Sandra‘s Closet

Last month, I took the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express from Paris to Vienna as guest of Louis Vuitton. Once I arrived in the Austrian capital, I visited the new Maison’s new store that has relocated to an expanded space on Graben in the heart of the city. Occupying four floors of a historic building, this new store presents the Louis Vuitton universe within a beautiful Viennese backdrop.

The store is the latest realisation of the design concept developed by Peter Marino for locations such as New Bond Street, Los Angeles and Ginza. Among the largest in Europe, it benefits from Vienna’s status as a dynamic cultural destination and a nexus for travel.

Designed by Max Kröpf, Oskar Laske and Viktor Fiala, the building dates to 1898-99. Its listed façade is ornamented with reliefs depicting long-distance trade and coats of arms from such cities as Hamburg, Trieste and London.

A spacious layout showcases the full Louis Vuitton offer and Peter Marino signatures, including striking art, objects and furniture that correspond with the design heritage of Vienna. Defined by curving walls and open sightlines, the store is organised around an exceptional staircase that unfurls with floating steps in four tonal varieties of stone. At once sculptural and a means of circulation, it is juxtaposed with a statement wall, panelled in commissioned works by well-known Austrian artist, Erwin Wurm. Bright and graphic, the eight paintings are composed of abstracted words: Form, Love, Body, Beauty and more.

As the history of Vienna is inextricably linked to its progressive movements in art and design, both figure significantly in the store’s expression. Notably, a pyramid of trunks has been hand-painted in the spirit of Gustav Klimt and other artists of the Vienna Secession. Vintage extends to contemporary – from an Alvar Aalto daybed and a Carl Malmsten modular sofa to Matt Gagnon’s Custom Light Stacks and Fernando Daza’s Four Intercepted Circles. With its flower-shaped bubbles, Atelier Biagetti’s Flower Tower lamp stands as a glass totem at once decorative and whimsical.

If you are in Vienna, this new store is a must-see, not only for the things to shop, but for its design!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht / © Louis Vuitton 
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I am a  true addict when it comes to my daily fragrance ritual. Wearing fragrance well requires a little more skill and finesse. Where you put your perfume, matters a lot. Target areas such as pulse points of the neck, the wrists, inner elbows, back side of your knees along with a hair mist for an enhanced and multidimensional olfactive trail. I also love misting my scarf, or the seam of my coat, because they move with the air, which helps with the diffusion of the scent. Talking about leaving a lasting impression. And never rub your wrists together as it destroys the molecules.

By the way, the best place to store fragrance is not on the shelf but in your cabinet away from sunlight, and at room temperature.

Here are my favorites at the moment:

GOOD GIRL GONE BAD Eau Fraîche
A limited edition scent for summer – CHF 240

Adding a cool and aquatic olfactive touch to the original perfume Good girl gone Bad by KILIAN for the warmer season, somewhere between floral and airy, it is the season’s nectar keeping summer bees busy. The perfume opens with notes of luminous Orange Blossom from North Africa and Roses from Turkey and Morocco but in its heart this new blend comes true: Egyptian Jasmine Sambac is splashed with a watery uplift and the ever-voluptuous Tuberose that is gentler by a textured sensation of freshness.

WOMAN IN GOLD
A perfume as complex and dazzling as the woman who wears it.

Inspired by Gustav Klimt‘s famous «Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer», it is my favorite for the colder season or for romantic nights. As complex and glamorous as the work of art, it opens with a blend of tart Bergamot, ripe Mandarin Orange and Aldehyde top notes that leads to a heady Rose Petal heart combined with Freesia and Geranium. The drydown consists of smooth Vanilla Absolute peppered by Patchouli and Akigalawood. Those Kilian flowers are composed like a narcotic dependence.

Woman In Gold Travel Set – Eau de Parfum and Refills, 4 x 7.5ml
Perfectly sized to accompany me on my travels or during the day, this beautifully engraved travel spray atomizer comes with three additional refills.

