The Monocle Minute

After a week in Italy the fashion industry heads to France with Paris Men’s Fashion Week beginning today. Among the 47 catwalks registered on the official programme are four new arrivals: Avoc, Christian Dada, OAMC and White Mountaineering. Yet the new labels won’t be the only change this year: in the wake of the events that rocked Paris in November the Fédération Française de la Couture, in collaboration with state services and the Paris police, will be on high alert with increased security during the shows, which may slow down proceedings. Meanwhile, you’ve got plenty of time to get yourself to Hedi Slimane’s show: the designer made a last-minute announcement yesterday that he won’t make the trip this season and his Saint Laurent show, initially scheduled for Sunday, will be postponed to 10 February in Los Angeles where the designer works and lives.

The newest player in Canada’s low-cost air-travel sector is hoping to bend the rules before it even gets off the ground. NewLeaf Travel Company has been forced to delay its maiden flight due to questions over its business model from the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA). NewLeaf doesn’t have an air-operating licence but its partner carrier BC-based Flair Airlines does. But can one airline operate the routes while another sells tickets for the journey? “As business models in the airline industry are rapidly evolving, the agency is currently reviewing whether companies that bulk purchase all seats on planes and then resell those seats to the public but do not operate any aircraft, such as NewLeaf, should be required to hold a licence,” Jack Branswell, a spokesman for the CTA, told reporters on Monday. CTA approval for NewLeaf’s model would be a first in commercial aviation in Canada. Bending business models might prove a headache for air-regulators but with the cost of flights stubbornly high in the country, some entrepreneurial imagination is welcome in the increasingly competitive sector.

Japan is no longer Asia’s best-kept travel secret. The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) revealed this week that Japan had a record-breaking number of foreign tourists in 2015: 20 million, a dramatic increase on the 13.5 million who visited Japan the previous year. For the first time since 1970 – when the Osaka Expo was held – the number of tourists coming to Japan exceeded the millions of Japanese who travelled abroad. According to JNTO, visitors spent ¥3.5trn (€27bn) during their stay and for the first time ever holidaymakers from the US exceeded a million. Looking ahead to the 2020 Olympics, the biggest problem for Tokyo’s tourists might be finding somewhere to stay.

Vietnam’s head honchos are gathering in Hanoi today to select the communist country’s next generation of leaders. Typically the preferred candidates for the top jobs of party secretary, state president and prime minister emerge months in advance of the national congress, held every five years. But this time around there has been some last-minute manoeuvering and growing intrigue about the eventual winners. Two-term prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung had been tipped to take the job of general secretary but at 66 he is already beyond the party’s official retirement age. Vietnam’s future will depend on whether he has the political power to stretch out his term at the top.

Monocle’s Jamie Waters speaks to Scott Schuman, founder of fashion blog The Sartorialist, and Guido Biondi, creative director of Italian fashion brand Roy Roger’s, about their collaboration on a capsule wardrobe revealed at international menswear event Pitti Uomo.

Large-scale manufacturing is on the wane in Turin. Discover how the Regio Parco area is making use of empty industrial spaces to create a new independent vibe.