It has been a short two weeks after a lively opening party and business is brisk at Kaptain Sunshine’s new Tokyo flagship. Designer Shinsuke Kojima is on the shop floor as a trio of young South Korean tourists, a dapper Japanese gent and a pair of well-dressed Tokyo friends are all browsing and buying. Clearly the word is out that the brand has opened its first standalone shop. “We’re happy with how it’s going,” says Kojima, surveying the throng. “A third of the customers are coming from overseas.”
To those in the know, Kaptain Sunshine is simply one of the best brands to have come out of Japan, having mastered the kind of smart-casual wardrobe that Tokyoites are always celebrated for. The label’s success is down to Kobe-born Kojima, who started the brand in 2013, to indulge his passion for vintage uniforms and relentless eye for detail. He manufactures everything in Japan and favours original fabrics made to his specifications. His most recent spring/summer collection, currently in store, includes garments such as field shirt-jackets in deliciously light cotton-polyester mixes, garment-dyed work jackets in hemp and cotton, and military trainers in white leather.
Every piece is connected to a different maker in Japan. Denim comes from Okayama and Hiroshima; leather purses and belts are made in Tokyo and Kamakura; and hand-finished silk squares are made with fabric from Yamanashi. The detail in the denim is something else: a 13.5oz selvedge, dyed with pure indigo and woven on an old-fashioned loom to give the uneven texture that Kojima likes. “We give the factories highly detailed sewing instructions to ensure a one-of-a-kind line-up that we take pride in,” he says.
There are stories woven into every piece – and fashion fans lap them up. But Kaptain Sunshine also happens to be the easiest brand to wear. “We’re using high-quality materials and precision sewing but this is everyday wear that can be washed without worry and dried in the sun,” says Kojima. “We’re thinking about comfort, even when travelling.” Some basic garments, such as the Okayama-made blue denim trousers and T-shirts, inspired by American vintage, appear every season. There are collaborations too, from nylon bucket hats co-designed with the brand Kijima Takayuki to suede shoes crafted with Paraboot.
Kojima is equally passionate about vintage furniture, which becomes immediately evident in the shop’s interiors, designed alongside Fukuoka architect Koichi Futatsumata. The store is on a quiet street just off Kotto Dori in Aoyama and is filled with Kojima’s finds: French rope chairs from the 1950s, a 17th-century English chest, an Okinawan pot that’s several hundred years old. There’s a rare wall-mounted Dieter Rams for Braun hi-fi from the 1960s playing, when Monocle visits, some mellow jazz. Like the brand’s signature garments, the retail space’s overall look is relaxed rather than laboured.
This laid-back approach appeals to the label’s core male clientele – and, increasingly, to a new crop of in-the-know female clients too. “We make clothes in four sizes so that anyone can wear them,” says Kojima. “We just want everyone with a sense of style to see our collection.” With the new Tokyo flagship and a twice-yearly trunk show in Paris, his message is certainly getting through.
kaptainsunshine.com
STAY
25Hours Hotel The Oddbird, Senayan, Kebayoran Baru
A new addition to Jakarta, 25Hours is conveniently housed on top of the Ashta shopping mall. Indonesia’s take on the expanding Hamburg hotel chain is called The Oddbird and embraces every opportunity to be bold and a bit whimsical. Rooms are equipped with Freitag bags and Schindlehauers bikes.
25hours-hotels.com
FOOD & DRINK
Modernhaus, Senopati, Kebayoran Baru
Modernhaus feels more like an architect’s lounge than a cocktail bar. The mid-century-inspired space by Union Group hums with low-lit warmth, an inviting bar and cocktails from mixologist Mirwansyah “Bule”.
