Sandra‘s Closet

This week I flew to Bangkok to attend the launch celebration of the fifth Cabinet of Curiosities, the acclaimed yearly pop-up exhibition, that is presented this time by Siwilai, the renowned multi-brand concept store. More will be coming up soon about this event.

Wednesday evening, the exclusive pre-opening dinner took place at Bo.lan, one of the world’s best Thai restaurants, located in Sukhumvit. We enjoyed fine dining at its best, a very spicy Thai cuisine created from age old recipes. After we had finished, the most fun part of the night took place. We were all driven to the after party at Sugar Ray You’ve Just Been Poisoned (to be taken literally) in tuk-tuks. What a fun and very fast ride through the city of Bangkok.

Before I left to the event, those pictures of my outfit were taken on the terrace of my hotel, the Okura Prestige, a luxurious and contemporary five-star hotel.

My look for the night: Nude dress with pleated skirt, cutout suede sandals and scalloped laser-cut leather waist belt, all by Azzedine Alaïa, cloquet nappa leather bag Swarovski crystals and crystal-embellished clip-on earrings, both by Miu Miu, Limelight Gala watch by Piaget, diamond bracelet and ring by Vainard Fine Jewellery.

The two protagonists: Barom Bhicharnchitr (Managing Director of Central Embassy and Siwilai) and Thomas Erber (Founder of Le Cabinet de Curiosités).

Lovely international company at the dinner table at Bo.lan.

A fun tuk-tuk ride with Swiss-Thai designer Laend Phuengkit, who also designed some limited edition pieces for the exhibition.

A truly fun night – stay tuned for more coming up from Bangkok soon!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

The second evening of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Days 2012 was dedicated to the well-known annabelle award.

Five young designers were able to show their collections, but only one of them won an internship with Barbara Bui, who also presented her S/S 2013 show as a culmination of the night.

The event started off with three established Swiss designers:

Van Bery is based in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The S/S 2013 collection was inspired by the painter Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (“Le Douanier” Rousseau) and the era of the ’20s. I am a big fan of Van Bery’s romantic, feminine florals und adorable bow embellishments and those head pieces were to-die-for. In Switzerland available at Globus among others.

Laend Phuengkit fuses Asian and European features to create an interesting collection for men and women that impresses with beautiful draped elements and contemporary cuts for S/S 2013.

Claudia Zuber started her label three years ago and has been on the rise since then. Her creative power: Sporty elements in colours of the ’70s mixed with an air of the ’20s. I especially loved the little books that the models carried on the runway, such a neat detail.

After that, the five finalists of the annabelle award were presenting their collections to the audience.

Flaka Jahaj (29): “Sheer Tedium” – Inspired by ornaments of ancient times and the architecture of historic temples
Désirée Gabriel (24): “Wind” – Asymmetrical designs that are flowing like the wind.
Julia Winkler (26): “Pinky’s Dream, Watch the Room” – Inspired by Davis Lynch’s movie soundtracks and his debut album “Crazy Clown Time”
Stéphanie Rosianu (26): “It’s So Bad, It’s Almost Good” – Ink scribbling printed on delicate organza and silk.
Safia Semlali (22): “Took My Sister’s Winter and My Father’s Fall” – Hightech materials worn in many layers.

And the winner of the prestigious annabelle award is: Julia Winkler who received an internship with Parisian designer Barbara Bui who said on stage: “It is always hard to choose someone. Even that an award is important, you never know what will be after. Working in fashion is wonderful, but you have to be very strong to work in that field.”

Barbara Bui with me

For S/S 2013, Barbara Bui showed her iconic rock-chic looks in perfection. Leather in colours of black and ink was predominating the collection. My favourite was the beautiful embroidered material used for jackets, shorts and bags.

If you are interested to see more about the event on Glanz & Gloria, please click here.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht