Sandra‘s Closet

This month, CHANEL‘s S/S 2012 Haute Couture makeup collection BLUE ILLUSION will hit the stores.
As free as the air itself, blue has always been an invitation to travel, from inky nights and clear lagoons. In a design-forward fashion show setting recreating a long-haul flight in midair, Karl Lagerfeld‘s designs were presented with the clouds and moon floating above the audience last January. In a halo of light and strong lines around the eye, blue eyeshadows caressed the eyelids to echo jewel dresses, accompany tomboy postures and soften rebellious hairstyles with a new chic look.

Peter Philips, Creative Director of CHANEL Makeup, borrows the intangible hues of summer blue. Like a cloud-strewn sky, eyes take up shimmering reflections that change with the light.

The juvenile grace of an almost nude face showcases eyes with marine depths, mellowed by the radiance of blue tones.

On eyelids, ILLUSION D’OMBRE takes on a scintillating and satiny effect that makes eye makeup glow with each bat of the lashes. Two airy shades of grey blue, one pale, DESTINATION, and the other more intense, APPARITION, adapt to all faces. Eyeshadows are applied according to inspiration: in sheer washes or deep colour blocks, in mono­chrome or gradations.

Mascara-laden lashes accentuate the graphic tracing of the eye contour with a sophisti­cated note. LE CRAYON YEUX BLEU AÉRIEN borders the eyelids with an intense stroke, like a horizon line over the ocean. The effect can be optimized with LE CRAYON KHÔL and LE STYLO YEUX WATERPROOF, chosen in the MARINE shade, perfect to intensify the depth of the eyes or create evening makeup.

The natural complexion is simply dressed in a tender pink blush with JOUES CONTRASTE ROSE ÉCRIN.

LE CRAYON LÈVRES NATURAL becomes one with a subtle shade of ROUGE COCO SUPERSTITION, a golden beige, the favorite colour of Mademoiselle.

For the final step of this chromatic journey, LE VERNIS SKY LINE sweeps nails with a delicate shade of pearly blue that captures and softens the light in its pearly reflections.

Don’t miss those limited edition must-haves:

Illusion d’Ombre (Apparition/Destination) – CHF 47.-
Le Vernis (Skyline) – CHF 38.-
Le Crayon Yeux (Bleu Aérien) – CHF 33.-

Available this month in Chanel stores worldwide and at Jemoli in Zurich.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Chanel

The Elsa Schiaparelli brand, co-star of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new Costume Institute exhibition, is set to be relaunched by its current owner, Diego Della Valle, who purchased Schiaparelli’s trademarks and archives  in 2006, is on the hunt for a head designer which is said to be announced in October this year. Moreover, he has hired French model and actress Farida Khelfa as Schiaparelli’s spokeswoman.

Farida Khelfa

In July there will be the opening of the Maison Schiaparelli on Place Vendôme. The residence where the designer dominated the scene during the thirties and forties, her historical address revisited in a contemporaneous view maintaining the ateliers’ allure, where the new collection will be showcased. Starting March 2013, the first collection pieces will be presented. The new Schiaparelli universe, made up of very special collections representing her style well, with strong focus on accessories, for which Schiaparelli was the creator and protagonist. High quality fragrances and cosmetics, today, will exemplify her myth.

THE STORY OF ELSA SCHIAPARELLI (1890-1973)

When everything is forgotten this is what survives! In the theatre that is fashion, Elsa Schiaparelli plays a leading role. Absent from the fashion scene for over 60 years, Schiaparelli continues to inspire designers and by the very fact, many of her clever creations are still familiar to us: the seamstress stockman-shaped perfume bottle, her press clipping prints, signature exotic butterflies that flutter on hundreds of her models, also on hats, buttons, necklaces … And Shocking Pink that no longer shocks since it has been copied by so many others!

Mostly due to her shoe-shaped hat, with its heel pointed towards the sky, posterity associates Schiaparelli with the Surrealists. Yet this is foregoing a little quickly that, in her case, this influence is closely intertwined with a baroque culture: brought up in Rome where her family lived in the Corsini palazzo, Schiaparelli is the heiress of these Italian artists whose fantasy she imposed in France. Indeed her destiny awaited her in Paris. A destiny she encountered almost by happenstance having accompanied a friend visiting Paul Poiret, the famous couturier encouraged her and decided of her future. In 1927, Schiaparelli presented her first line of knits that announced sportswear, but it was not until 1930 that her style evolved towards a conquering and evanescent femininity that were to become her signature brand image.

Schiaparelli and Dali

In the 30’s, Haute Couture invented itself. Considered until then as suppliers, couturiers escaped and became the gods of an Olympus of clothing with evanescent shores. Not only did Schiaparelli quickly make a name for herself in this Olympus, she was given a nickname: Schiap!