+62 817-7233-3368
Kaum, Menteng, Central Jakarta
Kaum distils Indonesia’s culinary heritage in an unpretentious experience courtesy of the Potato Head Family. Recipes including lamb drizzled in pickled greens, beef slow-cooked in red lado, and rice laced with green stinky beans, are given a polished edge and sit with inventive new ones.
kaum.com
Scarlett’s House Blok M, Melawai, Kebayoran Baru
Scarlett’s textural riot of sugary delights was the talk of the town during their time in Pantai Indah Kapuk: patrons started queuing at 09.00 for a slice of its poured tiramisu. Their latest in the vibrant Blok M/Melawai sees the patisserie take on another mantle as a bistro-cum-listening bar.
+62 812-9272-1601
SHOP
Archie, Selong, Kebayoran Baru
In the quieter end of Gunawarman, Archie showcases a curated line of tailorings and ready to-wear pieces from names such as Drake’s and made-to-measure clothes from Flannel Bay and Sartoria Melina. Founder Michael Wong regularly hosts trunk shows, with the latest from Japan’s Lecteur (Yuki Igarashi flew in) and Florence’s Leonardo Simoncini (hosted together with Wong’s other venture Soroi in Panglima Polim). The collaboration pieces with Alden are perfect for Jakarta’s unending summer.
archiestore.com
Sarinah, Gondangdia, Menteng
Jakarta’s oldest department store, first envisioned by Soekarno in the 1960s, is now a dynamic cultural and retail space housing everything local (well, almost). Its post-renovation offering spans from heritage-rich batik ateliers to new homegrown brands alongside an extensive selection of local food and beverages (all worth sampling), while the plaza often holds events and performances.
sarinah.co.id
SEE
ROH Projects, Menteng, Central Jakarta
A maverick gallery that took its permanent space in 2022 in a converted mid-century colonial house on Jalan Surabaya. Notable names it represents include Maruto Ardi, Kei Imazu, Bagus Pandega and art collective Tromarama.
rohprojects.net
Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Nusantara (MACAN), Kebon Jeruk
Museum MACAN (founded 2017) is the country’s leading institution for modern and contemporary art with a growing international significance. While it offers a window to the world – bringing in heavyweights such as Chiharu Shiota and Yayoi Kusama – it also brings forward local names through major exhibitions.
museummacan.org
To discover Jakarta through our lens and meet the people shaping it as well as business in Asia, join us for The Chiefs this April, 2025. To find out more, visit monocle.com/events
“This is a new vision of power dressing,” says Sara Ferrero, pointing to lightweight cashmere cardigans, satin tube skirts and breezy crêpe-de-Chine shirts by Sasuphi, the womenswear label that she co-founded in Milan with Susanna Cucco in 2021. Ferrero and Cucco are widely known for their exceptional taste and stellar CVs, which include executive positions in some of the city’s most established fashion houses. Ferrero, a former investment banker and consultant, worked as CEO of Valextra and Joseph. She was also a general partner at Neo Investment Partners, leading the private equity firm’s investments in beauty and fashion; and remains a board member at Ferragamo. Cucco has spent decades working as an art director for companies such as Max Mara.
Even after seeing the output of some of the biggest houses in the world, both Cucco and Ferrero felt that the luxury fashion market was missing a sense of pragmatism – bold designs that can still fit into day-to-day life. “Fashion designers create according to their vision, not according to what women want to wear to feel good,” says Cucco, also pointing to fashion’s perennial obsession with youth culture. “We thought that there was space for women like us who are not necessarily young; people who work, who have meetings in the day and events in the evening,” says Ferrero.
That’s how Sasuphi was born – from a desire to offer well-made, adaptable clothes that won’t go out of style in just a few months. “The market is insulting the customer when it offers clothes that become irrelevant after one season,” says Ferrero. Instead, Sasuphi makes pieces that “you don’t want to let go”. Designs from previous seasons remain part of the collections, styled with new-season creations, the focus always being on clean-lined silhouettes inspired by architecture rather than fashion trends. “Living in Milan, you’re surrounded by buildings by some of the best talents of the 20th century, and that shapes how you think about design,” says Ferrero. “Architecture is also about functionality,” she adds, while sitting at the long conference table of Sasuphi’s showroom-cum-studio, which occupies the sunny first floor of one of Milan’sgenteel residential palazzos in Brera. “We bring the geometry of architecture to our clothes.”
