Latest news with #Sandor
Tatler Asia
8 hours ago
- Business
- Tatler Asia
World Environment Day: These designers are making a case for sustainable fashion
Vivienne Westwood Above Designer Dame Vivienne Westwood () The late Dame Vivienne Westwood was a singular force in English fashion, whose punk-fuelled rebellion matured into a powerful call for environmental action. Although she launched her eponymous label in the 1970s, her focus pivoted towards sustainability in the 2010s. Her now-iconic philosophy—'Buy less, choose well, make it last'—became a global manifesto for conscious consumption, encouraging quality over quantity. The label kept fabric overstock below five per cent and committed to sourcing 90 to 95 per cent sustainable cotton, alongside responsibly sourced viscose, a strict no-fur policy and a dedication to leather alternatives. Beyond the brand, Westwood was an outspoken environmental advocate, collaborating with organisations such as Greenpeace—designing its Save the Arctic logo—and donating more than £1.5 million (approximately US$1.9 million) to Cool Earth, while also supporting Amnesty International and Friends of the Earth. Nanushka Co-founded by Sandra Sandor in 2005, Nanushka has become a contemporary luxury label known for its 'modern bohemian' aesthetic and deep-rooted commitment to sustainability. A cornerstone of the brand's innovation is Okobor™, its proprietary vegan leather developed over two years using recycled polyester sourced from post-consumer plastic bottles. Since the pre-autumn 2022 collection, all of Sandor's alternative-leather pieces have been crafted using this textile breakthrough. Circularity is at the heart of Nanushka's ethos. Its Anew collections breathe new life into archival designs using leftover materials from the brand's atelier. The label also advocates for more sustainable consumption through collaborations with resale and rental platforms including TheRealReal and Rent the Runway. Sandor has pledged to reduce Nanushka's greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030, with a long-term ambition of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. Brunello Cucinelli Above Brunello Cucinelli wins Community and Social Justice award at the 2017 Green Carpet Fashion Awards () Italian designer Brunello Cucinelli masterfully fuses timeless style with humanistic values. From the brand's headquarters in the restored medieval village of Solomeo, Italy, Cucinelli champions a philosophy of 'humanistic capitalism'—placing equal weight on profit, human dignity and cultural preservation. Renowned for its fine craftsmanship, the brand responsibly sources raw materials such as its signature high-quality cashmere. Cucinelli has also set ambitious sustainability targets, including reducing direct emissions by 70 per cent by 2028 and achieving net-zero by 2050. Environmental initiatives include the use of renewable energy, strict waste management protocols and eco-conscious dyeing processes. Beyond fashion, the brand reinvests a portion of its profits into cultural initiatives—from art restoration and education to the revitalisation of public spaces in Solomeo. Gabriela Hearst Gabriela Hearst launched her eponymous label in 2015, drawing inspiration from her family's 17,000-acre ranch in Uruguay, where durability and craftsmanship were everyday values. Her philosophy of 'honest luxury' centres on timeless design and environmental responsibility. Today, 30 per cent of the label's materials are made from deadstock fabrics. Collections often feature merino wool sourced from her family's farm, alongside material innovations such as Inversa™ Python leather—an alternative crafted from invasive species to help preserve biodiversity. In 2019, she made fashion history with the first-ever carbon-neutral, plastic-free runway show. Her boutiques also reflect this commitment to sustainability, with her New York flagship constructed using 90 per cent reclaimed construction waste. During her three-year tenure as creative director of Chloé, Hearst led the French maison to become the first European luxury fashion house to receive B Corp certification. Marine Serre Since winning the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers in 2017, Marine Serre has become a standout voice in the sustainability movement, recognised for her crescent moon logo and futuristic, upcycled fashion. Half of each of her collections are crafted from repurposed materials—think vintage scarves, denim and neoprene scuba suits. The other half incorporates lower-impact textiles such as biodegradable yarns and GOTS-certified organic cotton. At her 3,000-square-metre Paris atelier, Serre merges large-scale textile upcycling with creative design and public workshops aimed at sharing sustainable practices. She's also expanded her vision into furniture and accessories, bringing her circular philosophy to a wider lifestyle offering.
