Sandra‘s Closet

As the history of Louis Vuitton has been defined by innovation in travel, the Maison advances its Rolling Luggage series with the launch of Pégase, newly reimagined by Marc Newson. Among the most influential industrial designers of his generation, Newson has collaborated with Louis Vuitton on two previous designs since 2016: Horizon followed by the Horizon Soft duffle. With each chapter of Rolling Luggage, emblematic Louis Vuitton features combine with superior functionality.

Since the debut of his collaboration with Louis Vuitton, Newson reveals how savoir-faire, the hallmark of Louis Vuitton, benefits from a precise, forward-minded vision. «The objective for all three luggage collections was to have a consistent vocabulary between them and to share the same innovations,» says the designer.

Already, the Horizon and the Horizon Soft duffle stand out within the category. Beyond the recognisable Monogram or Damier canvas, the hard case and duffle shapes are both supported by an exterior trolley system and extra flat interior. For Pégase, Newson once again applied his expertise in materials and engineering, testing aluminium alloys used in aerospace to arrive at tubes of an unparalleled slimness. By reducing their interior protrusions, internal space is optimised throughout. Topped with an ergonomic handle, this latest trolley system excels in strength and manoeuvrability.

«This was one of the very first elements I wanted to address for the interior,» Newson explains. «You could say I approached this product from the inside out.» Meanwhile, in keeping with the spirit of Louis Vuitton himself, the option of packing cubes continues to offer a modular approach to the art of packing, compatible across the luggage collection.

In revisiting Pégase, Newson expands the Maison’s Rolling Luggage through rigorous and highly technical standards. The streamlined exterior is outlined with metallic zip hardware along the main compartment and an ample front compartment. The latter, newly sized for storing and protecting computers and tablets, is both an organisational and aesthetic feature that enhances overall convenience whether travelling for business or leisure. Two carrying handles are located on top and at the side for comfort of use, while two wheels offer an optimised interior volume. An integrated TSA combination lock and a removable TSA combination padlock keep belongings secured. The Pégase requires 28 operations to assemble its 89 distinct pieces and has been conceived so that components may be easily repaired and replaced accordingly.

True to the visual language of Louis Vuitton, the Pégase is offered in timeless Monogram, Monogram Eclipse, Damier Graphite and Taiga Leather. Underneath, the shell ensures that Pégase is at once lightweight and ultra-resistant. In this way, frequent travellers will appreciate that Newson has given equal consideration to exterior and interior.

As travel for any purpose becomes essential and exciting once again, Louis Vuitton Rolling Luggage collection delivers an elevated statement through design that is built to last.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Louis Vuitton
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Louis Vuitton has teamed up with acclaimed Swiss contemporary artist Urs Fischer on a multifaceted collaboration that highlights his playfully audacious creative vision across a wide range of leather goods, ready-to-wear, shoes and accessories.

Entitled «Louis Vuitton x Urs Fischer», Urs Fischer’s exuberant and textured reworking of Louis Vuitton’s signature Monogram is the starting point of this collection which features the Monogram’s flowers and LV initials in new hand-drawn versions that he calls «memory sketches». The resulting dream-like motifs have been meticulously adapted to suit each specific product across this comprehensive collection, changing in size, perspective, colour and application technique.

Available in two colourways, black and red and black and white, this new Monogram is the collaboration’s key decorative motif, and features throughout the collection’s designs. In addition to ready-to-wear, accessories and shoes, seven special-edition bags – a Keepall, Cabas, Onthego, two Neverfulls, Speedys, Pochettes Accessoires, and a charming, hard-sided beauty case – use the Urs Fischer Monogram to particularly impressive effect thanks to an exquisite tuffetage treatment that uses velvet-like material to create extra texture and tactile relief.

The collaboration also features a series of whimsical characters created by Urs Fischer. The enchanting animals and objects are united in a playful print that fills a colourful silk square.

«Louis Vuitton x Urs Fischer» is both a perfect, large-scale showcase for Urs Fischer’s creative world and the latest exciting chapter in Louis Vuitton’s longstanding commitment to the arts. The collection will launch in Louis Vuitton stores worldwide in January 2021. For more information, click here please.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Louis Vuitton / Pierre-Ange Carlotti

For F/W 2019, Louis Vuitton has collaborated with Alex Israel on a textile collection featuring the Los Angeles-based artist’s trademark vibrant pop aesthetic.

Alex Israel in front of his famous Wave paintings.

An original and strikingly modern addition to Alex Israel’s searching exploration of art and branding, the cultural and the commercial, the new eight-piece collection features playful and beautiful scarves, shawls, blankets and a bandeau.

Pink silk square

It begins with a collection of scarves which use Israel’s celebrated Wave paintings as the basis of a radical and remarkable update of the simple, elegant medium of the silk square.
The Wave scarves use a cutting-edge, technically innovative quilting technique. One side of each scarf is padded to recreate Israel’s Wave paintings’ puffy texture, while the reverse features the House’s iconic Monogram pattern.

Israel has designed four colour combinations across three sizes (classic, giant and jumbo- which doubles as a blanket), a new approach to sizing that creates original and modern ways to wear and use the classic square.

Sky Backdrop Monogram shawl in blue

The collection’s Sky Backdrop Monogram shawls are made in a delightfully airy silk and cashmere blend onto which Sky Backdrop paintings, another of Israel’s most recognizable series, are transferred in two different colourways using Louis Vuitton’s state-of-the-art digital printing.

The collection’s final piece, the double-sided, brightly coloured Desperado bandeau, features a ludic desert scene with cacti and cars inspired by the artist’s 2015 bronze sculpture, Desperado, and a Sky Backdrop overprinted with the House’s Monogram.

This new collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Alex Israel – following on from the artist’s recent Arty capucines bag and packaging for Les Colognes Perfumes – is an inventive and playful new chapter in the House’s long history of working with celebrated artists on its textiles range.

Love it so much: Louis Vuitton x Alexis Israel Arty capucine bag

After creative legends including Sol LeWitt, James Rosenquist, Andrée Putman, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Stephen Sprouse and Yayoi Kusama, Israel becomes the latest artist to bring his talents to these «blank canvases».

The Louis Vuitton-Alex Israel textile collection is available in a selected network from now.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © LVMH, © Louis Vuitton, © Gagosian
Photographer: Dan Martensen for Louis Vuitton
Fashion: Karla Welch for Louis Vuitton

B Blossom breaks new ground by introducing a fine jewellery collection inspired by the confident woman who leaves a mark in her way.
The star-shaped flower’s iconic design created by Georges-Louis Vuitton in 1896, is reimagined and emboldened in the guise of a stylish spherical stamp to meld attitude with playfulness.
Illuminated by diamonds, the pink and yellow gold range of rings, bracelets and cuffs, earrings, pendants and chain necklaces radiate the iconic flower’s rebirth in an ode to the precious matrix animating the Monogram’s potential for infinity.

Fashioned for the Louis Vuitton’s tribe, the Maison’s new interpretation of its signature Flower presides throughout this fine jewellery collection as the seal of a modern day avatar. Magnified by the power of gold, stones, and diamonds to redefine the signet ring and its play on heritage.

Seven playful rings offer a versatile interpretation of the House’s iconic design. Worn as single rings or stacked, they are available in malachite, onyx, white agate, pink opal, diamonds or plain gold in both yellow and pink gold. Complimented respectively by three statement signet rings, either in carved stone or the other in paveʼs diamonds.

These generous renditions emphasize the ring’s three dimensionality and its value as a statement piece. With the signature, Louis Vuitton star-shaped flower in diamonds set in white gold, these blossoms evoke Louis Vuitton’s unique know-how to heighten the preciousness of the materials, in a testament to elegant craftsmanship and multicoloured refinement.

Other iconic piece of the collection, a sumptuous bracelet in gold with sensual contour, encases in its curves, fives precious pearls paved of diamonds or in onyx. This impression strengthens the fierce beauty of the message in the stones and amplifies the impact of the design.

The collection’s approach to voluptuousness explores the geometric interplay by introducing a bead and a pendant monogram flower, set inside a single walled frame to be worn on short and long necklaces and bracelets. With earrings to compliment the contrasting shapes, these talismans add a minimalist feel to the iconic design, that exalt the sensuality of Louis Vuitton’s jewellery and exploit the harmony in the elements. Exquisitely sculpted mother of pearl, and the expert work on hard stones highlight the House’s approach to diamonds to showcase the essence of femininity. Set delicately off center, on a modern chain, the square frame can be paired with the rounded generosity of the bead to invite a modern interpretation of the monogram’s heritage.

As the adventurer it inspires, B Blossom finds its beauty in a finely nuanced metamorphosis
that encompasses the genesis of the original design, reinterpreted and sublimated
to entrust Louis Vuitton’s signature collection with a bold new attitude.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Louis Vuitton

LV gets a new meaning… Lagerfeld Vuitton, Louboutin Vuitton… sounds too good to be true?! It is reality, on September 10, 2014, Louis Vuitton will reveal the amazing collaboration with the group of six famous creatives as part of THE ICON AND THE ICONOCLASTS project.

Among those visionaries from the worlds of fashion, art and design are Karl Lagerfeld, Rei Kawabuko, Christian Louboutin, Cindy Sherman, Marc Newson and Frank Gehry, who has also designed the window displays for September.