Close inspection of their pieces reveals outstanding Italian fabrics sourced from the country’s best textile makers: thick silks from Ratti in Como, finespun cashmere from Cariaggi, heavy cotton shirting from Albini and wool from Zegna’s famous facility in Piedmont. “As Italians, we want good ingredients,” says Cucco, who firmly believes that everyone deserves to wear natural materials. “They’re luxurious on the skin, plus they breathe in the summer and retain heat in the winter – the original tech materials.”
Despite the pair’s industry connections, Sasuphi launched without investors and without a marketing team. “We needed independence in order to follow our values,” says Cucco. “And it’s working.” The brand is now available in more than 50 top outlets worldwide, from Net-a-Porter to Bergdorf Goodman, and sells out quickly.
For spring the label’s collection focuses on a potent, mood-boosting colour palette, from poppy red and periwinkle blue to hyacinth pink. Colour is a form of “gentle power”, says Cucco, who wears pink-framed glasses.
The line also includes lightweight, fuss-free styles, from silk trenches to voluminous knits and silk T-shirts, which can be easily layered, becoming the cornerstone of any spring wardrobe. As the two women pull items from the showroom racks – white trousers that button down the sides, a butter-yellow shirt dress, a silk khaki T-shirt – they restyle themselves as they go, creating various combinations with every garment. That’s the best way to wear Sasuphi.
Ferrero and Cucco also demonstrate how adaptable their designs are by taking them on the road and hosting trunk shows around the world. “As a small company, this is the best way to generate interest,” says Ferrero, explaining that even the smallest in-person trunk show creates opportunities to connect with customers, share stories and showcase the garments’ artisanal quality. “You don’t need 100 million followers on social media. You don’t need followers, period. You need fans. You need 1,000 people who believe in you and buy your products.”
sasuphi.com
On the fifth floor of a corporate tower in the centre of Mumbai, sandwiched between IT and accounting firms, women sit around a spanking white table, diligently weaving golden thread through cotton. These are the students of the Chanakya School of Craft and they are practising zari, an embroidery style favoured by the ostentatious rulers of the Mughal era. When Monocle visits, the sun is falling over the airy classrooms, lending a milky glow to the skyline. An aura of quiet concentration pervades the space: the women are at the tail of their day, their fingers stitching and folding for hours already.
Neelam Bhujbal is a graduate of the second cohort to pass through the Chanakya School of Craft, which was established in 2016 by textile and embroidery house Chanakya International. She tells Monocle that zari and zardozi – a similar style, which uses metal bullion thread rather than gold – are her favourite of the 300 stitches and techniques learned during her studies. It’s the style, she says, of kings.
Bhujbal’s is a typical story: she was a housewife and stay-at-home mother before starting at the school, which she heard about through a neighbour. In fact, most women in the room discovered the craft training opportunity through a friend, sister-in-law or neighbour’s cousin. Word of mouth is the only recruitment strategy that matters here – and younger students are not the only target.
Bhujbal thrived during the 18-month course, whose teachings are contextualised with important women in history, including Frida Kahlo and Indian poet Sarojini Naidu. Now she works full-time at the Chanakya International atelier, which regularly collaborates with fashion houses such as Lanvin, Fendi, Valentino and Dior. The French house’s long-time creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri regularly commissions the Chanakya atelier to create tapestries for its runway show sets and hand embroidered gowns for couture collections. She was the first to suggest that the school open up to female students from underserved communities. “She has been instrumental in looking at craft through an expansive lens,” says Karishma Swali, artistic director of Chanakya International. She has developed a friendship with Chiuri over the past 30 years, born out of their mutual love of craft. The pair met in Rome in the mid-1990s, when Chiuri was still head of accessories at Fendi, and Swali was showcasing Chanakya’s designs to Italian fashion houses. The relationship has deepened since then, and Chiuri chairs the advisory board for the foundation and collaborates with Swali and the Chanakya School of Craft for artistic projects.
“We try to absorb as many graduates as possible in our atelier,” says Swali, referencing the 1,300 women who have passed through its programme since its inception. Others have gone on to start their own small businesses or work at different ateliers as seamstresses and artisans. Chanakya is SA8000 certified, meaning that its artisans are paid a “living wage” rather than minimum wage. This also means that it’s easier for students to balance multigenerational caregiving responsibilities with the hours required to receive certification. Students are given small honorariums to travel to and from their classes, which are free and can be taken either in the morning or the afternoon.
Swali funds the school using revenue from the design and manufacturing arms of the Chanakya International business. This is a worthwhile investment, as the training courses also double as talent incubators. She is adamant that these courses aren’t just intended to churn out technically proficient workers; they also form creatives who go on to build careers within the Chanakya atelier. “The way these women feel about themselves, once they see what they can make, once they see their work on a global stage – they really are artists,” she says. “They become custodians of these crafts. It’s incredible to see the change in them.”
The Chanakya atelier and corporate headquarters are a 30-minute drive from the company’s school, even with Mumbai’s notorious traffic. This is the engine room of the business, employing more than 1,000 artisans to execute commissions from the world’s top luxury fashion houses. “My role has been about creating a new language,” says Swali. “Balancing the skill of an artisan, with the DNA of a house. That’s really what I’ve been doing for the past two and a half decades.”
Chanakya HQ houses an archive gallery behind a heavy wooden door; this is a fashion enthusiast’s dream setting. Here is a pink netted Lanvin dress, fresh from the runway; a spangled Gucci gown that dances even in situ; a Dior frock that Natalie Portman once wore on the red carpet. Couture sits alongside retrieved historical artefacts, from mirror-worked petticoats (common to the northern states of Rajasthan and Haryana), to double-ikat weaves from Andhra Pradesh. The works are handled with deep precision and care, so even one stitch askew is noticeable. This is why the artisans of the past always included a single mistake in their work: perfection was said to be reserved for the gods.
A corseted gown, in what looks like, from afar, a pure silver thread, is one of the most intriguing pieces in Chanakya’s archives. On closer inspection, it is constructed entirely by an intricate network of filigree lace, woven by hand using a technique called chaand jaal. The gown demonstrates the unparalleled expertise of the school’s artisans, made using the precise geometry of the traditional Indo-Islamic style, though using a lighter and more durable alloy thread than the original 18th-century designs. These innovations are the work of Chanakya’s substantial merchandising and research teams, who travel the country studying craft traditions and reinterpreting them for modern wear.
This unique creation first took to the runway as part of Dior’s pre-autumn 2023 show, which was held in front of Mumbai’s Gateway of India. The show marked the first at this historic location, thrusting the city into the collective global fashion consciousness. Local and global fashion luminaries were welcomed by a vast toran, the typical fabric door hanging in Hindu households across India, enlarged by Chanakya to reach 14 metres tall. Hundreds of students and master artisans were given creative license to experiment with patchwork creation’s design. “All of them used their own symbols of good luck,” says Swali. “We just let them create – and we ended up with this masterpiece.”
Chanakya’s work has also infiltrated the art world thanks to this increased visibility. Women at the School of Craft were commissioned to weave large multi-textile maps for En Route, an art show at the Vatican’s library until 2025 that celebrates women who have made incredible voyages through history. In 2024, Chanakya collaborated with painters Manu and Madhvi Parekh for a piece at the 60th Venice Biennale titled “Cosmic Garden”, which renders the Parekh’s watercolour designs in layered thread work on canvas. Most recently, Dior Couture dressed the set of its spring-summer 2025 runway show with a series of awe-inducing Chanakya-made tapestries, depicting the artworks of Rithika Merchant.