KILIAN’s  first hair mist, under the scent of Woman in Gold perfume, is joining the season’s seduction arsenal as a protective and perfumed secret weapon of the finest order. It is the final touch to one’s hair styling ritual. Carefully considered to offer the best of scent and science with UV protective elements, it comes with hydrating properties to help protect hair against the drying effects of the sun. It is so long-lasting, the best hair mist I have ever had. I truly hope that this will stay as it is a limited edition at the moment.

Like Kilian Hennessy says: «In perfumery, it is as much about seduction as it is about protection».
Enjoy your weekend!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © By Kilian and © Sandra Bauknecht
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«All Art is Erotic» –  Gustav Klimt

KILIAN HENNESSY celebrates ten years of redefining the art of modern perfumery and invites us into a new Golden Age, inspired by the sensual glamour and sumptuous luxury of fin de siècle Vienna, and its most subversive artist, Gustav Klimt.

Kilian Hennessy with me

«Klimt is the authority when it comes to gold artwork, gold leaf,» says Kilian. The universe he created full of seduction and opulence represents «a cultural reference, a touchstone – more than just decoration.»

Two new fragrances, each of which experiments with dualties: darkness and light, feminity and masculinity, modernity and proud tradition. Let me introduce you to WOMAN IN GOLD and GOLD KNIGHT, one more beautiful than the other. Launching in the end of September 2017, I don’t want you to miss those richly textured and mysterious scents.

«It doesn’t interest me to provoke just to provoke. I need artistic reasoning,» Kilian goes on. «The idea was to play on the contrasts between shadown and light, to express that we are all made of good and bad – but within light and dark there are a myriad of facets. I wanted to achieve this duality with perfume.»

WOMAN IN GOLD

Inspired by the 1907 portrait of Leading Viennese art patron and taste-maker Adele Bloch-Bauer, the only woman Klimt painted twice.

Top Notes: Bergamot
Middle Notes: Rose, Vanilla Absolute
Base Notes: Akigalawood, Patchouli

GOLD KNIGHT

Inspired by the dashing, gold-armored chevalier in Klimt’s 1902 Beethoven Frieze.

Top Notes: Anise, Bergamot
Middle Notes: Honey, Vanilla
Base Notes: Patchouli

The extremely beautiful cases are inspired by Klimt’s works and are inspired by the Byzantine mosaics the Viennese painter saw at the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy.

«True luxury is meant to last» – Kilian Hennessy

The faceted flacon, inspired by the timeless cognac carafe, is an object of uncompromising elegance and artisanship. The 250-ml bottles are refillable and accompanied by a black travel spray.

Mini Carafe 250ml (CHF 720)
Refillable Spray 50ml (CHF 335)

TO SHOP KILIAN ONLINE, CLICK HERE PLEASE.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Kilian Hennessy and © Sandra Bauknecht

Nine years and two million bottles after its launch, Caudalie founder Mathilde Thomas called upon fashion designer L’Wren Scott (for a previous post on her, please click here) to decorate a limited edition bottle of the brand’s cult facial mist EAU DE BEAUTÉ. Based on a 17th Century elixir used by the Queen of Hungary, this powerful plant-based formula tightens pores, boosts radiance and sets makeup in one quick spritz.

“About fifteen years ago, I was in Paris and it was hot,” explains Scott. “A pharmacist suggested Beauty Elixir to moisturise my skin, and I was really impressed by the results. Ever since then, I’ve been using it when I wake up in the morning to set my make-up, and several times throughout the day, like when I need a refreshment. It’s part of my travel ritual, too; I use it on aeroplanes to moisturise my skin.”

Printed with an illustration inspired by Gustav Klimt, mosaics and the female form, let the pretty bottle take pride of place on your dressing table. This herbal blend of myrrh, orange blossom, rosemary, peppermint, rose and rosemary balm belongs in a modern-day beauty must-have list.

TO SHOP THE LIMITED EDITION EAU DE BEAUTÉ ONLINE, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Caudalie