Sandra‘s Closet

2012 marks the 60th anniversary of the accession of Queen Elizabeth II. The celebration of her Diamond Jubilee will be going on throughout the year.
Interesting to know is that Queen Victoria in 1897 was the only other monarch in the histories of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and a few other Commonealth realms to have celebrated a Diamond Jubilee.

Explore some of the cool limited editions to be launched for that special occassion:

In honour of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Harrods has created together with the famous perfume house Bond N°9 a limited edition fragrance, called Harrods Jubilee . The scent consists of amber, musk and sandalwood along with Lantana leave, dry leave and mace. It is available now from the store’s Perfumery Hall and retails at £290 for a 100ml bottle.

In April 1926, Floris had released a pretty floral scent called Royal Arms to celebrate the birth of Princess Elizabeth earlier that month. It had notes of rose, violet and ylang ylang.

To commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Floris, the only perfumer to hold a Royal Warrant from the Queen, slightly changed the original recipe but keeping the original floral character formed by essence of rose, the queen of flowers.

Royal Arms Diamond Edition EdP is on sale at John Lewis at £99 for a 100ml bottle (and at florislondon.com). There is also a limited amount of Royal Arms Diamond Edition in perfume strength which will be decanted into only six antique crystal dressing-table bottles of which one will surely be given to Her Majesty.

The most eccentric British fashion designers of all, Vivienne Westwood, pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth’s jubilee with an honorary collection featuring ready-to-wear and fashion jewelry that will be available in May in all Vivienne Westwood stores.

The Red Carpet Capsule Collection stays true to the opulent Westwood archive and was inspired by outfits that the Queen has actually worn. The patriotic designer’s logo is a royal ORB with a cross on top, bejewelled and impressive as befits the Queen of British fashion. Westwood became Dame Commander of the British Empire in the 2006 New Year’s Honours List “for services to fashion”.

For this royal occasion, the “Kaiser” Karl Lagerfeld, himself will be offering live commentary of the official event on French television channel France 2 on June 3. He will surely enjoy his latest assignment as fashion commentator as he already did last year, when the Chanel helmet participated in a French live broadcast about the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, attracting five million viewers.

And there’s no doubt the Queenie is one seriously stylish muse. After 60 years on the throne the queen’s outfits on her thousands of visits and tours have proved she is a bastion of good taste and style. She loves tone on tone looks with blue being her favourite colour choice. I mean there has to be a reason that blue is called royal. I know this fact thanks to a recent report featured in Vogue magazine for which editors have studied every outfit Her Majesty has worn in the last 12 months.

A year ago, all eyes were on the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Congrats to the couple on their first wedding anniversary today!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Vivienne Westwood, Harrods, Floris, Getty Images and Vogue

You cannot be everywhere… The same day I flew to Paris for the amazing shoot with Dior, I was also invited to London for another special event.

La Mania – the Polish fashion house under the Honorary Patronage of Karl Lagerfeld – and Galerie Gmurzynska hosted a multimedia event, so-called “Fairy Tale Mania”, presenting La Mania’s F/W 2012 collection and exhibiting the new work of artist Marco Perego. You might recognize Perego’s work from last year’s post when I met him in Zurich.

In case you haven’t heard of La Mania before, here are some facts. The label is the brainchild of Joanna Przetakiewicz, launched in 2010 with the one-of-a-kind blessing by her friend Karl Lagerfeld who has been offering guidance and inspiration to the Polish designer. Joanna is not only wearing her designs, she is also one of the rare Haute Couture clients in the world. The last time I saw her, was at the Stéphane Rolland show in Paris.

The exhibition “Fairy Tale Mania” is open to the public until the end of February at the Royal Opera Arcade Gallery, 5b Pall Mall, London SW1 (free entry). It represents Poland in the International Fashion Showcase project, organized by British Council and British Fashion Council as part of London Fashion Week.

Below you can see some photos of the event in London.

LoL, Sandra

Marco Perego
MY SOUL: Don’t leave me empty…
Painted metal, resin
2011

Isabelle Bscher, daughter of Krystyna Gmurzynska, and artist Marco Perego

Lapo Elkann, Zaha Hadid and Marco Perego

Joanna Przetakiewicz with models in her F/W 2012 collection

Joanna Przetakiewicz with her partner Jan Kulczyk, a prominent Polish business oligarch

Mathias Rastorfer, Zaha Hadid, Isabelle Bscher and Krystyna Gmurzynska
Photos: © Brauer

Today has been an exciting day. Karl Lagerfeld has officially launched his new highly anticipated clothing line KARL for S/S 2012 all over the world with a personal appearance in Paris.

