Sandra‘s Closet

It was born on the catwalk of the 2015 Cruise show, the perfect accessory blending the Epi leather’s powerful heritage with the modernity of a graphic clasp which pivots the LV into a V, a reference to the trunk-maker’s initials and a twisting mechanism to which the bag owes its name. Since then, the Twist has become a timeless classic, following in the footsteps of the House’s iconic bags. And just like them, it is constantly being reinvented.

For Spring 2021, it sports intense, delicate or vibrant shades to match any personality. From rich black to tender pink, luminous turquoise to refined beige, the Twist raises the tone. It also returns with a variety of carry options. Featuring a fine chain or broad shoulder strap embroidered with Monogram flowers, or even a leather handle, it adds a swing to one’s style, whether worn crossbody, over the shoulder, under the arm or in one’s hand. Last but not least, it adopts subtle variations to become the Braided Twist, with its braiding adding an original edge.

This season, it expresses all its vitality in the company of actress Laura Harrier, who’s role in Spiderman: Homecoming in 2017 brought her attention. But it’s her Civil Rights activist’s role in Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman that gave her international recognition. The film won the Grand Prix in Cannes Film Festival in 2018 and as part of the ensemble, she was nominated for a Screen Guild Award in 2019.

She has recently starred in Ryan Murphy‘s mini-series Hollywood. Laura Harrier is a supporter of civil rights and advocates for issues such an intersectional feminism, transgender rights, gun control, gender equality and representation for both black people and people of colour in general.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Vuitton

From chess and backgammon travel cases, to poker and croquet trunks, the House’s made-to-order games collection has expanded and evolved over the years, continuing in Louis Vuitton’s grandson, Gaston-Louis Vuitton’s, love of sports and games. Now, Louis Vuitton presents new additions to the gaming collection with its pocket Billiards table and Babyfoot (French for table football) as the ideal gift for the cue-sports lovers among us.

Louis Vuitton Pocket Billiard in Monogram

Available in the iconic Monogram motif, designed in 1896 by Louis Vuitton’s son Georges Vuitton as a tribute to his father, the table also comes in the darker Monogram Eclipse or Damier Graphite, bringing a patterned touch to any interior. Versions in Epi leather with its undulated texture, present a splash of colour in cyan and fuchsia, with the added option of a bi-coloured navy and pistachio variation or caramel and white in smooth leather.

Louis Vuitton Pocket Billiards
1. Damier Graphite – 2. Cyan Epi leather – 3. Fuchsia Epi leather – 4. Bi-coloured Navy and Pistachio Epi leather – 5. Monogram Eclipse – 6. Caramel and White leather

Babyfoot by Louis Vuitton in Monogram

Created with identical craftsmanship to that of a Louis Vuitton trunk, House canvases or leathers sheath the Billiards table’s and Babyfoot’s wooden body. Emblematic Louis Vuitton savoir-faire perfects the table’s design with delicate leather corners in the brand’s naturally tanned cowhide leather – each edge meticulously dyed with numerous layers of hand-applied paint.
Hand-pressed metallic hardware finishes the tables, each stud engraved with the House’s signature.

Babyfoot by Louis Vuitton
1. Damier Graphite – 2. Caramel and White leather – 3. Monogram Eclipse – 4. Cyan – 5. Fuchsia – 6. Pistachio

The tables are completed by carefully packed, essential accessories including billiard balls painted with flowers from the Monogram pattern encircling the numbers. Two pairs of leather and Monogram two-piece cues slot snuggly into place while a hot-stamped leather triangle completes the kit.

The players of the Babyfoot, inspired by Louis Vuitton’s «Groom», the famed character from the House’s 1921 advertising images, are each hand-cast in aluminium and, as a true testament of Louis Vuitton’s savoir-faire and history of personalisation, each player is meticulously handpainted by expert artisans in team colours to compliment the custom canvas or leather table. Artisanal, jewel-like counting coins boast a striking hand-painted Monogram flower, making tallying record wins even more satisfying.

Love it!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton is breathing a new graphic rhythm into its men’s leather goods lines, LV Epi Initials and LV Epi Patchwork Graphite. Damier Graphite canvas and Epi leather are brought to life with touches of pop colour, combining the iconic House’s signatures with the LV Circle from F/W 2017.

Both collections place Epi leather in the spotlight. Launched in 1985, it features a distinctive grain and textured effect. Over the years, the first coloured leather to be introduced at Louis Vuitton has been dressed in a selection of strong, tangy, cool or deep colours. Here it is available in navy blue and black, punctuated with flashes of pop blue, acid green, and burgundy with a touch of Damier for the LV Epi Patchwork Graphite, or accompanied by the LV Circle signature for the LV Epi Initials line.

Available in four iconic Louis Vuitton shapes, the Danube, the Christopher backpack, the Bumbag and the Keepall, the shapes complement one another in a combination of highly generational styles and colours. The small leather goods reveal coloured linings, as does the trio of Damier Graphite canvas pouches that nest together like Russian dolls.

A perfect compromise between suppleness and structure, LV Epi Initials & Patchwork Graphite meet the needs of today’s city dwellers. These striking, casual collections will appeal to leather enthusiasts as well as cool, free-spirited personalities.

Available from May 31st 2019 in Louis Vuitton stores and on louisvuitton.com.
And needless to say, those pieces would also look good on us women!

LoL, Sandra

© Louis Vuitton
Photographer: Joseph Molines
Model: Leonard Mushiete @REBEL MANAGEMENT

Finally there is something that really gets me excited for football. LOUIS VUITTON celebrates the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ with three unique projects of which one has really caught my eye. Gosh, I would love this to be my new living room centerpiece…

The FIFA World CupTM Official Match Ball Collection Trunk is a remarkable
celebration of the shared savoir-faire of Louis Vuitton and adidas’s. The result of this collaboration is an instant collector’s item based on Louis Vuitton’s classic wardrobe trunk. Handmade in the workshops at Asnières, the new trunk is covered in Monogram canvas and has traditional brass corners and lock. Once opened, however, it reveals its surprising contents of 14 footballs: 13 specially made reeditions of all the Official adidas Match Balls used at the FIFA World Cup™ – from the original, iconic Telstar first made in 1970 to this year’s Official Match Ball – each displayed on a shelf made of beech wood and with descriptive tags in Louis Vuitton’s trademark natural cowhide leather.

An additional Louis Vuitton football made in natural cowhide leather will accompany the collection. Only the second football ever made by Louis Vuitton, the ball will also be available to purchase separately.

Since 2010, Louis Vuitton provides a travel case for one of the world’s most sought-after, legendary trophies of the world which will be unveiled when the FIFA World Cup™ Trophy is presented at the opening match and at the final of this year’s tournament. Thanks to intelligent openings at the top and the front of the case, the trophy can be easily accessed when it is presented before the final in Moscow on July 15th.

But this is not enough. Moreover Louis Vuitton launches for the first time a 2018 FIFA World Cup™ official licensed product collection – a new leather good collection inspired by the legendary official match ball of the 1970 FIFA World Cup™, the capsule will showcase unique versions of Keepall and Apollo bags, and a selection of small leather goods.

Made with the House’s iconic Epi leather first introduced in the 1920s, most of the styles will be proposed in 3 colour combinaisons. The hexagon design is created using a three-stage embossing procedure that is both innovative and based upon the House’s historic savoir-faire, allowing each coloured hexagon to have a richly textured feel, reminiscent of classic footballs.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Louis Vuitton

Last Wednesday, I was invited by Louis Vuitton in Zurich for a style night in collaboration with annabelle magazine to celebrate an iconic bag: the NOÉ.

The Zurich store last Wednesday

Everybody knows the Noé. In strictly chronological terms, it is the second oldest Louis Vuitton iconic daily bag, its birth date of 1932 placing it at the start of an exceptional decade that saw the creation of the Speedy, the Alma and the Keepall.

In spirit, however, Noé is as young as any bag around, still tinged with the carefree air of those newly liberated women who wore short skirts, shorter hair and carried it – just so – swinging from their shoulder.

At the event: Daniella Gurtner (Fashion Director annabelle) framed by Anna-Christina Raab to the right and me to the left wearing the new Noé BB in citron

The story of its creation? Well, that’s the stuff of legend. Looking for a stylish way to transport his valuable vintages, a champagne producer placed a special order with Gaston-Louis Vuitton. He designed a timelessly simple bucket shape, which could hold four bottles upright and a fifth upside down, secured with a supple leather drawstring. He called the bag Noé – in reference, it is said, to the biblical hero who, when he left the Ark after the Flood, planted vines on the mountains of Ararat.

The original Noé was crafted from natural leather, pale gold like the champagne it was destined to carry, and light as its exuberant ribbons of bubbles. Since then, Noé has appeared in many guises – most famously, of course, Louis Vuitton’s emblematic Monogram canvas, which by the 1960s could at last be made supple enough to do justice to the bag’s generous forms.

Petit Noé in indigo, fuchsia and piment

Today, Noé and its cousin Petit Noé can be found in a myriad incarnations, from Damier Azur to colourful Epi leather – each time different, yet still, somehow, the same.

Florence Amiguet (Store Manager Louis Vuitton Zurich) with a selection of the new Noé BB

So, everybody knows Noé. But now there is a new Noé: Noé BB. Irresistibly cute, unmistakeably contemporary, a diminutive replica of the original which comes with its own innovation: an extra-long shoulder strap that enables it to be slung casually across the body.

Noé BB in Monogram and Damier Azur

In Monogram or Damier Azur canvas and candy-bright Epi, Noé BB is just waiting to be discovered by a new generation. Will it, one day, like its larger namesake, be handed down from mother to daughter, its distinctive drawstring symbolic of an enduring bond of elegance?
Noé, Petit Noé, Noé BB. The legend lives on.

Noé BB in figue and citron

And while you are reading this, I am already off for a new adventure with Louis Vuitton in Munich…

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Louis Vuitton and © Sandra Bauknecht