To the tomboy running out of steam, she opposed a poetic and amusing elegance. A woman of fantasy that never ran out of ideas: hand- painted lobsters on chiffon muslin, the first zipper to be used as a fashion accessory, telescopic, spiral or ice cream cone hats, a feather hat simulating a sleeping chicken, bird cage hats…looking more attentively at Schiaparelli’s models, their line is fluid, naturally flowing over a woman’s body that it respects… The waist is in the right place, the bosom beautifully defined and the length of the skirts precisely as it should be.

With her infallible flair, Chanel immediately pinpointed her rival. She loathed Schiaparelli and the feeling was mutual. Indeed, Mademoiselle was quite annoyed that a foreigner might be trampling her turf. And, as if that wasn’t enough, just around the corner from her territory, in the shadow of the Vendôme column where Schiaparelli first set up shop in 1934 and took Paris by storm. Schiaparelli signed her most impressive collections between 1935 and 1940. Real fireworks. A suite of improvisations on a theme that she showcases and pushes to its ultimate limits: the circus theme, Commedia dell’ arte, butterflies, astrology, a beetle line, a pagan collection, inspired by Botticelli and the Birth of Venus.

It’s always easy to analyze a situation in the light of the final result, but how can one not make the correlation between the stormy electricity that preceded war and the sputtering of Schiaparelli’s genius at the same time?

Elsa Schiaparelli

It should be pointed out in passing that she was never more at ease than during the bustle that occurs before the presentation of a collection. She revels in creating under the gun, to come up with last minute solutions, to resolve insurmountable problems with one snip of her scissors featuring the same untamable and free audacity that is the very quintessence of Haute Couture.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Schiaparelli

When I stumbled across the new US April Vogue and this amazing editorial featuring Kate Moss showcasing the most beautiful of January’s couture collections at the hotel Ritz in Paris, before closing its doors for renovation, I had to share this with you.

Lensed by one of my favourite photographers Tim Walker and styled by Grace Coddington, this is a feast for your eyes! Enjoy!

My Bleu Heaven
A cornflower-blue dress by Sarah Burton, reminiscent of 1950s couture, plays on proportion and contrast: nipped-in waist and voluminous skirt; flat jacquard against exploding lace. Alexander McQueen lace bustier jacquard dress.

At First Blush
Moss, in the bathroom of the Coco Chanel Suite, wears a petal-like cocktail dress and cape, inspired by a 1960 design, from a pink-and-silver cloque lamé created by Cristóbal Balenciaga.

Life Imitates Art I
Like the neoclassical crimson satin sofa, a dramatic tiered evening dress (Dior’s finale look) adds a jolt of brilliant color to the hushed palette of an Imperial Suite salon. Dior Haute Couture silk dress.

Life Imitates Art II
Bellhop Nicolas Deschamps balances a Roger Vivier silk-and-feather pump on his cap.

Sleeping Beauty
For three decades, Coco Chanel called the hotel her home. Here, the bedroom of the suite named for her. Armani Privé sequined embroidered flared bustier dress.

Boxed Out
Karl Lagerfeld took over the first-floor-spanning Imperial Suite, seen here, for his 1996 couture collection. Chanel Haute Couture embroidered organza flower coat and pumps.

Cocktail Hour
“I drink the French 76: vodka, sugar, lemon juice topped up with champagne; it’s the best drink ever, but it only tastes like that in the Hemingway Bar,” says Moss, here in L’Espadon. “Colin [Field, Ritz Paris head bartender] made it for my wedding. It doesn’t taste at all strong—and then, whoa, whoops-a-daisy!” Alexis Mabille Haute Couture burnished lamé dress and hat.

Light Show
“When I was with Johnny Depp, he always stayed there. I had an apartment in Paris at the time, but he said, ‘No, we’re staying at the Ritz,’ so he came by and swept me up to the Ritz—he didn’t want to slum it in my apartment!” Givenchy Haute Couture by Riccardo Tisci.

Room Service
“Gianni’s [Versace] shows were amazing—and sooo convenient. Walk downstairs, go to work: Love that!” says Moss, with housekeepers Khadidja Fakri and Lollie Bacete (standing). Dior Haute Couture embroidered silk dress. Headpiece created by Julien d’Ys.

View From the Top
Giambattista Valli sent out a cinched draped-shoulder goddess dress in “a color so deep, so intense, you can almost smell it—like bougainvillea on the Mediterranean coast.” Giambattista Valli Haute Couture silk dress and necklace.

Special Delivery
In the Flower Room, a team of five florists overseen by floral designer Djordje Varda is charged with, among other things, selecting and arranging 10,000 blooms for the hotel each week.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Vogue, Tim Walker

Here is what I wore to the Stéphane Rolland Haute Couture S/S 2012 show last week in Paris:

Ribbed wool-blend and silk-gazar dress by Lanvin (on sale 50% off), red suede belt by Yves Saint Laurent, mustard-coloured ’40s style coat and suede booties by Miu Miu and animal-print Boston bag by Céline.

LoL, Sandra

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