If you have been reading headlines about department stores in the US recently, it might seem all doom and gloom, thanks to the demise of former titans of the sector such as Saks and Neiman Marcus. One department store that has been bucking such trends, however, is Bloomingdale’s, which is led by its quick-thinking French CEO, Olivier Bron, formerly of Bain & Company, Galeries Lafayette and Bangkok’s Central Group. He has been tightening the ship – trading on the brand’s reputable name and rethinking exactly what a department store should provide. Comparative sales in the first quarter of this year were up 10.2 per cent, part of a steady stream of positive growth figures. Bron spoke with Monocle’s chairman, Tyler Brûlé, from Paris.
Listen to the full conversation here and read an extract of the interview, below.
Some people think that the department store is back; others that it’s gone for good. What’s your view?
It’s a mixed picture. But when I hear people saying that department stores are dinosaurs, that’s not true. The department stores that we used to run 30 or 40 years ago are gone forever but the challenge, as in every aspect of retail, is about reinvention. If you go back to the source of department stores, they are meant to be places of discovery, where you can experience the products and have a close connection with them. This is still very relevant for customers.
Why should people visit Bloomingdale’s?
We want to bring back the DNA of the Bloomingdale’s brand – something that’s very special. The US is the biggest market in the world, with the biggest department-store players. Yet none of the world’s best department stores are in the US right now – and that’s crazy, when you think about it. So what we want to do is reposition Bloomingdale’s in terms of international standards. We have to deliver the same kind of experience in the US as they do in Asia and Europe. So we have to rethink the way that we’re designing department stores in the US and that’s exactly what we’re doing at Bloomingdale’s. We’re positioning our model from premium contemporary to high luxury and we want to bring this storytelling from the brands cascading down to the customer.
Obviously, you have the beloved department store on Third Avenue in New York – but where’s your focus?
Every city is a different market with different needs. We’re not selling the same thing in the same way in all the different cities. So being able to adapt your assortment, service and experience in the store in these different cities is extremely important. Right now, we’re renovating our flagship in New York to differentiate it from anything else that you can experience in the US, which is a massive step because it’s a landmark for us. We’re triggering the renovation of 10 stores in the next five years to re-elevate this experience and bring the best to the customer.
What’s happening with malls in the US right now? Bloomingdale’s is often an anchor but there are also frequently lots of empty, boxy spaces.
That’s fair. But we have the privilege and chance with Bloomingdale’s to only be in prime malls that are doing well. Most of them have strong traction and strong traffic. It’s very important for us to pick our battles and where we want to operate – and to be very clear on our positioning and what our customers target. This is exactly what’s happening.
How big a role will food play in Bloomingdale’s moving forward?
If you’re obsessed about getting a yield out of every inch of the store then that’s a problem because, honestly, you’re not thinking about the experience. When you’re overwhelmed by so much density, products and solicitation, you don’t have any moment to pause, to sit, to eat, to drink. You’re missing something. The best way of thinking about the customer relationship is in the long term. It’s about having customers who just spend time in our store. If it’s only about dollars, products and transactions, that’s a short-term perspective. We must rethink the way that we’re designing our store and our space to address the current needs of our customers.
For the full interview and Tyler Brûlé’s conversations with more top business leaders, listen to ‘The Chiefs’.
Back in 2019, Pete Buttigieg, then a Democratic presidential candidate and the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, released a list of his 10 favourite books. It was a predictable yet refreshingly honest selection that included both canonical works of Western literature (Homer’s Odyssey, James Joyce’s Ulysses) and obscurer, more contemporary works (such as Stephen Kotkin’s Armageddon Averted, a history of the Soviet Union’s collapse), alongside Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall – the moment’s obligatory commute read.
The list was refreshing because it was manifestly a reflection of Buttigieg’s personal interests and preoccupations, rather than a cringe-making attempt at political positioning. Compare it to, say, the then UK Labour Party leader Ed Miliband’s 2013 Desert Island Discs picks, which included Robbie Williams’s “Angels”, Neil Diamond’s perennial sing-along “Sweet Caroline” and the Hubert Parry anthem “Jerusalem” – a cynically focus-grouped man-of-the-people playlist if ever there was one. But Buttigieg’s apparent honesty was rewarded less with praise than with accusations of anti-intellectual posturing masquerading as egalitarianism, much of it from the online left. He was “Pete Bottygeek”, wrote one Twitter user – out of touch, pompous and elitist.
All of this came to mind when, at the end of last week, New York’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, announced the city’s new partnership with the Met Opera, in which 70,000 free tickets for performances will be handed out to residents over the next seven months. The initiative makes a lot of sense: the Met has long struggled to fill its seats and doing so in this way costs it almost nothing, while potentially creating a new generation of paying opera lovers. (In the US, the theatrical art form receives little ongoing state or national support in comparison to, say, Noh in Japan, which has a protected status as an Important Intangible Cultural Property.)
But alongside excitement over the plan was predictable sniping. On Elon Musk’s X, reactionary bots spread misinformation about how much taxpayer dollars the plan would cost (in reality, very little beyond the admin); snobs worried about whether those in possession of a free ticket would “dress appropriately”. Those for whom doing a good deed for its own sake is unfathomable declared the initiative nothing more than “virtue signalling”.
Considered a mainstream entertainment form from the 17th to the 19th centuries, opera has been the preserve of the wealthy for decades, partly because of the sheer expense of staging lavish productions involving dozens of musicians and performers. The resulting high ticket prices have made it a niche, luxury interest (despite what Nicholas Cage’s wild-haired, one-handed, Met-loving baker in Norman Jewison’s 1987 Cher vehicle Moonstruck might tell you). Cultural appetites have evolved too. There’s competition from cinema, TV, video games and social media, much of it now designed specifically to capture and hold attention. And maybe people are just more excited to see Tom Cruise in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new movie, Digger, or watch MrBeast on YouTube – which is fair enough. Richard Wagner might have considered opera to be “the complete art form” but it isn’t for everyone.
But this is why Mamdani’s initiative feels so bold. Like Buttigieg with his reading list, he has declared his support for an art form that many among his progressive-leaning base might instinctively dismiss as posh and pretentious. Since debates about the authority of literary and artistic canons came to a head in the 1980s and 1990s, there has been a conspicuous turn against Reithian notions of institutions’ responsibility to disseminate the best of human thought and creativity to as wide a public as possible. Of course, it remains crucial to interrogate what a canon includes and rejects, and the power structures that shape this process. But such a discussion is possible only when we can all access and assess what the powerful deem worthy of immortalisation. It’s why trade unions historically maintained libraries of key works for members to learn from; it’s also why Allen Lane, the founder of Penguin Books, launched affordable paperbacks in 1935, pricing them at the cost of a packet of cigarettes. A real man of the people doesn’t condescend and presume that blue-collar workers have no interest in classic works – that all they are capable of enjoying are MMA fights and fireworks.
The opera giveaway is just one of many similar initiatives that Mamdani has launched and probably won’t significantly change popular attitudes to “high” culture by itself. Some, with much justification, will continue to view it with suspicion. But let’s hope that it starts a more open discussion about the place of historically important works and the right of those of limited means – including tortured bakers – to enjoy them.
Yo Zushi is Monocle’s chief sub editor. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.
Brazilian chef Luiz Filipe Souza pinpoints the 2019 Bocuse d’Or as a turning point in his career. Two years before the international culinary competition, he opened Evvai in São Paulo, serving high-end Italian fare. But at the prestigious championship, chefs are expected to represent their culture; it was there that Souza cooked Brazilian food professionally for the first time.
“It opened up a whole new palate,” says Souza. Having spent years working in Italy, he describes himself as a “super nerd” of Italian cooking – but he realised that he would never have the same connection to it as an Italian would. “I didn’t grow up at my grandmother’s side eating gnocchi – I ate rice and beans.” While training for the event, he would cook with native fruits, such as cupuaçu, baniwa chillies and tucupí – a fermented cassava sauce – in the mornings before heading to the restaurant at night to serve Italian food.
Souza began pushing Evvai down a more Brazilian path, fusing elements from both countries. In April it became one of the first two Latin American restaurants to earn three Michelin stars, joined by Tuju, another São Paulo institution.
Founded in 2014 by Ivan Ralston, Tuju initially served both tasting and à la carte menus, with dishes including steak tartare as well as steak and chips. Within months it earned a Michelin star – which Ralston thought was a hoax – and a second star followed in 2018. A two-year closure over the coronavirus pandemic led Ralston to travel around Brazil visiting various producers.
In the years since, Tuju has opened its own research centre, led by his partner Katherina Cordás, and has rewritten its menu to focus on seasonality in a distinctly Brazilian way. “We grow up hearing that Brazil doesn’t have seasons,” he says. However, the pair learned through their research that seasons in the São Paulo region differ from the northern hemisphere – they’re defined by precipitation.
Today, Tuju’s multi-course tasting menu is split into four seasonal indicators – rain, wind, drought and humidity. The menu for rainy-season – Brazil’s summer – includes dishes with squid, tomatoes and tamarind. It is followed by wind, when Jerusalem artichokes, clams and sardines hit their peak. The drought has root vegetables, such as cassava and carrots, while humidity welcomes artichokes and courgettes.
Ralston reckons veering away from Western standards has allowed Brazilian restaurants to shine. “We have to have our own language,” he says. “Maybe [it’s] a bit rougher but [it’s] more original.”
That approach earned Tuju an Art of Hospitality award in September from The 50, which maintains a list of best restaurants globally.
The growing Brazilianness of São Paulo’s food scene has been facilitated by a rapid improvement in its produce – including world-class cheeses, charcuterie and wine, often grown organically or biodynamically – and an increasing willingness among top chefs to incorporate native fruits and vegetables. Better ingredients have also allowed chefs to espouse Brazil’s bounty. While Evvai imports some Italian ingredients, Tuju uses little from abroad. “At Tuju, only 10 per cent of customers are foreign. I don’t want that to change,” says Ralston. “I want to be a restaurant that Brazilians come to.”
Starting to feel a bit peckish? Here are some of our favourite São Paulo restaurants for a distinctly Brazilian culinary experience.
Dom
When Alex Atala founded Dom in 1999, fine dining in São Paulo was still largely European. As with Ralston and Souza, it took cooking in Europe for Atala to realise that he wouldn’t be able to replicate those cuisines back home. So he scoured Brazil for techniques and ingredients – including the ants eaten in the Amazon – and shifted to a whole-heartedly Brazilian menu. In 2013 he was named one of Time magazine’s most influential people, and the restaurant has held two Michelin stars since 2015. Expect the likes of alligator with bacuri, a sweet-sour fruit; or veal in a coffee sauce. “Atala brought a different way of looking at things – a Brazilian way – which was unthinkable at the time,” says Ralston.
domrestaurante.com.br
Maní
Ralston describes Maní, which opened in 2006 and is where the chef began his career, as one of the most influential restaurants in Brazil’s history. After cooking in renowned restaurants such as El Celler de Can Roca in Spain, founder Helena Rizzo created a uniquely Brazilian take on fine dining by fusing Brazilian ingredients with inspiration from many of the immigrant communities that have made Brazil their home. That might include house-made hoshigaki (dried persimmon) in duck tartare or an escabeche-like dish using tambaqui, a large riverfish native to the country.
restaurantemani.com.br
A Casa do Porco
Unlike many of São Paulo’s high-end restaurants, A Casa do Porco isn’t located in a posh neighbourhood but in the often neglected (though rapidly gentrifying) downtown area. The restaurant focuses on pigs reared on the owners’ own farm and its course menu might include quirky dishes, such as pork temaki or pork soufflé, before ending on roast pork with rice, beans, banana and vegetables. The service is excellent while retaining a casual air (you’re welcome to dine in your flip flops and shorts), while those unable to secure a last-minute table can opt for an excellent pork sandwich from the takeaway hatch.
acasadoporco.com.br
Dêze
Dêze began life in the village of Caraíva, a popular holiday destination only accessible by boat, roughly 1,700km from São Paulo in the northeastern state of Bahia. Now, hoping to bring its food to a wider audience, it has relocated to Jardim Paulista, a smart neighbourhood in the heart of the metropolis teeming with restaurants. Dêze is an intimate affair with only 35 covers per evening, offering a tasting menu that incorporates influences from across the country. Like many top Brazilian chefs, Yuri Escobar’s menu focuses on seasonality and techniques commonly found in Europe’s top restaurants, such as curing and fermenting. Unusually in Brazil, however, he creates dishes that elevate vegetables to the same level as meat. Expect surprising combinations including sole with lentils and green papaya, or duck breast with fig, rhubarb and karashi (Japanese mustard).
dezerestaurante.com
Aizomê
São Paulo is home to the world’s largest Japanese community outside Japan, so it’s no surprise that the city is packed with excellent, high-end Japanese restaurants. While many are faithful to traditional Japanese fare, Telma Shiraishi of Aizomê explores a thoroughly modern approach, blending the two cultures in a cuisine that she calls “Nipo-Brazilian”.
Here, diners might find pirarucu saikyo yaki – a traditional method of grilling fish – or a ponzu made with tucupí. Diners at the elegant wood counter can opt for omakase, featuring some of the best sushi in town, or a number of private rooms for a more intimate celebration dinner. The saké selection is excellent and if you’re lucky you might be offered a glass of Japanese wine.
aizome.com.br
The spring/summer 2027 edition of Milan Fashion Week was one of consolidating visions as creative directors settled into their roles at Italian luxury houses. Prada focused on the single concept of a skirt, represented in 63 different ways, while Maria Grazia Chiuri’s second ready-to-wear collection for Fendi exhibited a loosening of house codes. Finally, Demna took show attendees to a makeshift Gucci shop. Here are the 10 shows that caught our attention.
1.
Prada
At the Italian fashion house’s spring/summer 2027 menswear show in June, co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons began a conversation about the power of paring things back and distilling ideas to their purest form, zooming in on the divisive skinny-trouser silhouette. The womenswear show continued to explore the same design principles. Here Prada and Simons chose to shine the spotlight on the skirt, which elicited a warmer reaction from the editors and buyers in attendance.
Described as a “Prada obsession” in the brand’s show notes, it was reimagined in a variety of styles, from playful and heavily embellished to pleated and collegiate. Some looks were paired with knitwear – a nod to Mrs Prada’s own uniform – while others were worn with printed crop tops, distressed leather jackets and sunglasses with mismatched lenses.
Prada and Simons argue that the perception of a piece of clothing and, by extension a person, can change depending on a few simple styling tricks. Along the way, they propose an array of different style personas that you can adopt come next spring, from librarian to raver. Prada’s beauty and commercial success lie in the brand’s ability to appeal to both.
prada.com
2.
Etro
Following creative director Marco de Vincenzo’s exit last March, Etro presented a spring/summer 2027 collection designed by its in-house studio. Without a creative steward at the helm, collections by fashion houses tend to lack fresh, bold ideas. Etro focused on remixing existing signatures: frilly, paisley dresses; airy kaftans; and plenty of fringed accessories and gladiator sandals that conjured up 1970s Ibiza.
Even if the collection didn’t push the house in a fresh direction, it highlighted its carefree, bohemian spirit – and its potential to become the go-to summer brand for customers who jet between Paros, Capri and the south of France every season. This crowd is currently clad head to toe in Pucci – the LVMH-owned label that has been enjoying a successful revival under designer Camille Miceli – but will soon start looking for a wardrobe update. With the right creative director hire, Etro could become the next big hit.
etro.com
3.
Jil Sander
Since his appointment as the creative director of Hamburg-founded brand Jil Sander in 2025, Simone Bellotti has built a fanbase of clients who seek him out for his ability to imbue minimalism with just the right amount of edge. This was the case at his latest spring/summer 2027 show, which explored the seductive charm of imperfection. “Creating a collection is like going to therapy,” says Bellotti. “You take things apart to understand what you want to keep. Then you put them back together.”
This season’s show mirrored a wave: how it builds up, crescendoes and inevitably crashes down again. It began with the rigour of a uniform: buttoned-up black blazers and grey car coats worn over suit trousers. Then slowly, movement emerged through ballooning proportions, scrunch details on knitwear and a colour palette that transitioned from muted hues to yellow, pink and baby blue. In the end, what remained was a sense of release, felt in the loosely styled jackets worn over unbuttoned shirts and jumpers strewn across shoulders – a reimagined uniform.
jilsander.com
4.
