Sandra‘s Closet

Yesterday I showed you the best dot tights for this season. They are a very good investment. This strong trend is staying for F/W 2011. Get ready to cover yourself in all manners of dots. On coats, dresses and on the legs, right on the spot and so hot!

Wolford (see photos below) offers great dot designs through all of their product groups for F/W 2011, from the Bonny dots tights to the Bonny stay-ups. Modern dots can also be found on lingerie in the muted colours of nude and black and in their ready-to-wear line.

Put on your best dots!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Wolford

This week, I flew to London to meet very talented designer Thakoon Panichgul. He was in town for a very intimate trunk show and presented his amazing F/W 2011 collection in the Net-à-porter offices to his very loyal long-standing English customers.

The Thai-born, Omaha-raised designer who is based today in New York has been an early forerunner of mismatched prints. For him, it is all about the silhouette, about a certain nonchalance, a modern and sporty way to interpret couture. He has a talent for intricate detail and loves to play with construction.

I had a really nice conversation with him. Thakoon is such a lovely guy. He told me that his passion for fashion started at a very early age because his mom and grandma were both seamstresses. He started his career first in production, then merchandising for J.Crew. Later on, he spent four years as a writer and editor for Harper’s Bazaar and took courses at Parsons School of Design. He also earned a business degree at Boston University. I would call this a very profound foundation to start a successful company which he did in September 2004. He has quickly become a shooting star to emerge from the New York fashion scene.

His fan base is huge. Hollywood celebrities like Jessica Biel or Drew Barrymore and  fashion A-listers like Sienna Miller belong to it. His probably biggest supporter is Michelle Obama. America’s First Lady is often seen in Thakoon’s designs.

Thakoon thanked Natalie Massanet for giving him a voice. He explained: „First I did five pieces and thought it was a collection. Net-à-porter bought all of them and has been so supportive since then.“

Natalie Massanet answered: „We are all about great products!“
The founder of the well-known online platform Net-à-porter was like me crazy for the gorgeous sleeveless blazer in yellow and black.

Thakoon’s collection for F/W 2011 reminded me of Marie Antoinette as an African tribal warrior.
The designer kept the juxtapositions going in all ways. A long-in-back ball skirt worn with a checked puffy coat was among my favourite looks. See below some of the best looks. The pieces were a little big on me as they were the sample sizes.

 

 

Please click here to shop Thakoon’s beautiful collection.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Christophe Lemaire’s first show for Hermès F/W 2011 was highly anticipated. After Gaultier’s fulminant finale for S/S 2011, the fashion world wasn’t sure if  Lemaire, who was at Lacoste before, would be able to deliver the goods. But he did! And he did it his way, which means craft and nomadism, two leitfmotifs for the French luxury house.

The monochromatic looks, all in white, were amazing. Lemaire played with the fabrics and cuts to create an interesting look that delivered fundamental ease. The details like obi belts, tassels and quilting were so pretty.

Lemaire used as sporting references falconery and archery. Two activities that are very exclusive and more arcane than the so obvious and often used equestrian approach. Lemaire loves melting womenswear with menswear. As spotted on many runways, the pieces were rather oversized. But I am not so sure if those briefcases will kick the Birkin bags from their throne.

Now being at Hermès which does luxury, Lemaire’s talent can evolve even further and it becomes more obvious.
Bienvenue chez Hermès, Monsieur Lemaire!

LoL, Sandra

 

Louis Vuitton’s F/W 2011 show had already the best invitation with a gorgeous tassel hanging from it. Marc Jacobs also touched the Parisian World War II-era like Miu Miu did but he added a fetish vibe which is said to be a metaphore for women’s obsession with bags. Talking about the power of a handbag which brand could be better than Louis Vuitton.

The show’s decor was absolutely amazing. Four elevators transported the models on stage. Porters for each opened the lift doors like in a luxury hotel.

The looks were all about peaked caps, sculpted jackets, jodhpur pants, tiny little briefs and below-the-knee pencil skirts.

Later on, French maids in plasticized lace and embellishments in the shape of masks and handcuffs started to exalt the imagination.

Kate Moss presented the last look waving a cigarette and looked smoking hot in both senses. If you are interested, you can watch the show by clicking here.

The must-have Louis Vuitton bag for F/W 2011 will be the reinterpreted 1958 top-handle Lockit bag. For the show, some versions had a diamond encrusted handcuff attached to it.
What can you say… such a Louis Vuitton handbag is for life.

Below you can see which celebrities were spotted at the show. I hope that you will like it.

LoL, Sandra

The Miu Miu F/W 2011 show took place at the Palais d’ Iéna in Paris, the seat of the Conseil Economique, Social et Environnemental (CESE). It was the first time that the Palace’s spaces, which were designed by the famous architect Auguste Perret, were used for a fashion show.

With its striking views of the Eiffel tower, the location was just perfect for a collection that transported the audience back to World War II-era Paris. But it wouldn’t be Miuccia Prada if she didn’t surprise us. The retro vibe was definitely there but absolutely modernized.

The bare legs of the models ended in super sharp glitter sandal booties. Mink was twisted around the hips and the clutch bags looked like gigantic coin purses. The silhouettes were no doubt `40s with bold-shouldered jackets and slim pencil skirts.
It was a very grown-up Miu Miu collection.

The show’s front row was filled with young celebrities. Actress Hailee Steinfeld, who is only 14, is said to be Miuccia’s new muse. All those young ladies looked fabulous in Miu Miu’s S/S 2011 collection. Please enjoy the photos before the show.

LoL, Sandra

The dramatic setting with vulcano-like smoke and scorched earth was just amazing for the Chanel F/W 2011 show.

Following Karl Lagerfeld’s statement „The world is a dark place“, the Cure’s famous hit „A Forest“ matched the new Chanel designs.

Lagerfeld’s creations seemed to be an approach to a much younger audience and all the It-girls were spotted front row from Poppy Delivgne to Lily Allen and Emma Roberts.

Floor-length edgy capes, distressed leggings, looking more like street fashion than anything else. The volumes were bigger and the all in all appearance reminded more like the survival of a natural catastrophe.
I adored Lagerfeld’s apocalyptic vision mixed with a little neo-medieval twist and you?

LoL, Sandra

What a lovely morning. The sky was blue and the sun was shining when I went to the to see the Stella McCartney F/W 2011 show in the Paris Opera house. The collection was like the weather, just amazing, probably one of her best presentations.

The first looks were sculptural pleated silhouettes in black and astro blue.

Stella defined a new silhouette with broader shoulders borrowed from the menswear. She is always strong when it comes to tailoring. For winter, it will be masculine and exggerated. Her knitwear pieces were all about texture. I loved the gold foil felted wool in bold volumes.

The show got better from piece to piece. Blue velvet was bonded with scuba stretch, introducing body contouring silhouettes. Those dresses are so sexy. 
Hand embroidered spots floated on transparent tulle. Separates were layered using different sizes of polka dots to graphic effect.

 

 

Accessories echoed the collection, from stiletto pumps with gold foiled soles to flat masculine loafers and clutches made of hand cut resin with rounded brass details for evening. So beautiful!

 

The Finale

 

Look whom and what I spotted after the show:

Stay tuned as I got some great streetstyle shots today in front of the opera!

LoL, Sandra

Yesterday, despite all the horrible incidents that happened to the famous French fashion house during the last seven days, the Dior F/W 2011 show took place inside the tent situated in the gardens of the Musée Rodin – just without its designer John Galliano who got fired after his anti-Semitic assaults.

But before the models appeared on the catwalk, Dior CEO Sidney Toledano made a speech onstage about the values that Christian Dior has represented for more than six decades. With no word he mentioned John Galliano by name.

In the end of the défilé, the seamstresses and craftsmen who had been working for Galliano over the past 14 years showed up on stage and the audience cheered and clapped.
Isn’t it on one side such a sad ending for such a talented designer as Galliano is and on the other hand so unbelievable that it took an heinous act like that to finally thank the people in the ateliers for their amazing work!

I have absolutely loved the collection, the rich colours, lush textures and the bohemian theme. Romantic and edgy, quintessential pillars of the Galliano woman. The buckled knee boots worn with a sweeping cashmere cloak, mmh, just love that! And our Swiss supermodel, Julia Sahner, looked so pretty in the long ruffled chiffon gown, blowing kisses.

It was completely wrong and despicable what Galliano did but let’s see if he will have a comeback one day. People forget and time changes everything. Did you know that Coco Chanel experienced an exile from the fashion world for nine years after having been denunciated as a Nazi collaboratrice? I detest Galliano for his behaviour but I absolutely love his talent.

LoL, Sandra

Mugler is back but not with the star designer himself. The brand that was formerly known as Thierry Mugler bowed yesterday in Paris. Nicola Formichetti’s first women’s collection for Mugler F/W 2011 included a famous runway debut: Lady Gaga walked in the very high platform heels much better than any other model. She was truly smoking in both ways, in the literal and the figurative senses.

The clothes were reminiscent of Thierry Mugler’s famous creations, exaggerated, peaked shoulders, alien-like silhouettes and very tight bodysuits. Thinking of the brand’s success in the eighties, it will be interesting to see how the comeback will be going. The biggest fan, Lady Gaga, bought the entire collection in every colour. Seems to be a bright future and if you are interested how Thierry Mugler, who calls himself now Manfred Mugler, looks today, click here.

LoL, Sandra

The last show I went to at London Fashion Week was Emilio de la Morena F/W 2011. As you know I am a very enthusiastic person, but this collection didn’t do so much for me… unfortunately.

De la Morena is not so much into trousers (the last ones he showed were in 2007). His specialty are party frocks and seperates, well-tailored and geometrically cut but somehow I wouldn’t feel like partying in them.

The only fun the collection had were the GORGEOUS shoes by Charlotte Olympia who I spotted front row next to her mother, iconic Brazilian ex-model Andrea Dellal, wearing the same red heels like the models on the runway.

See for yourselves and enjoy the photos of shoe designer Charlotte Olympia leaving the event.

I love her super-modern take on the old Hollywood glamour. Please stay tuned as mother and daughter have been promoting a very hot trend for S/S 2011 that I will tell you all about very soon.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht