Sandra‘s Closet

Hello from beautiful sunny Milan. Here you see me in front of the iconic Duomo (Cathedral of Milan) which is is the largest and most complex Gothic building in Italy. But who would have thought that this embroidered skirt with the cute ice bear would also be the perfect look last night? Surprisingly it was as Moncler had transformed the Via Montenapoleone in a snowy landscape for the opening celebration of their newly renovated store. Most of the street was cordoned off and covered in white, as a multitude of snowflakes fell continuously from the building, landing on the heads and coats of the invited guests (see photo at the end).

My look: Ruffle-trimmed cotton-blend cady jacket, ruffled-hem silk and wool-blend skirt, ruffled-neck chiffon blouse, Queercore embellished leather ankle boots, GG Marmont matelassé shoulder bag and oversized round-frame actate sunglasses, all by Gucci.
Horsebit blue topaz diamond white gold ring by Gucci Fine Jewellery.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Say hello to the seven bag wonders of the world. I am so in love. Last spring, VERSACE launched the competition «7 Bags 7 Cities» and invited everyone to participate in the customization of seven limited edition of the Palazzo Empire bag featuring seven capitals.

Participants were asked to photograph a unique and inspiring place in the city of their choice. The Italian fashion house then selected their favorite images and used them to create the new Palazzo Empire bag with each city’s skyline being injected into the design. Great news for the winners: they will be invited to attend the Versace S/S 2017 show to be held in Milan in September.

Discover the seven limited edition Palazzo Empire handbags closer here…

BEIJING
Shop D4027, 4/F, SKP, 87 Jianguo Road, Chaoyang District

HONG KONG
Shop G122, Ground Floor, Gateway Arcade

MILAN
Via Montenapoleone, 11

NEW YORK CITY
647 Fifth Avenue

PARIS
45, avenue Montaigne

SAO PAULO
Av. Brigadeiro Faria Lima, 2232

TOKYO
6-7-12, Ginza

Only ten copies of each design will be produced and sold in the Versace boutiques in the seven selected capitals. So hurry up to catch one of those pieces of art!

TO SHOP THE CLASSIC PALAZZO EMPIRE TOTE BAG IN DIFFERENT COLOURS, CLICK HERE PLEASE.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Versace

I am writing you today from Milan where I am guest of OMEGA for a very special experience with Nicole Kidman whom I met already two years ago in Vienna at the Swiss watchmaker’s “La Nuit Enchantée“. When OMEGA invites you, you are always spoilt to something very special.

Last year, I flew to Shanghai for just one night to meet OMEGA’s long-time brand ambassador George Clooney (since 2007) for an evening of celebration. The award-winning actor and producer was part of a star-studded event where OMEGA showcased its new Seamaster Aqua Terra timepieces.

“Le Jardin Secret” – or the secret garden – was set up in Shanghai specifically for the event, providing the perfect atmosphere for the exclusive celebration. And the stars were not only the dazzling OMEGA timepieces on display and the celebrities on the guest list. An innovative, transparent roof on the venue allowed us a clear view of the celestial stars in the night sky.

During the night, George Clooney spoke about how his relationship with OMEGA began: “My father wore an OMEGA watch for many years. When I began working with the brand, I called my father to tell him the great news. He told me his OMEGA was in the attic and after finding it, he wound it up and it still worked. I gave it to OMEGA and they were nice enough to fix it up for me and I was able to give it to him for his birthday. I have a long, long history with the brand.”

Shortly after a welcome speech by Stephen Urquhart, President OMEGA, the lights dimmed and a short but powerful film was screened, focusing on the remarkable work done around the world by Orbis International, an organization supported by OMEGA and which is committed, with its Flying Eye Hospital, to delivering high-quality eye care to some of the world’s remotest regions.

Later in the evening, Dr. Hairong Cai, an ophthalmologist who works for ORBIS, talked about some of the medical treatments the organization had provided to two Chinese children. To the delight of the audience, the youngsters were escorted to the stage by George Clooney.

After granting her wish and dancing with the younger of the two girls, George Clooney removed the OMEGA De Ville Hour Vision Annual Calendar he had been wearing and autographed its strap and its presentation box. The watch was auctioned off later in the year and all of the money raised went to Orbis to support the remarkable work it does.

The evening concluded with a performance by popular French singer France Owlle.

Enjoy some more of my favorite moments of the night:

A warm welcome by lovely Raynald Aeschlimann, Vice President and International Director of Sales, Retail and Distribution at Omega.

A funny anecdote. OMEGA’s photographer looked like a copy of George Clooney…!