Fendi
In her second collection for Fendi, creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri has been having more fun. A sense of carefree abandon was palpable when her lineup of models strutted down the runway to disco hits by Rafaella Carrà, wearing feather-light slip dresses, fur stoles in unexpected shades of turquoise and hints of animal print.
Chiuri kept returning to a line from a 1925 poem by EE Cummings – “I like my body when it is with your body” – which was printed on the invitation to the show and turned into a visual installation, lighting up the entrance. The quote got her thinking about “clothes as second skin”, hence the transparent silks that resemble undergarments, lace trims and loosely tailored vests in her new range. Ever the romantic, Chiuri described her airy spring/summer clothes as “porous to emotions” and amplified the hippie spirit with fringed accessories and folkloric vests. In doing so, she has channelled a collective sentiment of freedom and optimism – and her collection will surely appeal to the loyal customer base that she built during her tenure at Dior.
fendi.com
5.
Marni
Belgian designer Merryl Rogge presented her second collection for Marni in a captivating space conceived by Italian design studio Formafantasma. The wooden panels from last season’s set were cut and taken apart, exposing the raw walls of the building, while graphic, powder-blue stools created a sense of polish.
The setting captured the newly installed creative director’s design philosophy: she is seeking a sense of continuity, both adding to and subtracting from Marni’s existing design language. For spring/summer 2027, she leaned into the label’s long-established quirky flair, creating unexpected combinations of leather and nylon, as well as extreme silhouettes such as minuscule skirts and extra-large blazers that carry a hint of Prada. Her reference points varied from the 1960s to the early 2000s; she played with an array of adornments from sequins to metal hardware and embraced a wide colour palette, adding splashes of green and orange to neutral, tailored looks. A series of embellished sack dresses, including a leather number that supermodel Mariacarla Boscono wore to close the show, was among the highlights.
Rogge still has to refine her language for Marni and find her signature look. But in the meantime, she is giving her customers a license to forget the rules and have fun.
marni.com
6.
Tod’s
While conceptualising Tod’s latest collection, Matteo Tamburini thought about personal style and how we acquire it – through the images that we absorb, the films that we watch and our instinct “to recognise beauty in life’s simple pleasures”.
He translated this “deeply Italian” flair for simple pleasures into a series of classic opening looks, featuring Bermuda shorts paired with boyish sweaters and oversized blazers. As the show progressed, he made some bolder statements in the form of perforated leather trench coats and graphic, colour-blocked skirts that combined modernism with a more relaxed, summer attitude.
Models, including artist Conie Vallese, walked confidently down the runway in new tasselled or perforated iterations of the brand’s famous Gommino loafer, which is quickly emerging as the hero shoe of the season. With the right merchandising and communications strategies that take advantage of the momentum and reinforce Tamburini’s compelling vision, the Italian label could generate a new level of interest in its signature shoes next season – and seize a host of opportunities in the ready-to-wear sector too.
tods.com
7.
Gucci
For the setting of his spring/summer 2027 show, Georgian designer Demna transformed a convention centre into a prototype of his vision: a Gucci shop complete with velvet seating and shelves stacked with leather goods. The collection was unveiled in two parts. First a series of monochromatic suits gave way to a preppier array of rugby stripes, white chinos and upturned collars worn by models who could easily be mistaken for business students at Milan’s prestigious Bocconi University. Then triple-stacked black leather belts on lowslung jeans were paired with bomber jackets – an edgier look that evoked Demna’s time at Balenciaga.
Gucci’s womenswear collection continued the theme of prep alla Milanese with jumpers tied around shoulders, more upturned shirt collars and riding boots. It drew on the archetype of the sciura in oversized sunglasses, clutching a monogrammed bag close to her trench coat or crisp white shirt dress. A trajectory towards goth style and youth culture was also apparent, with pagoda shoulders and kohl-rimmed eyes, while the finale consisted of figure-hugging dresses – à la Tom Ford – and glamorous eveningwear to round out the collection. The only thing left for Demna to hope for is that the subliminal messaging of the show’s retail-themed setting helps the Kering-owned brand with sales after a multi-year slump.
gucci.com
8.
Ferragamo
With coffee-coloured suits, burnt-orange balloon trousers and an olive-green crocodile-leather dress, Maximilian Davis’ latest collection for Italian luxury house Ferragamo brimmed with earthy hues and sensuality. The British fashion designer honed in on silhouettes with cinched waists, pencil skirts and military pockets, drawing inspiration from the 1940s when women were entering the workforce. “It was a period when clothing – and its structure – created a certain posture, when the placement of a pocket would dictate how you would stand and behave,” says Davis. “I wanted to take elements of that silhouette and modernise it.”
To offset the sense of propriety, there was no shortage of rubber and sheer fabrics. Transparent trench coats and dresses, as well as diaphanous blouses and trousers, brought a grown-up feel to the collection – a reflection of how Davis is evolving and maturing his vision for the Florentine luxury house.
ferragamo.com
9.
Moschino
Moschino’s newly appointed creative directors Simone Rizzo and Loris Messina are accustomed to swimming against the current. As the co-founders of Milanese brand Sunnei, the duo would often stage high-concept presentations, from crowd surfing at their shows to holding a mock auction in collaboration with Christie’s. For their debut at Moschino, Rizzo and Messina took over the rooftop of a parking garage on the outskirts of Milan. Hundreds of people came streaming in, recreating a busy street.
