter lamb instead of eating it?!

Charms lamb and wolf  starting at € 115 each, earrings starting at € 364 each pair.

Gucci introduces a limited edition charity bracelet to support earthquake relief efforts in Japan.  All proceeds from sales of the bracelet will benefit the Japanese Red Cross Society to support victims of the devastating Higashi Nihon Dai-Shinsai earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March.

Featuring a white-red-white web that recalls the colors of the Japanese flag, the bracelet carries a medal with a message that reads, “Gucci loves you.” The limited edition bracelet will be available from April 23, for CHF 120. Who doesn’t want to be loved by Gucci?

Vanessa Tugendhaft has also created two bracelets to salute and support the stricken nation: Bracelet Nobless – a diamond for Japan, something to remember.

The Nobless bracelet is available in two forms at affordable prices for larger mobilisation.
– a white unbreakable thread with a central motif without diamond in rhodium silver and red enamel : CHF 69
(CHF 13 will be donated to the Red Cross)
– a white unbreakable thread with a diamond trimmed central motif in rhodium silver and red enamel : CHF 129
(CHF 26 will be donated to the Red Cross).

Available through Kids and the City, phone +41 79 768 37 23.

Enjoy your Easter weekend and Happy Spring to everyone, it is really here!

LoL, Sandra

Happy Good Friday to all my lovely readers! Here are some news for my Swiss readers: The May edition of the SI Style is available now with my third fashion column.

Cities like London and Paris are fascinating places during fashion weeks. This time, I am giving some insights what is going on behind the scene. Enjoy page 58!

LoL, Sandra

Tommy Hilfiger launches the fifth limited edition bag in aid of Breast Health International with Renée Zellweger. The famous 41-year-old Oscar-winning actress serves as the ambassador and showed her support for finding a cure for breast cancer. She was photographed for the campaign by Alexi Lubomirski.

“Because of the experiences of close friends and family members who have had to endure and battle the challenges of breast cancer, I am a passionate supporter of breast health education and charitable causes,” Renée said in a statement. “I am honored and grateful to be partnering with Tommy Hilfiger to raise awareness and funds to support the invaluable work of Breast Health International.”

The limited-edition bag will be sold in Tommy Hilfiger flagship stores, on tommy.com as well as through specialty stores as of May 01, 2011. This year it is made from tan suede and features a subtle gold details. It retails at €299 (CHF499 / $320); for every bag sold Tommy Hilfiger will donate €100 to the Fund For Living – an ongoing global campaign initiated by Breast Health International to support those diagnosed with breast cancer

Former ambassadors of the program include: Italian actresses, Claudia Gerini and Cristiana Capotondi; France’s first lady Carla Bruni and international supermodel-turned-acclaimed-photographer Helena Christensen. Ms. Christensen returned the following year as part of the creative team to photograph fellow supermodel Milla Jovovich for the fourth edition of Tommy Hilfiger’s limited edition BHI bag.

Definitely worth supporting! Thank you, Tommy!

LoL, Sandra

Thank you to all of you who were sending me such sweet e-mails regarding my outfit that I wore to the Chanel show in Paris last month (see photo in the middle below). Some of you were curious about the colourful fur stole, so let me tell you more about it.

The fashion world has declared Prada’s hot accessory from the S/S 2011 runway show as the must-have item. Just look at who’s already been spotted with it.

First on the scene with the stole was no other than ueber-stylish editorilista herself, Anna Dello Russo.

Marc Jacobs wore it casually draped around his neck to party with Kanye West while Mary-Kate Olsen was trying to hide from the paparazzi with it. It has appeared in many editorials and Rihanna sported the stole in her latest music video for her single “S&M”.

It comes in an array of vibrant colours and is perfect to work this season’s colour block trend.

As it is mostly sold out worldwide, I have some exciting news for you. There are three pieces left in Switzerland. For further enquiries and the colour combinations available, please contact this number: +41 43 2110943.

Below you can enjoy some close-up shots of my “baby”. Aren’t those colours divine?!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Estée Lauder launches the ultimate loose powder: Re-Nutriv Intensive Smoothing Powder. The texture is smooth, silky and luxurious. The remarkable technology contains ingredients that help prevent skin from losing moisture while it minimizes imperfections.

I am using the powder at the moment and the complexion looks radiant for hours and very natural. It doesn’t settle in fine lines throughout the day and feels very light on the skin. Especially when you are getting older or when you are having dry skin, powder can be tricky. The Estée Lauder Intensive Re-Nutriv Smoothing Powder is never heavy, chalky or drying.

I love this product and know you will too if you try it. The powder comes with a luxurious puff and a golden powder brush, in four different shades: light, light medium, medium and transparent.

It is already available in the US for $50 and will hit the beauty counters in Switzerland (the only European country!!!) this month, CHF 96. So ladies, there are now four reasons to come to Switzerland: Chocolat, cheese, watches and Estée Lauder’s powder.

LoL, Sandra

 

Last weekend, famous supermodel Natasha Poly, who is ranked N°2 on Models.com, got a head start on all the bridal madness when she tied the knot with Dutch businessman Peter Bakker. The beautiful Russian got married in an intimate three day ceremony at Hotel Byblos in St.Tropez.

Riccardo Tisci, Creative Director of Givenchy, had the honour of dressing the bride for her big day and Leona Lewis gave a private concert for the 200 guests. I especially loved the lace sleeves and Natasha’s romantic hair style with white flowers accentuating her blonde waves.

Lara Stone, who is by the way the N°1 ranked model on Models.com had also worn a custom Givenchy bride dress last year at her wedding. And we will never forget how gorgeous Audrey Hepburn looked in Hubert de Givenchy’s bridal creation for the movie Funny Face in 1957…

LoL, Sandra

Charlotte Olympia Dellal – a Forties Fashionista

Meet Charlotte Olympia Dellal, the half-Brazilian, half-English designer behind the label Charlotte Olympia. Her designs are characterised by towering heels, bold colours, vivid animal prints and the glamour of the 1940s. The cordwainer graduate is looking like a classic noir femme fatale herself. With bright red lipstick and her hair laid in waves, she is an eye-catching image from that bygone era.

Born 1981 into a prominent family of London real-estate developers, Charlotte is the eldest of four children.  Her siblings are also often featured in the press.  Alice, her sister, is a style-setting model with a punk-rock image and Alex, her brother, owns an art gallery and dates Monégasque beauty Charlotte Casiraghi.

Charlotte Dellal has inherited the grace and beauty of her mother Andrea, a famous `70s Brazilian model. Last year, she not only got married to the father of her first son Ray, she also opened her first shop in London’s Mayfair.

Her designs were featured heavily on the catwalk at London Fashion Week and can be bought at well-known reatilers around the globe, like Bergdorf Goodman in New York and Selfridges in London among others.

In Zurich, her amazing creations are available at Lovers Lane. The newly opened corner at Salvatore Schito is a must for all shoe-lovers!

Charlotte, who was supposed to join the opening party, had to cancel because of her second pregnancy. Nevertheless, she gave me a lovely and long telephone interview. I truly enjoyed talking to her.

First of all, let me thank you for taking the time to talk to me and congrats on your pregnancy and the fabulous collection. I am truly in love with your creations. I read once that you were already in love with shoes when you were a kid and were playing with your mom’s shoes. Is that true?

I don’t think obesessively not more than any other girl liked playing with shoes, not obsessed. Playing dress up.

When has your passion for shoes started?  When have you realized that you have to make shoes, that you have such a talent for it?

I always loved shoes. I think most  girls love shoes. I decided to make them when I was at college doing my foundation course. Before Cordwainers , I went to London College of Fashion. I originally didn’t think I would be a shoe designer, I wanted to  do clothing. But during the course, I knew that I want to design shoes.

Will we see clothes one day?

I did some collaborations. I did dresses for S/S 2010 matching the shoes and gloves.  It depends on the collection. It works well for the head to toe look, quite pin-upy…
I sold them in my store, but now they are all gone.

Do you like it matchy-matchy?

It depends on the fabric and on the feel of the collection. It varies…

Are you working in the London store sometimes? Can your fans see you there?

I love being in my store but obviously the majority of my time, I have to work in my studio. Especially in the beginning, I loved being in my store.

Where do you design mostly? In your studio or at home?

Like most  designers, you can have your best ideas at a random place but otherwise I like being in my studio. It has got my materials, all my things, components etc..

I read once that you design with a television usually showing an old movie in the background? True?

In college I stayed up late, all night sometimes and I kind of liked working in silent noise. When deadlines came up, the television  in the background was kind of inspiring, that silent noise was not so distracting and it tend to be movies I had watched anyway a thousand times before. Today, my studio doesn’t have a TV but I listen to music.

You are obviously very inspired by the decade of the fourties. Not only the designs of your shoes, you even wear your hair in that glamourous wavy style, you like red lips, gloves and berets. Where does that love for that era come from?

I like that era, it got that nostalgic feel to it. The accessories were so much more fun and had a certain humour to them.  They were more a part of the outfit and the look.

When you look back to previous decades, like the fourties, fifties, thirties, they’d wear a fantastic hat, a funny little bag like the poodle bag for example. They had stockings to match their shoes. It was so much accessories-oriented, more fun. I love hats, I love shoes, I collect them. That’s why I like it so much.

Will we see other decades referenced in the future?

Definitely the fourties, it partures off to the fifties sometimes. A little bit of kitsch. But obviously not too kitschy. There is a thin line between.

But you work the retro vibe in a very modern way. How?

I try to get just the essence of it. The soul of it is maybe nostalgic. I don’t want to imitate. Things change, I think my shoes are classic with a modern silhouette with a feminine touch that probably only a woman can do.

This time, your F/W 2011 collection is based on the character of Arlena Stuart Marshall from the Agatha Christie mystery novel „Evil Under the Sun“. You even created a movie to present the collection. It is called „To die for“ and it is really to die for, full of 1940s and 50s glamour.

I love Agatha Christie movies. The director Jam was fantastic.  I came up with the concept but she did it. It was a lot of fun, almost like a little film noir.

Who would be your favourite character of that time? Do you have a muse? Which one is your favourite movie ?

I love Rita Hayworth and her movie Gild. I died my hair red because of her. Last time that you saw me in London it was still red but now I cannot die it anymore because of my pregnancy.

Speaking of time managment. You already have a little son, you got married last year, opened your first store, create all those amazing shoes. If you could advice other women, how do you balance all your different tasks?

I only have one kid at the moment and he is two, so that is easy. Obviously that is going to change soon. My studio is only 5 minutes away from my home. I try to go there at lunch time as I don’t like to be absent so much from his life. And I am my own boss which makes it much easier. For the first year, my son came to work with me the whole time. So I guess that helped a bit. But ask me again when I am having two…

Do you know already what you are going to have? Boy or girl?

I like surprises. I am always designing for the future. My feeling tells me that it is a boy again. To be honest, I would like to have one girl to wear my shoes. Wouldn’t it be an irony to only have boys?!

Your signature trademark on all your shoes is the spider web. Is it true that it associated with Charlotte’s web, the famous children’s book?

Yes. It is as simple as it is, it is related to the children’s book.

You got married in a stunning gown by Giambattista Valli. Why did you choose him and not an English designer for example?

We are friends. I used to intern for him when he was at Ungaro and afterwards when he started up his own business. I never did full internships because I was still in college but whenever I had a spare moment I would go to  Paris and work for Giambattista, whether it was for a month or two weeks. And during that time, he became my friend. It was always clear that he would do the dress for my wedding. I didn’t have to do anything. He knows me and I gave him a free rein.
Giambattista does amazing dresses, I just love his designs. And I wore my own shoes in leopard print.