Stay tuned for more coming up! I am truly looking forward to tomorrow’s celebration with Nicole Kidman.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Omega and © Sandra Bauknecht

What I probably like most about my job as the editor in chief of L’Officiel Switzerland and as a blogger is that I get to travel a lot and to meet extremely interesting people around the world. Here you see me in Milan recently where I had a lot of inspiring meetings.

My look: Snap front leather trimmed varsity jacket, studded cotton-jersey sweatshirt, studded leather skirt and ‘Babies’ mid-calf boots in silver, all by Saint Laurent, makeup face-printed saffiano tote illustrated by Jeanne Deallante by Prada, diamond stud earrings by Cartier and diamond ring by Vainard Fine Jewellery.

Great architecture in Milan (from left to right clockwise): entrance of the Gucci office in Via Broletto, slide installation by German artist Carsten Höller at Prada‘s headquarter in Milan, Zegna headquarter designed by Antonio Citterio and a beautiful starcaise at the L’Officiel Italia office.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Last week, I was in Milan for work. Here you see me inside the famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, which is one of the world’s oldest shopping malls. Housed within a four-story double arcade in the center of the city, it is named after Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of the Kingdom of Italy. It is also the home of the first Prada store founded in 1913 by Miuccia’s grandfather Mario. Whenever I am inside, I am impressed by its beauty.

My look: Tweed blazer, ruffled leopard-print silk-georgette mini dress and ‘Babies’ mid-calf boots in silver, all by Saint Laurent, makeup face-printed saffiano tote illustrated by Jeanne Deallante by Prada, diamond stud earrings by Cartier and diamond ring by Vainard Fine Jewellery.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

The Bulgari Hotel and Residences, London officially opened its doors last week. The luxury hotel located in Knightsbridge is the third hotel project of Bulgari Hotels & Resorts, following the opening of the Bulgari Hotel in Milan in 2004 and of the Bulgari Resort in Bali in 2006.

The Bulgari Hotel in London was designed for Bulgari by the renowned architectural firm Antonio Citterio, Patricia Viel and Partners, with Squire and Partners as the local architect for the project.

With the contemporary style, the hotel features sleek lines and refined colour combinations created using a variety of marbles, fine woods, and unique details. The hotel has 85 rooms and suites, including seven extraordinary Bulgari suites, each more than 200 square meters that offer a unique combination of refined amenities and exclusive services. Its restaurant and bar have been designed to become the destination of choice in Knightsbridge. The hotel also features a large ballroom, a private cinema and a 2,000 square meter Spa and fitness centre with a 25 meter indoor pool.

LoL, Sandra

The restaurant

The bedroom

The spa

Photos: Courtesy of Bulgari, © Massimo Listri and © Leo Torri

Today, I flew to Milan for an exciting Gucci experience. I am overwhelmed being one of the 16 handpicked bloggers from across the globe to be invited.

Some very sweet surprises waited for me in my hotel room…

We had a lovely welcome dinner at the very trendy Giacomo restaurant close to the Duomo.

Having fun: Tina from Dallas (Bagsnob) whom I had dinner with last week in NYC, Emily from London (Fashion Foie Gras) and me in Gucci Cruise 2012.

Next stop: 2pm Gucci F/W 2012 show! Cannot wait…

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

The reason for my trip to Milan this week was the opening of “O’Clock – time design, design time” with Officine Panerai as the main partner. The exhibition is curated by Silvana Annicchiarico and Jan van Rossem, with a special exhibition design by Patricia Urquiola that analyses the relationship between the concept of time and design, on display at Milan Triennale from 11th October 2011 to 8th January 2012.

The works on show describe the way in which  some 80 international designers and artists have interpreted or represented one of the fundamental themes of our culture, that of time.

Patricia Urquiola has also created for Officine Panerai the installation “I mondi di Officine Panerai” (The worlds of Officine Panerai), presented here for the first time, in which eight watch models recount, as protagonists, the design of Panerai. The installation, positioned at the end of the exhibition, is open from 11th to 23rd October and consists of eight models in as many display cases, in which the watches are presented in a setting that skilfully blends humour and poetry and create the effect of a time tunnel which appears to possess a soul, that of time.

If the link between the concept of time and a brand of high-end timepieces is obvious and immediate, the same can be said of the connection between Panerai and the world of design. The Radiomir and Luminor, created in the 1930s and 1940s for the Italian Navy frogmen commandos, have become icons of fine watch-making since their launch in the 1990s.

Damien Hirst, Beautiful Sunflower Panerai Painting

On the occasion of the exhibition the famous British artist Damien Hirst is premiering two works, made using the spin painting technique and using dials from Panerai watches and household gloss on canvas: Beautiful Sunflower Panerai Painting and Beautiful Fractional Sunflower Panerai Painting.