Karl Lagerfeld and Natalie Massenet today at the launch event in Paris (Photo: net-à-porter)

“I have been dreaming of mass elitism for a long time. I think it was almost my duty to make it possible under my name. This is the road of modernity.”

A visionary, with a unique instinct that allows Lagerfeld to anticipate trends and desires, he wanted to offer a luxurious yet affordable collection, retaining his core values of sharp styling and high quality. It is his first “masstige” collection – a combination of the words ‘mass market’ and ‘prestige’.

I was lucky to have a sneak preview in the morning at the newly opened showroom located in the 7th arrondissement. The collection offers lots of great basic staples as well as gorgeous accessories such as collars and gloves, iconic Karl pieces.

Lots of leather such as this gorgeous Ossie two-tone leather biker vest .

I am completely in love with this white Oralee layered leather biker jacket.

Close to couture: Each of the 5 dresses comes in a limited edition of only 50 pieces.

What do you think of this large printed canvas tote ?

One of the iconic leather collars.

A little gift from KARL: Cutaway leather gloves and the stunning sequined poplin collar .

In the showroom, I also explored the upcoming F/W 2012 Karl Lagerfeld collection which will be available for men and women. The prices will be a little higher than the younger more basic KARL line. The collection includes great accessories such as sunglasses and also some pieces for home. I will keep you posted on that.

While being at the showroom, RTL filmed me for an upcoming TV-documentation on the new line while exploring the pieces.

To shop KARL, just click on the banner below to be transfered directly. But before that please enjoy the awesome video collaboration between Karl Lagerfeld and video artist Barnaby Roper. Have fun!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

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A formal statement has been released by net-à-porter.com: Karl Lagerfeld’s exclusive new collection will be revealed on January 25, 2011. To sign up for Karl’s Kult, please click here.

LoL, Sandra

A little Christmas greeting from Paris, where I am at the moment, that hopefully will fill you up with holiday cheer! The gigantic tree at Galeries Lafayette is pretty impressive and puts you immediately in the mood for shopping. Paris during the festive season is absolutely the best.

Next to the Galeries Lafayette, the famous department store Printemps attracts the customer with a Chanel – installation of miniature Karl Lagerfeld puppets doing all sorts of things.

There is only one thing to say: “J’adore Paris!”

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

As promised, here are the photos that I took during the Chanel Paris – Bombay Pre-fall 2012 Métiers d’Art show in Paris last week. My eyes could not get enough of this opulent perfection, I truly loved the show and had to capture every single moment which meant over 200 photos.

Every year since 2002, Chanel has taken the Métiers d’Art show as an opportunity to showcase master craftsmanship. The artisanal crafts of embroidery, leather work, featherwork, boot‐making, millinery, and gold and silversmithery are represented by Lesage, Montex, Desrues, Lemarié, Massaro, Michel and Goossens, each striving to honour its unique heritage. Karl Lagerfeld spotlighted their skill last week at the Grand Palais in Paris, whose Galerie Courbe had been transformed for the day into a luxurious Maharaja’s palace. We were seated at an almost surreal banquet, transported by gentle jasmine aromas as they feasted their eyes on the Paris‐Bombay collection. For more photos of the decor, please have a look at the previous post by clicking here.

The show whisked me away to a Bombay dripping with opulence. “It’s a concept of India. More Chanel than India. The Parisian version of an India that doesn’t exist,” elaborated Karl Lagerfeld. He could not have described it better. It was a very modern extraordinary take on the India without being a masquerade. The designer played with the details and made me crave for every single look. But see for yourself:

Under the glow of chandeliers and ceiling lights, the Paris ‐ Bombay collection evoked a new femininity. The charm of India, the pomp and splendour of fabrics and the magic of gemstones intermingled with the Chanel aesthetic of cascading pearls, contrasting black and white, and braided tweed jackets.

One of my favourite looks was this hot pink dream!

The probably most Indian-inspired looks presented a new stunning silhouette of the sari in a modern masculine‐feminine concept, inspired by Maharajah style, glorified in splendid draped fabric, and ultra‐feminine in a dainty jacket with diamante epaulettes. Inspired by the achkan, the brocade jacket with Nehru collar was manifested here in a series of alter‐egos: a gold‐embroidered darted jacket with pearl braiding, a white plastron jacket with mirror‐embroidered pockets, a darted half‐belt jacket with baroque‐pearl‐studded collar, a riding jacket and crested blazers with tailored shoulders.

Needless to say, the jewelry was divine. You would like to own every single piece!

The “bride” appeared on the runway in an embroidered ivory silk crepe dress draped over the body and head. Cue the sensuous rustle of saris exiting the Maharajah’s palace to decorate cities everywhere.