Each of them has been given ‘carte blanche‘ to to reinterpret the brand’s iconic monogram bag or luggage. The limited edition pieces will go on sale from mid-October in a very select number of Louis Vuitton stores and range between €2000 – 4000.

Classic Monogram Keepall 45 by Louis Vuitton

The monogram was launched with worldwide patents on it in 1896 by Georges Vuitton as a tribute to his late father Louis, who had died in 1892, and was considered revolutionary in its time. Its graphic symbols, including quatrefoils and flowers (as well as the LV monogram), were based on the trend of using Japanese and Oriental designs in the late Victorian era.

Today, Louis Vuitton revealed some exclusive behind the scene photos of the creative process!
Cannot wait to see the results on September 10, 2014! Stay tuned!

LoL, Sandra

Karl Lagerfeld

Christian Louboutin

Frank Gehry

Cindy Sherman
Photos: Courtesy of Louis Vuitton

On Wednesday morning, I went to Louis Vuitton‘s S/S 2013 show that was as energizing and different as it was brief because the models walked out in pairs like twins. The setting was once more very special: Four escalators formed the fundamental structure of the presentation inspired by Les Deux Plateaux, a famous installation piece in the Palais Royal by the artist Daniel Buren with columns arranged in a grid.

The collection was very graphic and structured which had I expected after having seen Marc Jacobs’ signature line where minimalistic stripes ruled the runway (for more information, please click here). For Louis Vuitton, the designer went for ’60s silhouettes, gigantic checks and floral embroideries stitched in mini-squares. Even the house’s iconic Speedy bag got cubed, too.

It was the first ever Louis Vuitton collection not to make use of the Monogram. Instead, the Damier pattern provided the house’s signature.

A fundamental duality underpinned the collection, Marc Jacobs used always two colors, shiny and matt textures. He had the image of two very different French icons of the ’60s, Françoise Hardy and Jane Birkin, in mind when creating the collection: Hardy always very covered up, Birkin always revealing plenty of flesh, but both always in long, simple clothes. To reinforce these oppositions, the collection was presented on models in pairs.

For a finale, the models streamed down the four escalators very futuristically like an army of Louis Vuitton cult followers to the music from the opera “Einstein on The Beach” by Philip Glass. The show was different, especially compared to the excesses of last season and also optimistic as the sunshine yellow enlightened the room.

Marc Jacobs almost jumped down the escalator while the audience applauded.

Front row: Delfina Delettrez-Fendi, Natalia Vodianova, Antoine Arnault and Poppy Delevingne

Rachel Zoe and husband Roger Berman

Enjoy your weekend!

LoL, Sandra

Photos used for the collages: Courtesy of Louis Vuitton, all other photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Have you been looking for the perfect bag to carry to work that fits all your personal belongings, keeps your laptop safe, looks stylish and is made out of great leather for an amazing price? Sounds be too good to be true? Actually not, you might have just found it…

Let me introduce to the new addition to my closet: The Loretta Bag by Rodtnes, made of soft, thick calfskin leather of the highest quality that will only become more beautiful with time. The leather is very similar to the Togo leather from Hermès.

The bag has the perfect size that fits everything you need for work.
Let me show you what is in my bag:

Monogrammed patent-leather iPad sleeve by Gucci holding my iPad, pink textured-leather notebook by Smythson, Culte sunglasses by Miu Miu, smartphone holder by Montblanc, my MacBook that is stored perfectly in a special compartment of the Loretta bag, Monogram card holder and wallet, both by Louis Vuitton, a magazine and a statement necklace by Gabriele Frantzen (that can transform your business look in one step to a glamorous outfit for night, always be prepared…).

Below you can find the photos and more facts on the fabulous Loretta bag.

About Rodtnes

In early 2011 Mette Rodtnes, a designing architect, was looking for a beautiful and functional workbag. When she realized that what she was looking for did not exist, she started to to develop the Loretta – the very first Rodtnes bag.

External features:

– Adjustable handles
– Security straps (the handles are kept safely in place by two straps on each attachment location)

–  Long detachable shoulder strap

– Two side pockets with magnetic closing (one side pocket holds a compartment for a mobile phone)

Internal features:

– Compartment to fit a 13 or 15-inch laptop computer. 
(15 inch = appr. 36 – 38 cm on the longest side)
– Compartment to fit A4 documents, iPad etc.
– Smaller zipped compartment.
– Large compartment

Loretta Bag by Rodtnes
Height: 31 cm. Length: 39 cm. Width at botton: 16 cm
Available in black, caramel and grey.

€ 374.- (Readers of Sandra’s Closet will get a special 20% discount by using the promotion code sandrascloset at checkout until the end of August 2012).

Prices for Swiss orders include VAT.
Prices for EU and international orders exclude VAT.

To shop, please click here. Rodtnes is only available online.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht