Sandra‘s Closet

For S/S 2023, the new Prada Moon bag revisits an iconic model of the 2000s in a modern, conceptual compendium of the brand’s distinctive features from its inestimable archive, bearing witness to Prada’s past, present, and future.

The Moon takes inspiration from multiple, apparently distant worlds, with a versatile yet coherent design that brings together the brand’s signature style, technical expertise honed over many decades and a one-hundred percent contemporary attitude.

Its personality is defined by the details: the large metal buckle in the center – a feature of the model since its first appearance in the S/S 2002 collection – takes on an emblematic character thanks to the enamelled metal triangle logo. Another of the brand’s favourite motifs, the grommet, borrowed from the sailing world, has a structural role, as well as providing a unique and idiosyncratic detail, presented in a metal version with a silver finish.

The unmistakeable nappa leather receives a fresh interpretation: a special treatment gives it a slightly padded appearance that accentuates its lightness.

With a curved silhouette and bold, decisive form, the Prada Moon is available in perfectly monochrome versions including blue, yellow, pink, and green.

It is enhanced by the handles, strap, and stylish removable keyring in matching colours. The compact and harmonious design makes it an eclectic essential – a new Prada classic. The Moon bag is now available at Prada stores worldwide and via prada.com.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Prada
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Birthdays at Gstaad Palace are birthdays well spent. My friends and family spoilt me to the fullest and I got surprised with many orange boxes. I have such a thing for zodiac signs and am a proud aquarius girl. Therefore I truly love the Zimmermann F/W 2022 collection dedicated to astrology.

My look: Celestial Zodiac embroidered mini dress, and embellished knee-high boots, both by Zimmermann, Lotus bead-embellished pleated leather tote by Ulla Johnson, earrings and pearl waist belt, both by CHANEL.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht / David Biedert Photography 
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What is the ultimate style? For me this means investment pieces that are timeless, classy and that you can keep for many seasons to come. In terms of brands, CHANEL is one of the Houses that offers great and seasonless investment opportunities.

My look: Sparkling knitted dress with silky underdress by CHANEL, Chiara crystal-embellished suede slingback pumps, and Palmette crystal-embellished suede cross-body bag, both by Christian Louboutin, and necklace by Alessandra Rich.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht – The photos were taken by myself at Gstaad Palace.
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Gucci announces Gucci Cosmos, a major new exhibition of the House’s most iconic and timeless designs from its 102-year history. A playful voyage that spirals backwards and forwards through the decades, Gucci Cosmos consists of eight immersive ‘worlds’ devised by renowned British artist Es Devlin to create a cutting-edge audio, visual, and kinetic experience.

Curated by Italian fashion theorist and critic Maria Luisa Frisa, Gucci Cosmos showcases era-defining pieces from the Gucci Archive in Florence. Encompassing work by founder Guccio Gucci and his creative successors, up to Tom Ford, Frida Giannini, and Alessandro Michele, the exhibition demonstrates how the visionary ethos at the heart of the House has continuously reflected and defined the times.

The Gucci archive space at Palazzo Settimanni in Florence, Italy.

Gucci plans to present Gucci Cosmos at West Bund Art Center in Shanghai from April 28 to June 25 before touring the world.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Gucci
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I am a queen because I know how to govern myself. Ladies, never forget, you are the queen of your own empire! Straighten your crown and make the world your oyster and that works best in a great outfit.

My look: Cropped embellished cotton-blend sweater, and cutout crystal-embellished distressed high-rise slim-leg jeans, both by Area, turquoise logo embossed medium Baguette bag by Fendi, loafers with logo buckle by CHANEL, «Les Mustangs II»double face scarf 90 by Hermès, and Aquanaut Luce in khaki green by Patek Philippe.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht – The photos were taken by myself at Gstaad Palace.
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Louis Vuitton announces Pharrell Williams as its new Men’s Creative Director, effective immediately. His first collection for Louis Vuitton will be revealed this June during the Men’s Fashion Week in Paris.

Pharrell Williams is a visionary whose creative universes expand from music, to art, and to fashion – establishing himself as a cultural, global icon over the past twenty years. The way in which he breaks boundaries across the various worlds he explores aligns with Louis Vuitton’s status as a Cultural Maison, reinforcing its values of innovation, pioneer spirit and entrepreneurship.

«I am glad to welcome Pharrell back home, after our collaborations in 2004 and 2008 for Louis Vuitton, as our new Men’s Creative Director. His creative vision beyond fashion will undoubtedly lead Louis Vuitton towards a new and very exciting chapter.»  declares Pietro Beccari, Louis Vuitton’s Chairman and CEO.

Billionaires Boys Club

Pharrell Williams is a visionary recording artist, producer, songwriter, philanthropist, fashion designer, and entrepreneur with 10B combined global music streams to date. He excels as a fashion designer and entrepreneur with his Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream apparel among other brands. In the fall of 2019, Williams teamed up with David Grutman and opened both Swan and Bar Bevy in Miami’s Design District, and The Goodtime Hotel in 2021. In 2020, Pharrell founded Humanrace™, a product company with a mission to empower all individuals in their pursuit of wellbeing across product and people.

LoL, Sandra

Pharrell Williams’ The Goodtime Hotel 

Photos: © Louis Vuitton / Erik Ian – Billionaires Boys Club – The Goodtime Hotel
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Jimmy Choo has unveiled a capsule collection in collaboration with Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon in celebration of the Japanese anime series 30th anniversary. The first Sailor Moon episode aired in 1991, followed by the adaptation Sailor Moon Crystal in 2014. Created by Naoko Takeuchi, the show has become a pop cultural phenomenon, stanned for its feminine magic, humor, and fashionable characters.

Sandra Choi, creative director of Jimmy Choo, has worked with Naoko Takeuchi, creator of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, on the collection that champions «bold individuality, zeitgeist-defining imagery and female empowerment». The Jimmy Choo x Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon collection aims to translate the anime series femininity and female power with a capsule range of footwear and accessories themed around the ‘Sailor Guardians’ characters, including Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus, their mentor cat Luna and Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon herself.

The capsule collection includes for example knee-high boots, ankle boots, patent pumps, lace-up leather combat boots, and high-heeled platform pumps as homages to the shoes worn by the characters. Moreover, Sailor Moon’s most memorable moments are immortalized as manga drawings on bags and sneakers. Highlight of the collaboration is a pair of limited-edition boots encrusted with roughly 19,000 Swarovski crystals. The fuchsia-colored silhouette is complete with a moon motif at the top in addition to a 10-centimeter-tall heel, maintaining the original look of Jimmy Choo’s classic shoes.

Celebrating the team-up and the 30th anniversary of Sailor Moon, Jimmy Choo is putting one pair of these boots on display exclusively at Tokyo‘s Mori Art Museum in Roppongi.

The Jimmy Choo x Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon collection will be exclusively available in Europe at Selfridges from February 14. The launch will coincide with a dedicated pop-up in the department store’s ground-floor accessories hall, featuring «playful installations with the ultimate photo opportunity for Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon superfans.»

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Jimmy Choo
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«You never fall in love with perfection. You can be attracted to someone gorgeous but that’s not what will make you ultimately fall in love with this person. You fall in love with his/her imperfections and what makes them unique to you.» Kilian Hennessy.

KILIAN PARIS crafts in Can’t stop loving You a true love declaration: a perfume celebrating love, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Created by founder Kilian Hennessy in collaboration with perfumer Alberto Morillas, Can’t stop loving You enters the Narcotics olfactive family with, at the centerpiece, North African Orange Blossom. A flower to express the emotion carried by the name of the fragrance, as it is the symbol of eternal love. Alongside with Paradisone, an ethereal jasmine compound suggests pure paradise.

Its heart is incredibly suave, featuring Honey absolute from Provence, a new ingredient in the KILIAN PARIS repertoire, for a delicious French touch. Vanilla absolute from Madagascar adds a doubly gourmand incitement to pleasure, while notes of Oak Moss bring an earthy intensity. Incense extract from Somalia lends sensuality, volume and endless mystery.

To increase the intensity of the desire, Can’t stop loving You is surrounded by one of Kilian Hennessy’s favorite ingredients, Labdanum cistus absolute. A strongly ambery, balsamic-like gum, hand harvested for more than 100 years in Andalusia, Southwest of Spain – a place dear to the founder, where he decided to settle down. Labdanum cistus protects itself from the sun and heat by producing a gum that envelops twings and leaves, a symbol of natural truth. Being also one of the most sensual raw material in perfumery, it brings warmth and an animalic dimension to the fragrance: «It is an ingredient that, worn on skin, has nothing comparable, it is sensuality in its purest state,» explains Kilian Hennessy.

This feature echo founder’s belief inspired by the divine Achilles’ shield, also engraved on the endlessly refillable perfume bottle, that a fragrance can be as much a weapon of seduction as a protective armor. Both luminous and somber, Can’t stop loving You is a narcotic floral fragrance that puts peace in danger.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © KILIAN PARIS and © Sandra Bauknecht / Flowers by Rosenbouquet.ch
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Rising in the East, intense sunlight infuses Sacred Wood and Rose Oud by KILIAN PARIS, two fragrance icons blended by Founder Kilian Hennessy and Perfumer Calice Becker almost ten years ago, are returning to the collection.

Sacred Wood is a homage to pure Sandalwood from Mysore, India—so rare it is now forbidden in perfumery, reserved for religious temples— while Rose Oud celebrates a firework of woods and spices around an incandescent Rose. Both creations also pay common tribute to their shared ingredient of Cedarwood, sourced from protected tree species in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, blended into a matrix of resinous notes like liquid gold. Exceptional woods like these take time to cultivate; mysterious and sanctified, they are an olfactive opening into a higher level of sensory pleasure.

Part of The Cellars olfactive family, Sacred Wood is a unisex portrait of Sandalwood, especially the most coveted variety from Mysore with its spicy, woodsy and milky facets that are simply incredible. Now prohibited, Kilian Hennessy recreates his olfactive ideal.

Sacred Wood opens with Ambrette Seed Absolute and Carrot Seed Essence for spicy and earthen elements, only to unfold into a multi-layered Sandalwood Accord with Cedarwood Oil Atlas sourced in Morocco and Amyris Oil from Dominican Republic. Copaiba Balsam Oil adds warmth with an animalic aspect of Apricot. A malted milky vapor rises like incense, for an exceptional and long-lasting sillage.

Part of The Narcotics olfactive family, Rose Oud depicts a burning blend of Roses.

Rose Oil from Bulgaria opens with a spark of Saffron and Cinnamon, while Rose Absolute spread luxuriously throughout, blending into a sweet Lychee accord. The fragrance unfolds a long-lasting dry-down based on Cedarwood Atlas Oil, that resonates with an Oud Accord built around woody and spicy Cypriol Oil from India, enriched by deep smoky notes of leather.

Two of the most coveted blends of KILIAN PARIS have made their come back. Sacred Wood and Rose Oud go higher—sourced below in the scent of wood, uplifted toward the light—both are windows into something beyond.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © KILIAN PARIS and © Sandra Bauknecht / Nadia Krawiecka
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Adventure time in my new cruelty-free fake fur coat that still captures the luxurious appeal of mink. Nadja Axarlis, founder of FAZ, produces her luxury pieces at a small Parisian atelier. I had a lot of fun taking these photos in the snow outside of the Gstaad Palace hotel.

By the way, the sweater features a travel destination that is on top of my bucket list, can you guess which one it is?

My look: The Cool belted faux fur coat by FAZ, Ines embroidered cashmere-jacquard sweater, and Diana suede leather tote, both by Gabriela Hearst, printed jersey track pants by Dolce & Gabbana, «Vicky» hat in black by Hermès, green rubber boots with logo (F/W 2022 Runway), earrings with red and turquoise stones (Métiers d’Art 2014 Paris – Dallas), and sunglasses, all by CHANEL.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht / David Biedert Photography 
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