If you were the stylist for Kate Middleston’s dress, which designer would you choose for her?

Concerning the footwear, probably not my own shoes. She is a cool girl, my shoes are too high, she wouldn’t wear platforms.
Regarding the gown, I am intrigued. The dress is not confirmed. It could be McQueen. It will be a definitely an English designer and if Sarah Burton (McQueen’s designer) gets her right, she could come up with a great creation for her.

Do you only wear your own designs? If not, who would be another designer you will wear shoes from?

No, I only wear my shoes.

How many pairs of shoes do you own?

Too many, it is a tough question as I also sample in my size. If there is a pair of shoes that I didn’t order for myself, I still got the sample and I have pieces that I didn’t produce in the end. So let me say, I have got a lot of shoes.

I interviewed Nicholas Kirkwood last year.  He went to Cordwainers like you. During our conversation, he said the following about you: “I love very much what Charlotte Olympia does. A wonderful girl, very beautiful. I think we sometimes have the same customer, it is a very close but friendly competition.”
Do you agree?

Lovely Nicholas! I fully agree. We have the same clients. But you cannot compare us so much, apart from the heel height. We do absolutely different things. It is a friendly competition. There are a lot of young and contemporary designers at the moment, there are so many fantastic shoes designers coming up. They always got their own signature which is important.

Do you have somebody in mind that you truly want to wear your shoes?

My grandmothers, especially the one from my father’s side, who recently passed away. I loved her very much, she was a big influence to me. Till the day she died, she dressed fabulous, had her hair fantastic. I kind of based my hair on her. She was an extremely chic and glamorous woman. There are less and less of those women who are bringing back that old-school glamour in a modern way. I’d like to reach out to my customer base and kind of have older women wearing my shoes.

You are born into a very prominent family. Everyone seems to be very independent and strong in what they are doing. How was your childhood?

My parents have always encouraged me to do what I wanted to do and encouraged me to work. My dad always asked me from the beginning, when I said that I wanted to do shoes, if it is a hobby or a business. 
From the moment I left college, I never interned with any other footwear designer. I always wanted to set up my own business and it is very much a business for me. It is not just about designing shoes. I wanted it to be a growing business, make it work worldwide. So I tend to be very business-minded as well.

What was the moment when your business has become really succesful?

I think when I decided to open my own store. It is always a risk, but it felt right. I cannot really explain it. I was starting to get more character. At the same time, I always tried to grow slowly but surely. As much as I loved to be in many more stores, I try to choose stores where I can grow organically. Make the production. The key is not to want or do anything too quickly.  I have established my esthetics which I think is extremely important and  to have a signature style that makes people recognize.

Do you want to open more shops?

Hopefully, probably next year another one.

If you had to escape to an island and were allowed to bring three things, which ones would that be?

I am definitely not taking shoes on an island. I am not taking any shoes for once in my life. I prefer the sand on my feet. I am going to stick with people. I collect too many things. My husband, my child and my dog.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading the interview. Here you can find some of my favourite Charlotte Olympia pieces for this summer.

LoL, Sandra

Thierry Mugler’s limited summer edition fragrances 2011 arrive on the market, providing us with a trio of extravaganza Angel Sunessence, Alien Sunessence and for men A*Men Pure Havane.
At a first glance, the whole concept promises and tempts with the outstanding designs of the flacons, just like the essences they conceal inside.

Angel Sunessence Ocean d’Argent for the Temptress

Fash Friday time, your chance to shop today’s obsessions. I am crazy for those Chloé leather shorts and the bodysuit. A perfect outfit for weekend nights, great for dancing and partying. The Chloé leather wristlet bag lets you go hands free at cocktail hour and those cage ankle boots by Alexander McQueen will definitely be the talk of the evening. Add a feodora hat for the ultimate mysterious allure.

LoL, Sandra