Then models emerged from the opposite direction. The collection’s palette was vibrant, with trench coats, wafty dresses and bags in an eye-catching citrine. Plenty of intentionally off-putting details also graced the show, such as a cat-shaped clutch and skirts with voluminous derrières – displaying a propensity for the odd that the new creative directors share with the founder, Franco Moschino. It will be worth watching closely over the coming seasons how Rizzo and Messina, with a new platform to riff off, will continue to push the boundaries of what Milan’s fashion scene should represent.
moschino.com
10.
Armani
Under a disco ball in the concrete vault of the Armani/Silos theatre, Silvana Armani presented an eminently wearable spring/summer 2027 collection, which featured monochromatic sets, Bermuda shorts and boxy outerwear. “The jackets recall the clean tailoring of the 1980s,” says Silvana backstage after the show.
Since taking over the role of head of womenswear from her late uncle, Giorgio Armani, in 2025, the designer has been safekeeping the house’s codes while ushering in discreet adjustments, such as introducing cotton to the line-up for the first time. “[Giorgio] didn’t like it saying it wasn’t sophisticated enough, but I love it,” she says. And it wouldn’t be an Armani show without eveningwear: tuxedo dresses, bustier tops and dresses scintillated under bright spotlights. A recurring motif was the butterfly appliqué – perhaps a symbol of metamorphosis as the brand faces its next chapter.
armani.com
Few cities generate a quasi-religious fervour for fashion quite like Milan. In the Lombard capital, brands tack billboards onto scaffolding covering churches under renovation. A commercial for Miss Dior perfume plays on a loop on the side of the Duomo, in stark contrast to the cathedral’s gothic architecture. Near the Quadrilatero della Moda, Milan’s upscale shopping district, the tympaneum of the church of San Babila is adorned with placards for Prada. Passing by is a steady stream of people carrying armfuls of shopping bags, proudly associating themselves with their denomination of choice. Are you a Gucci glamourpuss? Or do you worship at the craft-first altar of Bottega Veneta?
With Milan Fashion Week concluding yesterday, the Italian fashion industry must continue to keep the faith in the face of a 10 per cent decline in revenue over the past three years due to geopolitical volatility, the impact of US tariffs on exports and a slowdown in Chinese consumer demand. As designers settle into their roles and consolidate their visions for their brands, pressure mounts to reverse the slump in sales. To respond to this tighter market, the key might be to foster a cult following – a feat easier said than done, and one that requires perseverance.
Take, for example, Milan’s high priestess of fashion, Mrs Prada (as she is reverently referred to in the industry). After 50 years at the helm of the brand, her status as Milan’s spiritual leader seems to be reaching an apotheosis. Last week, Prada provided the opening act, moving its traditional Thursday afternoon slot to Tuesday. At the Fondazione Prada, Mrs Prada and her co-creative director Raf Simons narrowed in on skirts – 63 of them to be precise – on a perspex floor lit up by strobe lights. That evening, thousands of the house’s closest friends piled into the Fondazione to rave until the early hours in the new, Prada-approved combination of stilettos and socks.
There was also the unveiling of Prada’s flagship in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. At the centre of the 19th-century shopping arcade, the brand has expanded its historic Milanese home with a pair of four-storey shops, linked by an underground passageway. The outposts include a Marchesi pasticceria, the latest ready-to-wear collections, leather goods, beauty, private shopping suites and a Pradasphere exhibition that traces the history of the brand. “In these years of uncertainty, we’re allowing people who love the brand to immerse themselves and to understand that this is not just a label,” Prada Group CEO Andrea Guerra tells Monocle. “There are roots. There is a culture. There is heart.”
While Prada set the tone of the week, Giorgio Armani closed it out on Sunday. In the concrete vault of the Tadao Ando-designed Armani/Silos, models wore monochromatic suits, Bermuda shorts and jackets with graphic prints before a selection of scintillating eveningwear and silky tuxedoes during the finale. Backstage after the show, Silvana Armani, the late Giorgio Armani’s niece and the label’s creative director of womenswear, spoke about her intention to evolve the house’s codes. “I introduced cotton, which [Giorgio] didn’t like because it wasn’t sophisticated enough,” she says. “The past is always a reference but we try to modernise the designs.”
Perhaps it’s leaps of faith like these that will amount to a label’s credibility over time and, subsequently, its ability to build a following. Or perhaps it’s the subliminal messaging of church-adjacent advertising.
Grace Charlton is Monocle’s fashion editor. For more fashion updates, subscribe to Monocle today.
It’s easy to assume that Italy’s design world is made up of Milan – and Milan alone. The city is home to the likes of Dimore Studio, as well as shiny showrooms for big-hitter brands from Cassina to B&B Italia. It’s also where the buzz around Salone del Mobile (and its accompanying Milan Design Week) seems to dwarf everything else. I know because I’ve spent years reporting on it.
But breaking out of the must-visit itineraries and the trade-show circuit can be a good thing, as proved by a visit to the recently concluded Lake Como Design Festival. Now on its eighth edition, the event has highlighted talent and showcased what makes Como a special setting for design. Because, let’s face it, setting is important.
As you stomp around fairs where commercial deals are thrashed out under artificial lighting, you can forget that design is a celebration of beauty, function and craft. Just look at the success of the Alcova platform in Milan, which often sets its exhibitions inside intriguing, underused or semi-abandoned buildings that tell a story about the city’s past (and, for that matter, its present).
The Lake Como festival – which is, as its name suggests, a celebration of design rather than a B2B event – is also a reminder that there is much more to the city than its lidos and the amphibious tourist planes. One of the aces up the festival’s sleeve is its regular venue, the 15th-century Villa del Grumello. Alongside the sparkling light reflected from the lake that floods its rooms, the villa also has something particular to lakeside properties: a darsena, a cavernous cellar where water flows under the villa for boats to dock, protected from the elements. This year, Luciano Baldessari’s 1929 Luminator Barcellona – a twisting floor light designed for the Barcelona International Exposition to mimic the form of a dancer on stage – was displayed under moody red lighting with a balletic effect. It’s not something that could be achieved in a showroom or an airless trade-show setting.
Perhaps the most memorable segment of the festival relied on its surroundings. Arranged along a path inside the villa’s gardens – with more views of the lake poking through the trees – was an exhibition titled In Nature: Stories of Those Who Have Chosen Another Life. The work of journalist Paola Manfredi and photographer Selene Magnolia Gatti, which captured this year’s theme of the “Confine” (Border), was displayed at intervals as six large portraits. Accompanying texts explained the people in the photos, whose rural alpine lives are closely linked to nature. Was this strictly design? I’m not sure. Was it enhanced by the setting? Absolutely.
The design press can often get caught up on the latest chair, colourway or business deal but sometimes we forget to look around. Great design needs context, even if it might still be somewhat removed from our own daily lives (sadly I’m yet to acquire a lakeside pile or an Alcova-style former factory). Lake Como Design Festival is a reminder that our surroundings have the power to shape how we feel. If nothing else, it’s nice to get out of the trade halls and visit the lake on a balmy autumn day.
Ed Stocker is Monocle’s Milan-based Europe editor at large. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.
Since acquiring Agnona in 2020, Stefano Aimone – the label’s CEO, creative director and sole owner – has doubled down on the luxury Italian brand’s heritage and textile expertise. He has also solidified its presence in Milan with a flagship on Via Santo Spirito and headquarters on Via Archimede. This season, Aimone presented his latest womenswear and menswear collections, which feature double-faced cashmere coats, wraparound shirts and silk sets. Here he discusses why beauty should be a part of everyday life and resisting distribution for distribution’s sake.
How do you balance being both creative director and CEO?
The positions enrich each other. There are moments when you have to change your way of thinking very quickly. One conversation can be about a fabric, technique or the proportions of a coat. The next can be about retail or the future of the business. But for me, they are not separate worlds. As creative director, I am thinking about what Agnona should represent and as CEO, I have the responsibility to make sure that this vision has longevity.
It also means that there are fewer layers between an idea and its execution. I can ask: “Does this feel right for Agnona? Does it make sense for our customer? Is it something that we will still believe in five or 10 years from now?” If the answer is yes, we can act on it. I think that creativity becomes stronger when you understand the reality around it, that business becomes more interesting when it is guided by a very clear creative point of view. The balance between commerce and creativity is delicate and continuously in flux.
Where do you see the opportunities today for an independent brand such as Agnona?
Independence gives us the freedom to be very precise about who we are and today that is incredibly valuable. Since acquiring Agnona, I have felt that we are in quite a rare position. There’s something almost embryonic about it: the possibility to shape a house with the curiosity, energy and freedom of something new but within a shell that has been refined for more than 70 years. We are not starting from zero. We are starting with extraordinary knowledge, history and material expertise. In a way, Agnona feels both young and mature at the same time, which gives us enormous creative freedom.
It’s not about becoming bigger for the sake of being bigger. It’s about becoming stronger and more distinctive. We can make decisions based on what feels right; invest in extraordinary materials, craft and innovation; and remain very close to the people who make and wear our clothes. We can choose quality over volume and longevity over immediacy. We don’t need to shout to reach the right people. Luxury is about being personal, discovering something exceptional, understanding how and why it was made and wanting to live with it for many years.
Agnona was founded in 1953, so I am very conscious of what we have inherited – but also of what we have left behind. Our responsibility is not simply to preserve that heritage but to keep it alive, question it, experiment with it and allow it to evolve. For me, that is perhaps the greatest opportunity of being independent – to have the freedom of a new beginning without losing the wisdom of age.
Which markets are the most interesting at the moment? Do you see more opportunities in a direct-to-consumer approach or through department stores and wholesale partners?
For us, it’s less about pursuing markets simply because they’re large than identifying places where there is a genuine understanding of Agnona, of material, craftsmanship and seasonality.
Italy is naturally very important to us and opening our new flagship in Milan this year was a significant moment. Milan is our home, so it was important to create a space where people could enter the world of Agnona to experience the materials, the architecture and the collection together in one environment. The shop is a physical expression of the house, of where we are going, with links to art, culture and authenticity.
Gstaad is the next important step for us. Agnona has a natural relationship with its landscape, climate, international community and, of course, its appreciation of exceptional cashmere and pieces that are luxurious but designed to be lived in. I’m interested in opening shops and working with teams that Agnona feels culturally and emotionally at home in, rather than simply accumulating addresses.
South Korea is also a strong market for us. It’s home to an extremely sophisticated customer base with a deep appreciation for quality, fabrication and design – and the subtleties of what we do. Agnona has its own presence in Seoul alongside some very strong retail partners.
In the UK, Harrods is a very special partner for us. Agnona’s concession gives us a home from home in London, now within the newly developed first-floor womenswear environment. Harrods provides exceptional care to its international and domestic customers, which makes it an important expression and custodian of the brand in the UK.
I am less interested in defining the business as direct-to-consumer or wholesale than in thinking about the quality of Agnona’s presence. The two models are different expressions of the same ecosystem and I think a healthy brand needs both intimacy and discovery. Our own shops allow us to build the world of Agnona with absolute clarity but there is also real value in customers encountering us within a highly considered, multi-brand environment. Department stores place the house in a broader cultural and commercial conversation and, with the right partner, can bring relevance and perspective that you can’t replicate on your own.
It’s important today to resist distribution for distribution’s sake. Where it is present, how it is presented and what surrounds it all contribute to the perception of a house. In that sense, distribution is also a creative decision. For Agnona, the ambition is therefore not ubiquity but relevance: a considered network of our own spaces and exceptional partners, each contributing something different to the way that customers discover and experience the house.
What was your ambition for the latest collection?
I wanted the collection to have a feeling of movement. We called it “Coast to Coast” but the journey is not only about travelling from one geographical point to another. It’s about how the motion and process of travel change your state of mind.
It begins in the city and gradually becomes more relaxed as you move through the countryside and towards the sea. The wardrobe changes with that journey, beginning with the precision of lightweight double cashmere and tailoring. Then linen, silk, perforated leather, crochet and embroidery bring more air and freedom into the clothes. It’s a journey from contained and curated to relaxed and reflective.
My ambition was to create a complete summer wardrobe that could move with a person rather than dictate how they should live. There is sophistication but also a sense of ease. For me, successful design and relevant luxury garments should give you that freedom.
How would you describe Italian sensibility in fashion?
I think that there is an Italian instinct for bringing beauty into everyday life. It’s not necessarily about formality or decoration. It can be the proportions of a jacket, the feel of a fabric, the way that someone sets a table or the particular light in a room. A joy in creating and sharing beauty in an everyday environment.
There’s also a strong relationship between the hand and the eye in Italy. We have generations of knowledge about textiles, tailoring, leather and manufacturing but I’m interested in when knowledge doesn’t become nostalgic. Craft has to remain alive, which is why I knew that it would be important to build the atelier, archive and rooftop greenhouse as part of the new Agnona HQ – a trifecta to create, grow and learn.
Agnona respects extraordinary materials and techniques but we don’t want them to feel precious in a way that makes them untouchable. You should wear the cashmere, travel in it, live in it. Perhaps this approach is quite Italian too: beauty should be part of life.
agnona.com
With multilateralism seemingly in retreat, a hostile US administration, major powers waging unilateral wars and a sharp budget cut, the position of UN secretary-general is surely one of the world’s toughest jobs right now. Who would want to fill the shoes of António Guterres, whose second five-year term ends in December?
Lining up for consideration are eight people with impressive CVs, from the current head of the International Atomic Energy Agency to a former president of Senegal. Their job, should they succeed Guterres, will be to overhaul the entire institution, which has long been haemorrhaging trust among both its member states and the public. The candidates’ statements all cite a pressing need to inject new life into the UN, increase transparency and return the body to its core mandate of preventing conflict.
Senior UN trade official Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis of Costa Rica, an early frontrunner, says that the organisation is “too distant from the daily needs of people”. Ecuadoran diplomat Ivonne A-Baki calls it “slow, fragmented and expensive”. Macky Sall, the former president of Senegal, has accused the UN Security Council of being “the last vestige of a bygone world order”.
The opaque selection process involves a series of secret ballots held by the 15-member Security Council. The five permanent members (P5) – the UK, France, the US, Russia and China – wield a veto. As a result, while candidates have identified the problem, a strident reformer is unlikely to emerge as the victor.
Secret straw polls began on 30 July, in which the P5 members and the 10 non-permanent members cast ballots. The candidates have no idea which country gave which ballot and must figure out who to target with renewed lobbying. With its intricacies and potential for Machiavellian power plays, the process has been compared to a papal conclave.
So far, three rounds have taken place, with Grynspan Mayufis and Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett, Guyana’s permanent representative to the UN, in the lead – though some insist that these early ballots are part of the negotiating process, rather than a true indication of candidates’ prospects. Another round is expected to take place soon. If a frontrunner emerges, a further round of polling will take place, in which the P5 will use different coloured ballot papers. A “discourage” vote from one of them means that they could face a veto. And once a candidate has the support of at least nine Security Council members without a veto from a P5 member, they will face a full vote at the 193-member General Assembly, which is expected to back the Security Council’s recommendation.
Conventional wisdom holds that a candidate from South America will prevail, given that only one of the nine secretary-generals to date have come from the region. There are also five female candidates and many have argued that it’s time for a woman to take the helm.
Much of the lobbying by candidates this year has been targeted at the US, given Donald Trump’s open hostility to the UN, the country’s withdrawal from 31 of its affiliated organisations and the president’s threats to its funding. “It’s symbolically, financially and politically vital to have the trust and the backing of the United States,” says secretary-general candidate and former Ecuadorean defence and foreign affairs minister María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés.
Another potential pitfall lies ahead. In theory, a successor from the current crop should be chosen by December. However, any member state can throw a spanner in the works by nominating a new candidate at any point in the process and speculation has been rife that Trump might try to foist the head of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, into the role. While this seems unlikely given Infantino’s recent troubles after trying to sell off rights to the World Cup, the US president is a known disruptor on the international stage. And because of the way that the selection process is designed, with huge power given to the P5 members, it’s more than likely that we’ll see some drama before any white smoke.
Tokyo, early Monday morning, I was flipping between Japan’s news shows. Typhoon Dujuan dominated all the networks and there was so much happening on-screen that you’d be forgiven for thinking that the feed into the hotel’s cable system had somehow merged a gameshow and an air traffic control screen, with a side helping of mid-80s TV home shopping. Japan’s morning news shows have little to do with the sofas and news desks of the Australian and US versions of Today, Good Morning America or anything on the UK’s breakfast telly buffet. Rather than the industry-standard double anchor plus newsreader and weather sidekick, Japan’s commercial networks like their studios big and bright, their presenters young and abundant (at one point I counted seven in the studio) and their infographics delightfully analogue – cue lots of cardboard cut-outs, pointers and handmade graphics.
After flipping between three networks, I got the general idea that the typhoon wasn’t going to hit Tokyo directly but that things would be rather wet and blustery at about 17.00. I was about to head out for a lap of the Imperial Palace when TV Asahi cut away from the studio to some thrashing palm trees on an island south of Tokyo. As the camera swung around between the rooftops, crashing waves and bendy palms, a young correspondent (21 years old? 23 max) wearing a white safety helmet with a chin strap and technical rain gear filled the screen and relayed what was happening. A few moments later we were on another island and an equally young female reporter was teetering in the gusts, drenched, drawing attention to a sad-looking swimming pool that looked like it had been abandoned about 20 typhoons ago. Next it was back to the mainland for a series of live hits and, no matter the location, there wasn’t a single person north of thirty clutching a microphone and delivering commentary about the angry typhoon.
Was this unique to TV Asahi? I quickly flipped through the other channels and, sure enough, potentially dangerous weather assignments belonged to battalions of cub reporters. While CNN, the BBC and so many others leave the dramatic stories to their most seasoned correspondents, this isn’t so in Japan, where a significant weather event required reporters and crews to get into position a day or two earlier, waiting (hoping) for the winds to whip up and for tiles and wall panels to start flying. I ended up sticking with the coverage longer than planned, before getting completely side-tracked by an amazing advert for a new premium service from Japan Rail (more on that from our Tokyo team later in the week) but eventually I made it down to street level and trotted around the park. As I passed the Tokyo FM building, I thought about all the young reporters out covering their stories and wondered what happened to the ranks of news cadets and cub reporters in Western media organisations. Have they disappeared for health and safety reasons? Is it wholly inappropriate to use the word “cub” in relation to a young journalist? Have legal departments deemed it a mental-health liability trap to send the potentially vulnerable and inexperienced out to do the job that they applied for?
On Friday I had lunch in Hong Kong with my former boss from the US network, ABC. We hadn’t seen each other for 36 years and, over bites at Grissini at the Grand Hyatt, we took an all-too-brief tour down memory lane, touching on the opportunities that we were offered and the risks that we took in the world of network TV news circa the 1990s. ABC didn’t call its news juniors cub reporters but its bureau on London’s Carburton Street certainly felt like a special, well-financed finishing school for young journalists. Thank you, Lisa, for giving me a shot all those years ago – even if I didn’t get a white helmet with a chin strap.
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The legend surrounding the Monte-Carlo Beach hotel is second to none: stories of Marlene Dietrich spending her holidays here shortly after its opening in the 1920s, or late Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld shooting campaigns with Helmut Newton on its premises, have kept the hotel’s myth alive. The moment you enter the sleek white lobby, you are met with a sense of gravitas that inspires you to carry yourself differently and indulge in the pleasures of the Riviera.
But the hotel, now operated by the Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer, doesn’t rely on history to maintain its cultural relevance. In recent years, it has brought together some of the most exciting names from the worlds of architecture, food and fashion to help reimagine what a contemporary luxury institution should look like. Architect and designer India Mahdavi refreshed the interiors in 2024 (you can find her signature touches everywhere, from the striking terracotta balconies to the rattan chairs at the restaurant Le Deck), while Provençal designer Simon Porte Jacquemus has been dressing the sunloungers on the institution’s famous beach pier in his iconic, charming stripes.
The hotel is also a year-round culinary destination with options that range from crepe stands on the beach during the sunnier months to Greek-inspired meze at restaurant Maona Monte-Carlo and wholesome, classic dishes at Le Deck, which can be enjoyed while taking in views of the hotel’s Olympic-sized pool. La Vigie Zanoni Monte-Carlo is one of the most exciting new arrivals: chef Simone Zanoni has taken over the hotel’s crown jewel, perched on a private peninsula that overlooks the Mediterranean. Right above is Villa La Vigie, a private home that once belonged to the late Lagerfeld and is now available for guests to book.
The short walk to the restaurant, through a narrow pathway framed by pine trees, immediately sets the mood. “La Vigie has something very special. It’s elegant but relaxed at the same time – people come here to enjoy life. That’s exactly the kind of place where I love to cook,” says Zanoni, who is also behind Le George in Paris and La Mamounia in Marrakesh.
For the chef, the menu at La Vigie is all about melding elements from French cuisine with his own Italian roots, focusing on fresh fish, colourful vegetables and hearty dishes – the seafood paccheri and the risotto come highly recommended. “For me, it’s very simple: you need great olive oil, beautiful tomatoes, fresh basil, lemons, seasonal vegetables, fresh fish and, of course, good pasta,” he adds. “When the ingredients are exceptional, you don’t need to complicate things.”
Zanoni recommends starting with a spritz before moving to a chilled wine (a white or a light rosé pairs perfectly). And don’t shy away from sharing plates, especially the figliata – a giant mozzarella that makes for the perfect starter – or the fior di latte gelato for dessert.
montecarlosbm.com