“I love Panerai”, declared the British artist. “The watches are timeless and I made this spin painting using black Panerai watch faces without hands in the pattern of the seeds in the head of a sunflower – I hope the painting makes you think, we are here for a good time, not a long time.”

Damien Hirst, Beautiful Fractional Sunflower Panerai Painting
© 2011 Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved DACS, 
Photos: by Prudence Cuming Associates

By the way, Damien Hirst has included Panerai watches on several occasions in the past in his works: a Panerai watch is painted on a table next to medicines and a skull in “Skull with Watch” from 2005 and is physically present in the installations “The Tranquility of Solitude (for George Dyer)” (2006), and “Killing Time” (2008).

Gomitolo Clock
Carlo e Benedetta Tamborini
Diamantini & Domeniconi, 2008
courtesy Diamantini & Domeniconi

A cotton-knit cover; almost as if to suggest a subtle link between the technique of measuring time and the art of weaving.

One of my favourite art works is the following, created with different pieces of furniture:

The bug – Time Machine
Patricia Urquiola
site-specific, 2011

Time has always been an obsession for humanity in that it is the least controllable and modifiable element. The strongest limit to be overcome and on which technology and progress can intervene least of all. Dealing with our being limited, with a deadline, which we can try to extend, but not avoid. Dealing with eternity and the impossibility of experiencing it. The curiosity of being able to foresee or read the future, the primary search of every civilization, which perpetuates itself in continuous unlikely and unfound attempts, based on foundations comparable to beliefs. Power linked to a supposed control of time, by means of forecasts, surveys, readings, premonitions, the study of cycles, the creation of systems, genetic analysis, preventative tests, séances, oracles, reading of cards, bones, animal guts, the hand, the stars. To be able to make money on the stock market, to know society’s moods, the opinions of the decision-makers, to create consensus, prevent, anticipate, control. The final solution? Invent a time machine just like the train, the car, the airplane and the spaceship were invented.
Further and further away, faster and faster, in less time, but always and only in the present and space.
The bug is a worm, an insect, something unforeseen, an error, an act of nature or something artificial, like a metaphor for the impossibilty of total control of time.

Patricia Urquiola

Patricia Urquiola in front of her time machine

Patricia Urquiola with me

Poster Plants
Oscar Diaz
2011
courtesy Oscar Diaz

A piece of white paper with a paper tree with branches and a vase filled with green paint. The special material used to make the poster causes the green paint to be absorbed at regular intervals by the branches, so that the plant can „grow“ in the space of a few months.

Domino
Albin Karlsson
2005
courtesy Albin Karlsson

Dominoes arranged into the symbol of infinity fall one after the other in a chain reaction, to then rise again as if controlled by an invisible hand, ad infinitum.

Clock
Christiaan Postma
2008 
courtesy Christiaan Postma

At 3:00 on the clock’s right side, the word THREE will appear, fading out as time passes; then, at about 3:30, the word FOUR will slowly begin to emerge.

Eternity
Alicia Eggert, Mike Fleming
2010
courtesy Alicia Eggert & Mike Fleming

30 clocks and 36 black hands for the hours and the minutes move so as to form the word Eternity every 12 hours and only for a few secons on a white acrylic panel.

Givenchy
Riccardo Tisci
2011
courtesy of Sandra Bauknecht

This one was a little joke…got you? But sometimes clothes are pieces of art.
My look for the exhibition opening: Black and white dress and ruffled jacket with zipper detail by Givenchy, suede pumps by Yves Saint Laurent, stay-ups “Bonny Dots” by Wolford and cocktail ring by Dior Haute Joaillerie.

“Life can only be understood backwards; but must be lived forwards” – Sören Kierkegaard

LoL, Sandra

Suryia Hill to the right with me, Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

In Galleria del Corso in Milan: in the space formerly occupied by the Excelsior cinema, the Gruppo Coin has opened the new luxury concept store EXCELSIOR with 4000 sqm dedicated to fashion, food and design on seven floors, built by renowned French architect Jean Nouvel.

The flow of technological reflections takes visitors through a multisensorial shopping experience, from the basement (the Eat’s Store) to the top floor, the home of the luxury accessories. Customers can shop a large selection of beauty products, enjoy the patisserie Ladurée, a Tiffany store and fashion brands such as Givenchy, Chloé, Valentino, Holly Fulton and Proenza Schouler. Believe me, you could spend the whole day in this shopping temple!

LoL, Sandra

Designer clothes

Beauty temple

Olfactory bar

Ladurée

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Seen on the streets of Milan: Beautiful Suryia looking elegant and stylish!

Suryia’s look: Short-sleeved trenchoat by Bottega Veneta, printed vintage dress by Léonard, Boston bag by Céline, boots by L’Autre Chose and watch by Rolex.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht