Sandra‘s Closet

Thursday night in New York City, Sofia Coppola, Andie MacDowell, Emma Roberts, Anna Sui, Tory Burch and Alexander Wang, among other guests, came out to celebrate the collaboration of the Lanvin for H&M collection and to enjoy show stopping designs by famed Lanvin artistic director, Alber Elbaz, at The Pierre hotel.
The haute couture creations, which were customized pieces from the Lanvin for H&M collection, made their way down the catwalk with the help of famed models Asia Chow, Pixie Geldof, Dree Hemnigway and Anna dello Russo.

The looks from the haute couture show along with five original sketches from Alber Elbaz went up for auction on www.lanvinforhm.com. All proceeds will be donated to UNICEF. The online auction will end on November 26th at midnight CET.
I especially adore the sketches.

Below you can see some photos from this amazing night (Photos: Courtesy of H&M).

LoL, Sandra

Sofia Coppola and Anna Sui

Elettra Wiedemann and Tory Burch

Emma Roberts

Patrick Demarchelier and Andie MacDowell

Anna dello Russo

I would like to dedicate this week to outstanding talented designers around the world who have impressed me with their work.
As the annual Munich Beer Festival, the famous Oktoberfest, is taking place at the moment, I would like to start with Lola Paltinger who creates the most beautiful dirndl couture– the embodiment of urbane German traditional costume, so-called “Tracht”.

Lola graduated like me from ESMOD. After her studies she trained with Vivienne Westwood before launching her own atelier.

Her style is eccentric and very feminine, inspired by the Hollywood glamour of the 1930s/40s. Her playful romanticism with that touch of drama is what makes her creations so special. As for me her dirndls are by far the most gorgeous ones on the market, elevating the traditional costume to a trendy must-have.

Her label Lollipop & Alpenrock stands for her famous couture dirndls, classy two-pieces and separates. The beautiful range of Bavarian accessories complete the collection.
For enquiries concerning the bespoke pieces, please contact the Munich atelier directly.

Under the name Happy Heidi, Lola Paltinger presents her prêt-à-porter range of very fashionable models in limited editions. Aprons, charivaris and matching blouses are also available from selective retailers both within Germany and abroad.

For my German, Swiss and Austrian readers: Himmelblau by Lola Paltinger is her casual line with Tracht elements that is sold exclusively to HSE24, the home shopping televison network.

She even has some famous fans who were spotted wearing her Bavarian pop couture, among them Selma Hayek and Paris Hilton.

One thing is for sure: Women of all ages, figures and types look great in a dirndl!
And with that famous “dash of Lola”, that coquettish wink, you will be snowed under with gingerbread hearts saying I love you!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Lola Paltinger

When I was in London recently, I visited the new headquarters of net-à-porter which are absolutely stunning.

The best part was my exclusive preview of Alexander McQueen’s exquisite F/W 2010 collection.
The late Bristish designer’s final work is a piece of art, to be taken literally and owning such a statement collector’s piece is like owning a piece of fashion history.

Have a look at my favourites and see how much work and dedication the genius put in his creations. Which one would be your cultural heritage fashionwise?

Look 2

Incrusted harness dress with bulletted duchesse skirt. The printed jacquard was inspired by 3 paintings from Heironymous Bosch entitled “Earthly paradise”, “Garden of Earthly delights”, and “Musical Hell”. The harness has an all over metal sequin embroidery inspired by Byzantine Mosaics.

Retail price £12,420.00

Look 3

Duchesse dress draped with minimal use of seams and darts to form two exaggerated pockets on the side. The embroidery is a metal based embroidery inspired by the 17th century Dutch wood carver, Grinling Gibbons. The embroidery combines bullion, threadwork, metal sequins, metal flowers, metal beading.

Retail price £7,640.00

Look 5

This is the last dress that Lee McQueen draped on the mannequin. The print is inspired by the 15th century artist Stephan Lochner’s 3 church paintings of the Inunciation. Print is on silk duchesse placed following the drape of the dress. The underskirt is made of gold painted goose feathers. This dress has a bustier as part of it’s construction.

Retail price £7,165.00

Look 12

This dress is a combination of the angel wing print translated on Duchesse and chiffon. The print is inspired by the 15th Century Flemish church painter, Hugo van der Goes. The duchesse part of the dress is very sleek with a train creating a stiffness which is softened by the airy chiffon skirt that seems as if revealed. The embroidery is a silver and light gold bullion embroidery backed unto organza.

Retail price £7,165.00

Here are some photos of the beautiful display and me enjoying every detail of those divine creations.

LoL, Sandra

Being too coordinated with your outfit and make-up has not been on the so-hot-list for a long time. But with all those beautiful berry shades everywhere, it seems all natural to match your lips to your dress. Stick with timeless reds or rich, deep tones for your new style statement.
This winter, the lipstick makes its return and takes over the glossy look.

If you are a lipgloss person, I will recommend Yves Saint Laurent’s fall collection of 6 new Rouge Volupté Perle Lipsticks. This super-creamy texture with a little shimmer will be the perfect transition for you.

In case you are looking for the perfect lipstick, the best is to come this upcoming Friday, September 3rd: Christian Dior’s new collection Rouge Dior Haute Couleur created by Dior’s Creative Director for Make-up Tyen will hit the counters in Switzerland (in some countries already avalaible since last week).

There are 32 amazing shades that each has been inspired  and named after vintage Dior Haute Couture dresses and grouped conveniently into 3 colour families from Red to Coral, Pink to Lilac and finally Beige to Brown.

I was lucky to try them out before the official launch and the new formula is just divine. Two different sizes of Hyaluronic spheres plump and smooth the lips while leaving them perfectly hydrated.

Please enjoy those beautiful photos of the Christian Dior Haute Couture gowns and their matching lipsticks that left me absolutely speechless. To die for!

LoL, Sandra

786 Mauve Mystère / Mysterious Mauve

999 Rouge Ara / Ara Red

644 Rouge Blossom / Rouge Blossom

874 Prune Fantastique / Fantastic Plum

565 Rose Trafalgar / Trafalgar Pink

What a divine liaison: the “Collection Créateur” – an collaboration between Jean Paul Gaultier and La Perla.

Madonna 1990 in Gaultier

I could not think of a better designer to join forces with the Italian house. Gaultier has lingerie in his blood being the godfather of the very pointed conical bra cups that became famous due to his creations for Madonna`s 1990 Blond Ambition Tour. He loves to use underwear as outerwear.

During the ongoing haute couture shows in Paris yesterday, two special limited edition garments were already presented at Gaultier`s show: a backstitch satin bra with a shoulder-strap motif and glove-holding strings plus a suspender belt, demonstrating the stylish union between haute couture and lingerie. Dita van Teese walked down the aisle as the finale, what a match!

The 27 creations of the capsule collection will go on sale in November 2010 at La Perla and Gaultier boutiques worldwide, and select department stores.
So pretty and soooo hot!

LoL, Sandra

At the 63rd Cannes Film Festival, another premiere took place. Gucci is breaking into the rarefied world of couture with the launch of Gucci Première. But the Florentine luxury goods house does not intend to show haute couture on the catwalk, the capsule collection that will be renewed twice yearly by Creative Director Frida Giannini is more a response to the rising demand for outstanding red-carpet outfits and will only be available on a limited basis to their top clients and celebs.

No wonder that sultry actress Salma Hayek debuted the new line at the opening night Wednesday as her husband François-Henri Pinault happens to be the chairman and CEO of Gucci`s parent company PPR. But she has been beyond question a good get for the Italian luxury house. She kicked off Cannes and Gucci Première at the Robin Hood premiere in a slinky burgundy one-shoulder dress. A real showstopper!

The next evening at the premiere of Wall Street: Money never sleeps, Salma Hayek wore another one-of-a-kind gown from Gucci`s new couture division – a result of beautiful craftsmanship. The designs are executed in Parisian ateliers, the traditional home of the couture.

And Salma was not alone this time, Kate Beckinsale looked like a fairytale princess in her antique-white dress with a silver embroidered belt and bow from the Gucci Première line. So radiant with a subtle sparkle, that one was my favourite.

As couture houses have been dying out in the last decades, Gucci`s modern approach might create a new dimension and lay the foundation for their raison d`être. Taking Gucci to Hollywood is definitely an interesting advertising concept as there will be a lot of press about their red-carpet wear in the future.

Giorgio Armani has lead the way and is probably the most successful with his couture gowns. Let`s see Gucci do that…

LoL, Sandra