THE ACCESSORIES:

Karl Lagerfeld reinterpreted the already iconic Chanel Boy Bag in many different versions. The bi-coloured one below with the embellished strap can be only described as absolutely divine!

All shoes were flat with thigh‐boot flats stamped with arabesque motifs that marvellously set off the most luxuriant materials. Get yourselves on the wait lists now!

HAIR & MAKE UP:

Jewel‐buttons, jewelled bindis were adorning the forehead. The hair was done in a Rasta style. The focus of the make up was laying on the eyes with a heavy kohl embellishing the smokey eyes. Peter Philips, Creative Director of Chanel Make up, came up with a graphic, mysterious interpretation of an iconic Indian beauty.

On the nails: The new Le Vernis Diwali that Peter Philips had specially created for the Chanel Paris-Bombay Métiers d’Art show! This new light golden shade which will hit the shelves around June 2012 will be a must next summer.

THE MUSE:

No Chanel show without Karl Lagerfeld’s muse: Baptiste Giabiconi.

And last but not least some hard facts about the stunning Paris-Bombay decor:

– 50 meter long buffet table
– Flowers: roses; jasmin or lotus flowers
– Small train which distributes beverages (100 meter rail) around the buffet
– Bell jars, danishes, fruits baskets, glass ornement chandeliers….
– Floor: sequined sand, roses petals

I am definitely not exaggerating by saying that this was the most amazing show I have ever been to! Thank you, Karl!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Today, I am on my way to Paris to attend the Chanel Métiers d’Art Pre-fall 2012 show. This défilé is always very interesting as it is made to the level of Haute Couture with the focus on the craftsmanship of Chanel’s Parisian couture ateliers.

Every season, Chanel picks a different location as inspiration wether it is a journey through time to the Byzantine age, an ode to Shanghai’s exuberance or a trip to Moscow. Interesting for me to observe is that „Kaiser Karl“ seems to choose countries with an uprising spending power, like Russia, China and now India.

I am really looking forward to Karl’s take on „Paris-Bombay“ today, isn’t he the modern maharaja of fashion already?!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Sir Bhupindra Singh, Maharaja of Patiala © National Portrait Gallery, London; Invitation Courtesy of Chanel; karllagerfeld.com

Happy Halloween 2011 – it is time to be bewitched! For all fashionistas around the globe, add a little humour and carve your pumpkins with your favourite logo or dress up as your beloved designer.

In a season of dark glamour, gothic looks make an impression wether you wear them at night or during the day. Just change the accessories and off you go. My absolute favourite is this knit dress by Lanvin with puff sleeves below.

LoL, Sandra

I have just heard the terrible news that Amy Winehouse has been found dead at her home in London this afternoon by emergency services. Her death is being treated as „unexplained“ by police but an overdose is considered the most likely cause, although a full autopsy will have to be performed. Winehouse has had a troubled life which has included various stints in rehab for drug and alcohol addiction.

We will miss her fantastic voice and her eclectic style of her golden days. Inspired by the chic of the `60s, Amy’s enormous beehive hairdo even inspired Karl Lagerfeld to send his models down the catwalk sporting the same hairstyle for his Chanel show three years ago.

“She is a beautiful, gifted artist. And I very much like her hairdo. I took it as an inspiration. Because, in fact, it was also Brigitte Bardot’s hairdo in the late Fifties and Sixties. And now Amy has made it her own style. So, when I saw her, I knew it was the right moment. Amy… she is the new Brigitte.”

– Karl Lagerfeld

Amy’s heavy black eyeliner was her signature and she loved `60s-era Capri pants with short-sleeved fitted shirts and little puffball skirted mini dresses.

She was 27. Coincidentally, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix were all also 27 when they died. It is so sad to see such a talented person throwing all her gifts away.
The devil in Miss Winehouse has won. R.I.P!

LoL, Sandra

This fall, you might hear ladies screaming with delight: „Oh, it’s a boy!“
But they won’t mean their babies, they will admire the season’s It-bag: The Boy Chanel.

Embodying the androgynous charm Coco Chanel was known for, the design is inspired by a hunting cartridge style that was originally carried by the famous lady herself.

“Chanel used men’s underwear to make dresses; she had this boyish attitude, in fact it is the very spirit of Chanel. She got it from Boy Capel, the great love of her life, which, incidentally, explains why the new bag is called the Boy Chanel.”

-Karl Lagerfeld

Available in a palette of red, lead green, grey, black and ivory, these calfskin clutches, purses and totes come in five different styles. The hardware has a unique look in distressed silver or bronze. They range from $2500 to $4300 and hit Chanel stores in September. Get yourselves on the waiting lists for this ground-breaking Chanel collection now!

Is androgyny the new femininity?

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Chanel