Euronews
28-05-2025
- Euronews
Severe flooding cripples Romania's historic Praid salt mine
Heavy flooding in Romania's Harghita County — the worst in the past three decades — has led to critical conditions at the historical Praid salt mine, one of Europe's largest salt reserves and a major tourist attraction in the country, authorities said. According to County Prefect Petres Sandor, the inflow of water is uncontrollable. "We lost the fight with nature. The water has started to enter the salt mine again, with a flow that cannot be controlled at the moment," Sandor told local press. "Authorities will carry out an expertise as soon as possible to establish the condition of the walls, the pillars inside the mine, and to decide what to do next," he added. The Praid salt mine dates back to Roman times. In recent times, the attraction on the Via Transilvanica long-distance trail also served as a medical centre and a tourist destination, including an adventure park, a cinema, a small museum and other facilities, all located some 120 metres underground. The authorities are yet to determine the extent of the salt mine emergency and the impact of the flooding. "The situation is complicated. When water comes into contact with the salt, it immediately melts it and makes a hole," Sorin Rindasu, head of the Emergency Situations department in the Romanian Waters Administration, said. The flow of the Corund stream increased, resulting in the water further pouring into the mine, he added. Authorities say that although the situation is critical, the flooding will not destabilise the entire mine. "it would take quite a while for the water to dissolve so much salt inside to pose a problem of stability, we are talking about months, years, not days, weeks, in any case," Sandor said. In recent years, water leaks have already posed a problem to the mine, and authorities have carried out works to prevent infiltration. The Romanian government offered assistance to the region to deal with the emergency situation, and the ministry of economy assured the residents that it would make further investments to reduce the impact of the salt mine's flooding on Romanian tourism and reopen the mine for visitors.
Hamilton Spectator
25-04-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
‘I just wanted to calm her down': Burlington man on trial for murder says he killed wife in self-defence
A Burlington man charged with murdering his wife claims she attacked him, and he ended her life in self-defence. Sandor Somogyi, 73, testified in his defence before a jury in Milton on Thursday, April 24. He is accused of killing his wife Margit, 67, in her Regency Court apartment on Jan. 13, 2023. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge of second-degree murder he faces. The jury heard that Sandor and Margit had a troubled relationship prior to Margit's death. Through a Hungarian interpreter, Sandor testified the pair separated, but did not divorce, after their children moved out of their Burlington home in 2016. Sandor returned to his native Hungary to try and start a new business while Margit moved into her own apartment at 695 Regency Court in Burlington. Sandor said things did not work out for him in Hungary as he couldn't get the licensing needed to start a business and he returned to Canada after about a month. He then moved into Margit's apartment despite his name not being on the lease. Sandor would later confirm Margit did not add him to the lease because he had recently declared bankruptcy and because he had a criminal record with multiple convictions related to impaired driving. During the trial the court heard from several neighbours who testified about loud arguments coming from the Somogyis' apartment. When asked by defence attorney Donald Carter what these arguments were about Sandor said sometimes they were about their daughters' marriages. Sandor said they didn't marry well, and his opinion upset Margit. Other times he said the fights were about everyday things like her not liking how he did the cleaning or him making a mistake with the shopping. However, during cross examination by assistant Crown attorney Maureen McGuigan Sandor acknowledged the arguments were also about his level of alcohol consumption, which Margit had a problem with. The relationship between Margit and Sandor deteriorated further on Dec. 23, 2022, when Sandor became intoxicated and passed out in the second floor hallway of the Regency Court apartment building. Sandor said this was the only time he had been that drunk and acknowledged property management had to support him to the elevator so he could get back to Margit's apartment on the fifth floor. Police were called as a result of this incident and a week later property management served Margit with notice that Sandor had to be out of the building by noon on Jan. 13, 2023. McGuigan said Margit was also told that if Sandor stayed and there was another incident Margit would be evicted as well. The court heard that Sandor was still in the apartment on Jan. 12, 2023. He told the jury that that day he had visited homeless shelters in Oakville and Hamilton to see if they could take him but was told they were full. He said he also checked to see if he could stay in an apartment above an area church and was told to expect an answer the following day. Sandor said Margit had regularly reminded him he would have to leave. He said as Jan. 12 became Jan. 13, he packed a suitcase and planned to head to a motel at around noon. The Burlington senior testified that at breakfast Margit began fighting with him. 'She told me to leave,' said Sandor. 'I told her to give me three hours.' He said Margit continued shouting at him and he told her to calm down. After about five minutes of Margit shouting, Sandor said, both decided to go back to bed. He said sometime later the doorbell rang and Margit told him to answer it. Sandor said when he answered the door the property manager asked if everything was OK and where Margit was. He said he told the manager that Margit was in bed and not to disturb her. After the property manager left Sandor said Margit again demanded he leave, but this time she physically attacked him in the bedroom. 'She was coming, and she was strongly trying to attack, and she scratched my face and my chest,' said Sandor. He said she also slapped him on the forehead. Sandor said he grabbed Margit by the shoulders to keep her away from him. He said he then turned her around, grabbed her neck from behind with his hands and pushed her onto the bed. 'I told her quietly to calm down and everything will be OK,' said Sandor. 'I was holding her neck for about half a minute and then I let go because she went quiet.' Sandor said he turned Margit over and called her name, but she was unresponsive. 'I didn't want to kill her,' he said. 'I just wanted to calm her down.' An autopsy found that Margit died as a result of her neck being compressed. Following Margit's death Sandor said he swallowed large doses of the various medications he was taking in an effort to kill himself. He said he then wrote what was intended to be a suicide note on two sides of a piece of paper and left it on a pillow next to Margit's body. Sandor confirmed the front side read: 'I Sandor Somogyi killed this woman. I did it rightfully. Please investigate.' He said on the reverse side of the note he wrote: 'Blood speaks. The blood of my 3 daughters doesn't match.' When asked about this message on the reverse side of the note Sandor said he believed his wife had been unfaithful and his two youngest daughters were not actually his. Sandor's suicide attempt would ultimately fail, and he was arrested after attending the property manager's office and telling him to call police. During cross examination McGuigan hammered Sandor on many of the details of his account. She questioned whether Sandor had any intention of leaving, noting that no suitcase can be seen in police photos of the apartment closet where Sandor said he put it. She also noted his clothing was still in the wardrobe. Sandor said the suitcase is in a corner of the closet and can't be seen due to hanging clothing. He also noted he was not done packing and said the clothing would only take him minutes to remove. McGuigan questioned why he was still in the apartment at all with just hours remaining until he was supposed to leave. Sandor said he was waiting to hear back from the church about potentially being able to stay there. McGuigan suggested this story about a church apartment was a fiction, but Sandor maintained it was real. The assistant Crown attorney also took aim at Sandor's account of the struggle with his wife noting that the door to the bedroom was right beside him and when he pushed her on the bed, he could have just escaped. Sandor said he feared his wife would attack him again if he let her go. He also said Margit used her arms to block him from leaving. 'It's easy to be smart after the fact,' he said when questioned further about not taking this escape route. McGuigan also drew attention to testimony by Beata Pegoretti, Margit's daughter, who said she was worried about her mother and had been calling her all morning but received no response . Indeed, the Halton officer who found Margit's body testified that when she entered the Somogyi apartment she noticed that Margit's cellphone was constantly ringing. The assistant Crown attorney argued that by the time the property manager knocked on the door Margit was already dead, otherwise she would have picked up her phone. Sandor said he did not hear Margit's phone ringing. McGuigan then drew attention to the note and pointed out there was no mention of Sandor having killed Margit in self-defence. Sandor said there was not enough room on the note for this and believed he had little time given the medication he had swallowed to kill himself. Asked by McGuigan what he meant by stating 'I did it rightfully,' Sandor said he meant that he had 'rightfully' defended himself. McGuigan suggested Sandor thought her death was done rightfully because she had cheated on him and had been forcing him out of the apartment. Sandor disagreed. McGuigan also argued that Sandor had included the information about Margit's alleged infidelity as an act of revenge and to taint their daughters' memory of her. Sandor said he wanted the authorities to know what Margit was guilty of. McGuigan suggested that in the early morning of Jan. 13, 2023, Margit threatened to call police to have Sandor removed at which point Sandor choked her to death. She said the account of Margit attacking him was completely made up. 'You decided you were done listening to Margit about this and any other subject. You wanted peace and quiet permanently,' said McGuigan. The assistant Crown attorney said that as he choked Margit she scratched him in self-defence and that is how he got the scratches later photographed by police. Sandor denied this and said she attacked him. With Sandor's testimony complete Carter said the defence's evidence was complete. In the coming days, McGuigan and Carter will present closing arguments to the jury after which the jury will decide whether they believe Sandor's account of self-defence or that he is guilty of second-degree murder.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Yahoo
Orange judge: School district had right to ban OnlyFans mom from volunteering
A judge ruled Orange County Public Schools had the authority to ban a mother from volunteering at her child's school after it was revealed she posted explicit content on the adult website OnlyFans. Victoria Triece helped organize class parties and assisted in lab assignments at Sand Lake Elementary School, where her two children attended, as part of the district's ADDitions program. She had served as a volunteer for five years until an anonymous tipster in 2021 sent an email to the principal containing some of Triece's OnlyFans content. Then she was told she was no longer welcome. Triece, who made international headlines after speaking out, sued two years later, accusing OCPS of violating her right to volunteer and denying her right to appeal the decision to ban her. But the 22-page summary judgment by Judge Brian Sandor, filed Jan. 29, concluded she had no right to volunteer, and said that OCPS policies make mention of an appeals process only 'in the context of criminal history checks and an applicant's criminal history.' Even then, according to the ruling, school district policies found in court filings explicitly state that a volunteer's eligibility 'does not guarantee volunteer placement.' 'That policy does not include any language that confers any right or benefit upon an individual to participate in the program, to remain in the program, or to appeal a removal decision,' Sandor wrote. 'On these points, the policy is silent.' The images sent to higher-ups at Sand Lake Elementary were from Triece's OnlyFans page, accessible to subscribers for a fee. When she was removed as a volunteer in 2021, Triece told reporters she always dressed appropriately on school grounds and that her day job was kept from the children. Mark NeJame, whose law firm represented Triece, blasted OCPS as being 'morality police' when the district banned her anyway. The lawsuit further accused the district of violating Triece's right to privacy by circulating the photos to 'staff and employees that were not in need of the information,' but Sandor ruled that emails between district employees containing the images were sent 'for the purpose of carrying out OCPS's official business.' That includes releases of the email tip containing the images in response to public records requests by news outlets, including the Orlando Sentinel. Other than that, Triece 'did not supply any evidence in support of her claim' that the photos were illegally disseminated, Sandor said. NeJame did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. 'It's just not fair at all,' Triece said in 2023. 'I don't want another mom, I don't want another dad, I don't want anybody to have to deal with not seeing their child when you aren't hurting anybody.' Her lawyers said she did nothing illegal by appearing on OnlyFans, a site popular among sex workers. Her content also wasn't a secret — a search through Triece's public social media accounts reveal less explicit but still revealing photos and videos by the mother of two, who has since gone on to model for Playboy magazine.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Yahoo
Florida judge: School district had right to ban OnlyFans mom from volunteering
ORLANDO, Fla. — A judge ruled Orange County Public Schools had the authority to ban a mother from volunteering at her child's school after it was revealed she posted explicit content on the adult website OnlyFans. Victoria Triece helped organize class parties and assisted in lab assignments at Sand Lake Elementary School, where her two children attended, as part of the district's ADDitions program. She had served as a volunteer for five years until an anonymous tipster in 2021 sent an email to the principal containing some of Triece's OnlyFans content. Then she was told she was no longer welcome. Triece, who made international headlines after speaking out, sued two years later, accusing OCPS of violating her right to volunteer and denying her right to appeal the decision to ban her. But the 22-page summary judgment by Judge Brian Sandor, filed Jan. 29, concluded she had no right to volunteer, and said that OCPS policies make mention of an appeals process only 'in the context of criminal history checks and an applicant's criminal history.' Even then, according to the ruling, school district policies found in court filings explicitly state that a volunteer's eligibility 'does not guarantee volunteer placement.' 'That policy does not include any language that confers any right or benefit upon an individual to participate in the program, to remain in the program, or to appeal a removal decision,' Sandor wrote. 'On these points, the policy is silent.' The images sent to higher-ups at Sand Lake Elementary were from Triece's OnlyFans page, accessible to subscribers for a fee. When she was removed as a volunteer in 2021, Triece told reporters she always dressed appropriately on school grounds and that her day job was kept from the children. Mark NeJame, whose law firm represented Triece, blasted OCPS as being 'morality police' when the district banned her anyway. The lawsuit further accused the district of violating Triece's right to privacy by circulating the photos to 'staff and employees that were not in need of the information,' but Sandor ruled that emails between district employees containing the images were sent 'for the purpose of carrying out OCPS's official business.' That includes releases of the email tip containing the images in response to public records requests by news outlets, including the Orlando Sentinel. Other than that, Triece 'did not supply any evidence in support of her claim' that the photos were illegally disseminated, Sandor said. NeJame did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. 'It's just not fair at all,' Triece said in 2023. 'I don't want another mom, I don't want another dad, I don't want anybody to have to deal with not seeing their child when you aren't hurting anybody.' Her lawyers said she did nothing illegal by appearing on OnlyFans, a site popular among sex workers. Her content also wasn't a secret — a search through Triece's public social media accounts reveal less explicit but still revealing photos and videos by the mother of two, who has since gone on to model for Playboy magazine. ----------