But fashion remains Chanakya’s bread and butter, with its atelier working to the beat of the global fashion calendar. The school doesn’t tend to cater to Indian luxury houses, most of which have their own in-houseateliers. Instead, its business comes from the West, with European brands increasingly looking to Chanakya’s ability to marry Indian craftsmanship with modern luxury aesthetics.
The team makes eight or nine collections a year, presenting swatches of new fabric designs to fashion houses in countries such as Italy, France, the UK and the US. Sometimes houses will come to Chanakya with mood-boards for their forthcoming shows. The process also works in reverse. “I was searching for ‘best in field’ for hand embroidery,” says Amber Keating, the founder of Common Hours, an Australian label known for its bold designs that are printed and embroidered onto heavy silk. At Chanakya, she found makers who were able to meet her vision for an “extreme abundance of detail”, employing a combination of Indian and Western techniques – including knots, macramé ties and layered embroidery – to create pieces that are tactile and full of movement. “Every piece is unique,” she says.
Collaboration and collectivism is certainly at the heart of the school. Swali wasn’t just handed the keys to the family business: before she started at Chanakya, she undertook a craft documentation at her father’s behest, tracking craft traditions in polar points of the coun- try. It was a lesson in understanding the interreliance of communities. “In Hinduism, there’s the idea of ‘purusha’,” says Swali. “It’s about being a small part of a whole, of the inherent interconnection of everything. That’s what I wanted to bring to Chanakya.”
It’s an unusual way to approach craftsmanship, particularly in India, where creative contributions of the artisans themselves are often overlooked, considered instead as the technical arms that manifest the vision of a designer. But here, there’s a heavy emphasis on creativity and vision – not least in the work of the women at the School of Craft. “They’re very impressive,” says Hanif Jamader, master artisan at Chanakya, who has been trained in craft since he was eight years old. “We try to teach them what we know but they’re creative in unusual ways. We learn from them too.” Jamader is an expert at drawn thread work, a particularly finicky embroidery style where threads are pulled from the warp and weft of the fabric to create mathematically precise designs that collapse if just one thread is pulled incorrectly.
This level of expertise, along with a taste for adventure and creative experimentation, has turned Chanakya into one of the luxury industry’s most sought-after manufacturing partners; its delicate, hand-embroidered creations fly from Milan to Paris to New York for season after season. “I haven’t travelled,” says Jamader. “But seeing the pictures of our designs around the globe, I feel like the world is coming to Chanakya.”
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Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H100 Headphones
When Bang & Olufsen released its H100 over-ear headphones, it included custom-made drivers (made from titanium) with aluminium grilles that look like one of the brand’s high end speakers. The results are impressive, with smooth sound, wonderful noise-cancelling and an attractive glass touch-interface on the ear cups, with dials and buttons.
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Technics SC-CX700 Speakers
The Technics SC-CX70 may look like a pair of ordinary bookshelf speakers, but they’re full of streaming smarts so you can wirelessly play music from apps such as Spotify Connect. You can also connect them to a TV. ‘Space Tune’ can optimise the sound to suit your room.
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OnePlus Watch 3
The OnePlus Watch 3 has five days’ battery life or up to two weeks in power-saver mode. Health features include sleep tracking, more than 100 workout modes and heart-rate tracking. The titanium bezel looks great and keeps the weight of the watch down.
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1.
Riviera
Copenhagen
Chiara Barla, the Italian chef at Apotek 57, the café by design store Frama, has recently opened a new spot, Riviera, in Nansensgade. Inside the former 1960s bakery, a Frama-designed central trestle table invites customers to sit side by side, Copenhagen-style.
On the menu are Danish fastelavnsboller buns, figs and Parma ham on homemade sourdough and spandauer pastries. “Most of our dishes are prepared in the same oven in which we bake our bread, which is at the heart of the bakery itself,” says Barla. Don’t leave without trying her pistachio croissants.
framacph.com
2.
Derrel’s
Sydney
The sign at the door reads, “Derrel’s, Nana never cooked.” Grandpa Derrel was the chief cook in chef Brendan King’s family. This Anglo-Indian restaurant is named for King’s grandfather, who inspired the diner and the menu at the inner western-Sydney suburb of Camperdown.
Known with fondness locally for its late-night bites, Derrel’s is busy from its 17.00 opening time – often with a queue out the door – and serves until midnight. For residents, staff from the nearby hospital and students from the university, it’s a bastion of hope in a city that rarely has kitchens open past 21.00. “Reserved” signs predominate but you can either call ahead or wait for space then order at the counter. Make sure you don’t miss the samosa chaat: smashed samosas on a spicy chickpea curry, minty yoghurt, coriander, chilli and a tamarind chutney.
Follow it with a half tandoori chicken plate with a side of chips (a bowl of butter chicken gravy to dip them in can be added to your order) and a bright tomato and cucumber salad laced with cumin. Or why not try a simple tray of butter chicken with roti and rice, washed down with a mango lassi? And it’s not just the food that’s refreshing at Derrel’s – the service is lively and fresh too.
89 Parramatta Rd, Camperdown
3.
Bouchon Carême
Helsinki
Drawing inspiration from Lyonnaise fare, Bouchon Carême features hearty and full-flavoured Gallic-style dishes. “Lyon is the cradle of French gastronomy,” says chef Hans Välimäki, its founder. Ample use of natural wood and soft light lend the restaurant the air of an unpretentious bouchon.
bouchoncareme.fi
4.
Pluto
Berlin
There’s no shortage of wine bars in Berlin, a city now enjoying a glass with the fervour once reserved for craft beer. In Prenzlauer Berg, Pluto draws a devoted crowd. This is partly down to the pedigree of its founders, Vadim Otto Ursus and Sören Zuppke, who made a mark on Berlin’s culinary scene with Otto in 2019. “With Pluto, we wanted to create a place where strangers might find themselves sharing a bottle at the bar,” says Ursus.
With ties to organic farmers in Brandenburg, the menu stays true to classic bar fare but with the odd adventurous twist: think fromage de tête, a veal tongue salad or a fiery mussel escabeche. The winelist reflects years of research on small biodynamic producers across Europe. Perhaps the most un-Berlin thing about Pluto? No reservations.
pluto-berlin.net
5.
Don’t Tell Dad
London
“London’s independent bakery scene is incredible but Queen’s Park has yet to see a standout – and it deserves one,” says restaurateur Daniel Land, who recently opened Don’t Tell Dad in the northwestern enclave of the UK capital.
Customers who arrive at the bakery early will find burnt-lemon tarts, brown-butter-and-hazelnut croissants and wild-garlic-and cheddar twirls. Come nightfall, a candlelit bistro-style ambience beckons, with dishes by ex-Noble Rot chef Luke Frankie.
donttelldad.co.uk
6.
Souen
Tokyo
Tea master Shinya Sakurai wanted to revive an appreciation for traditional Japanese tea shops without the fuss. “You used to be able to smell tea being roasted everywhere but these businesses have been disappearing,” he says. So he transformed a former sweet shop in Tokyo’s Setagaya ward into Souen, which opened in January.
In contrast to the Sakurai Japanese Tea Experience in the Minami-Aoyama district, Souen has a more casual setting. Original seasonal blends are the focus, while various leaf teas, matcha lattes and tea cocktails broaden the appeal. Teas are served in ceramics made by Kagoshima-based potter Shuo Iwakiri. A selection of sweets is produced in-house.
3-17-11 Wakabayashi, Setagaya, Tokyo 1540023
