The week started with a pacy jolt of radio shows in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, hit the midpoint with a smoothly productive flight back to Zürich and it’s wrapping with a bit of beach time in the sun south of Lisbon. You’d be hugely disappointed if I didn’t have a few observations and opportunities from the road, so to keep your Sunday bright and perky, here are a few to set you up for the week.

1.
If you’ve had a good Q1 but what remains of Q2 is looking wobbly and you have no idea how the rest of the year is going to go then maybe you need a team summit. If you want to treat your colleagues but don’t want to go over the top then now’s the time for a bit of beach on Saadiyat Island. The sea is still fresh, the tunes are pumping and the room rates are low. You could also take the family for a long weekend.

2.
While we’re on the beach, have you attempted to buy a quality sun umbrella lately? Or gone further and hoped to see a “Made in the EU” label on the pole? Good luck. There’s an opportunity for a smart company on the continent to own the beach experience and proudly make towels, totes, cushions and umbrellas in Europe. Seasons are getting longer and no one has a solid offer for the lawns along Lac Léman or the beaches of the Med and Atlantic.

3.
If you pass through Zürich Airport from June onwards, Monocle is back with a new seasonal shop and a sharp collection of both Swiss-made originals and special travel items. We’re on the hunt for more airport locations, so if you run airports and would like a new tenant – drop me a note.

4.
Why don’t airline lounges offer more privacy nooks for calls? While I’ll always opt for a classic call over a dreadful Teams or Zoom experience, sometimes you can’t fight the system or the people who’ve lost the ability to dial. This is why smart carriers need more soundproofed cabins to keep the peace in the dining room and other public areas.

5.
Is Tesla the Skechers of the urban transport industry? Just as Skechers seem to own the F&B industry, are there any families or everyday consumers still buying Teslas? I can’t imagine.

6.
Always carry a crisp shirt and a tie – especially if you’re visiting a big Emirati energy company. I thought my Japanese knits and navy blazer would be enough for a visit to the 57th floor. So too did my colleagues in similar attire. But after some negotiating and questioning – “Did you not read the protocol section of the invite?” – we made it through the gates and had a jolly meeting. Our host even organised for the UAE Air Force to do a flypast. While I was glad that I didn’t have to wear the tie that was offered by security, I fully respect the concept of keeping up appearances.

7.
On that topic, why is it okay for newsreaders to wear a suede bomber jacket for days on end and deliver important headlines? It’s a fine way for a network to attempt to look “modern” while undermining decades of authority and trust.

8.
This week I’m off to Toronto and then Tokyo but between the two is our Shanghai Entrepreneurs conference. These pit stops mean that our café expansion is under way. Shanghai will also feature a full retail and café pop-up starting next weekend. Come see us. 

9.
If you would like to join our conference, we’re sold out. But if you ask Hannah (hg@monocle.com) nicely, we might be able to find you a jump seat. It’s going to be a good one. The mission is to outdo Jakarta.

10.
If we miss you in Shanghai, we have the Badi Market in Zürich and our summer party in Merano as our next key gatherings. So keep an eye on our events page and make sure to jot them down in the diary.

Enjoying life in ‘The Faster Lane’? Click here to browse all of Tyler’s past columns.

Wander around Brera during Milan Design Week and you might assume that the upscale quarter is the city’s traditional design epicentre. Today it’s where top brands – including from the worlds of fashion and lifestyle, as well as furniture and lighting – want to be seen. Though there are packed Fuorisalone events stretching from Tortona to Porta Venezia, you’re still likely to spot some of the week’s longest queues in Brera. But it wasn’t always this way.

For years, Salone del Mobile dominated Milan’s design scene. Established in 1961, the trade fair was originally held near the CityLife area and there were few co-ordinated events elsewhere in the city. Brera wasn’t as exclusive as it is today, though it was clearly a place with a lot of potential. “It is a central part of the city, close to Piazza San Babila,” says Gilda Bojardi, the editor of Interni magazine since 1994 and a long-time resident of the neighbourhood. “But at one point, it was far more affordable.”

In 1980, contemporary-design gallery Dilmos opened in a historic Vico Magistretti building on Piazza San Marco. Bojardi cites this as a defining moment for the quarter; soon, design brands followed in its footsteps, most notably Boffi. With its world-class fine-art academy and Pinacoteca di Brera gallery, the district had a strong creative backbone. Today the area is peppered with design studios and showrooms.

In 1990, a year in which Salone skipped an edition, Fuorisalone officially kicked off after Bojardi organised an event with a network of showrooms. Showcases and more began to pop up across the city later that decade. Paolo Casati and his team sensed the potential of marketing events around the city more widely. A design graduate from Politecnico di Milano, Casati realised that Fuorisalone could be further leveraged as a brand. In 2000 he bought the Fuorisalone domain name and, three years later, started an online guide and events listing in which companies could increase their visibility. It also told people where to eat in town and the team printed Fuorisalone badges.

An astute entrepreneur, Casati realised that different design centres could exist in Milan. He set up a consultancy called Studiolabo with Cristian Confalonieri and worked on the Tortona, Porta Romana, Bovisa and Mecenate design districts. The formula was similar to that of Fuorisalone: a new visual identity and both online and offline guides. The idea was successful in some places and less so in others (Bovisa hasn’t been able to establish itself as a major Milan Design Week destination). The concept was appealing to property developers, who knew that a more alluring neighbourhood meant a healthier market. “It was a way to attract attention and make prices go up,” says Casati.

In 2010, a business leader in Brera approached him about creating a design district. Casati quickly saw that the neighbourhood had what it took to succeed – so much so that it became his main focus, along with the Fuorisalone site. “We looked at the district lines and there were 70 showrooms in Brera,” he tells Monocle. “We didn’t need to look for clients as they were already there.” Casati helped to promote 47 events for Fuorisalone in the first year. Brera wasn’t reliant on property speculation (being an old neighbourhood where there’s little space to build) and was “a brand that was already known”, he adds.

Over the 16 years that Casati has been involved with Brera Design District, the area has continued to grow. It now boasts about 230 showrooms and holds about 300 events during Milan Design Week. The design-focused apartment where he meets Monocle, which is used to host events, opened in 2017. Recent newcomers to the district include prominent Japanese interiors and manufacturing company Time & Style, which now has three beautiful spaces in the same building. “The architecture and atmosphere seemed perfect,” says Momo Ono, one of the brand’s interior planners. The site’s proximity to luxury Italian design group Boffi De Padova, with which Time & Style has been collaborating on a capsule collection, was also important. “It was a factor that confirmed the prestige of the area,” says Ono.

For Giusi Tacchini, the CEO and creative director of Tacchini, Brera was an obvious choice as a place to open a showroom. The Italian brand set up shop inside an early-20th-century apartment on Largo Treves last year. “It’s an area that’s steeped in art, history and craftsmanship,” she says. “Design in Brera is never just an exhibition. It’s part of a broader, living context.” The district isn’t simply a transactional place where brands tout their products. Its mix of shops, restaurants and galleries makes it all feel alive. “Why is Brera the world’s most important design district?” asks Casati. “Because of its density and quality.”

For more spots in Milan worth exploring, click here. 

Fuorisalone might not be a fashion week but it’s one of the style set’s favourite places to flex its design credentials away from the runway. Over the past decade, the annual event has become unmissable for denizens of the fashion industry, with houses clocking that the showcase is a chance to engage with design-astute audiences while enhancing their cultural cachet. 

Last year, the sector’s presence at Milan Design Week peaked with more than 40 fashion houses staging events. Hermès, Prada, Miu Miu, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Bottega Veneta and Loro Piana are all returning for the latest iteration. (In 2025, the latter was the most talked-about label, thanks to its collaboration with Milanese design firm Dimorestudio.) 

This time, Milan-based brand Jil Sander joins the fray, making its Fuorisalone debut with Reference Library, an exhibition of 60 books chosen by 60 creatives that will be presented on chrome lecterns, to be perused by visitors wearing white gloves. Staged at the brand’s showroom near Sforzesco Castle, the show is masterminded by its new creative director, Simone Bellotti. 

“Salone del Mobile is the moment when the city becomes a gathering point for people who care deeply about how things are made,” Bellotti tells Monocle. “Jil Sander has always been defined by deliberation, the refinement of cuts, the perfection of details. These are values that the design world shares. Our customer is someone who lives with intention, who chooses things carefully and keeps them. The overlap between a person who appreciates exceptional design and someone who wears Jil Sander isn’t incidental.” 

A recent report commissioned by PR agency Karla Otto and conducted by marketing platform Lefty found that, in 2025, the fashion category represented a 56 per cent “share of voice” (the industry term for the proportion of market conversation on social media) over the course of Milan Design Week. To put that into perspective, it recorded 30 per cent for the design category, while media, lifestyle, food and beverage, automobile, beauty, technology, jewellery and finance shared the remaining 14 per cent. 

“People want to live inside a brand, not just wear it,” says Lewis Alexander, the founder of London-based strategic advisory firm Alexander & Co, who notes that for fashion groups, having a presence in the interiors category chimes with shareholder logic. “Apparel has a ceiling; interiors offer high margins and cultural resonance. Once fashion dressed the body; now it dresses life.” 

However, in 2026, there are signs of a mood shift. Having enjoyed a high profile at Milan Design Week in recent years, several fashion houses are notable by their absence, including The Row, Yves Saint Laurent and Loewe. The industry’s representation at Salone mostly comprises brands with more firmly established footholds in design, such as Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Versace, Fendi Casa and Ralph Lauren. 

The fashion sector continues to endure a slowdown, while recalibrating after a year of creative-director switch-ups and executive reshuffles. Budgets that might have been allocated for extracurricular events such as Milan Design Week are being reconsidered. “Every designer who comes into a label has a different idea of what it should look like – not to mention the fact that they need to make six or seven collections a year,” says Lisa Pomerantz, the brand director of New York-based firm LFP Collective. “Then they’re supposed to figure out home collections too? It can’t just be an afterthought. You can’t put something in the shop window if it doesn’t legitimately belong there. People are getting wise to it. ‘One and done’ doesn’t work any more because there’s too much noise.” 

This coincides with a change in popular opinion among the design industry. Somewhat at odds with the event’s open-door policy that has democratised access to elite design circles over the years, the Karla Otto report found an increasing “tension between the concept of public access and industry intimacy”. Two camps have emerged: one that thinks that the presence of fashion brands is resulting in a kind of industry dilution and another that sees the value of attracting new demographics. 

“There’s a sniffiness about the idea that fashion is barging into design’s temple,” says Alexander, who notes that there’s a “distaste for houses that just slap a logo on a chair”. Done well, however, he sees opportunities for brands to engage with a new generation. “Craft is now positioned as proof of durability and integrity – and that message lands with younger consumers,” he adds. “For them, it’s often their first brush with heritage and craft. If they discover Hermès wallpaper before they discover the Bauhaus, that’s not a bad entry point.” 

Like Jil Sander, fashion brands without a lifestyle category are tapping into a growing appetite for intellectual enrichment and experience rather than prioritising new products. “Thinking and engagement – or to be able to think deeply and engage without distraction – are new aspirational cues,” says Lucie Greene, the founder of Light Years Consulting. “It also sits with the Generation Z curator mindset of mining cultural artefacts. Unearthing books and key texts outside the digital space sets them apart.” 

In collaboration with Spanish architecture office Ensamble Studio, Issey Miyake is returning to Milan for its 10th year with The Paper Log: Shell and Core, a project repurposing by-products of the brand’s pleated clothing. Elsewhere, Miu Miu is back with the third installation of its Literary Club, while its parent brand, Prada, returns for its fifth symposium, titled Prada Frames, in partnership with Milanese design duo Formafantasma. 

“Prada is a great example of a brand that is never literal,” says Pomerantz. “What Miuccia Prada [the executive director of the Prada Group] is saying is, ‘My brand is built on intellectual conversations.’ Why wouldn’t she want to intersect with culture and have a talk? That’s very her.” According to Greene, a new focus for fashion brands taking part in events such as Fuorisalone is “neo-cerebralism”, which puts the emphasis on substance over simple brand experiences. “It’s linked to artificial intelligence and a focus on human skills, artistry, intuition and critical thinking,” adds Greene. “It’s making us look to history, philosophy and art from both the past and present to make sense of things, especially in this period of massive global change and disruption.”

How do you measure Canto-pop’s success? You could count the songs: more than 1,000 new tracks were released in 2025. You could witness the queues of fans camping overnight outside radio stations to see the stars. Or, given that you’re in commercially savvy Hong Kong, you could count the money: large-scale concerts in 2023-24 alone contributed an estimated HK$2.2bn (€242.8m) to Hong Kong’s economy.

New venues are opening, new festivals are launching and DJs are remixing old classics for a new generation of clubgoers: the genre is more relevant than it has been in decades. “Growing up in the 2010s, Canto-pop wasn’t considered ‘cool’,” says Kiri T, a singer, songwriter and producer signed to Warner Music. “American pop culture and the English language held such cachet in this city that I felt almost uncomfortable claiming the Canto-pop label and singing in my native language. But recently there’s been a shift. The attention is turning inward.”

Born Kiri Tse Hiu-ying, the 31-year-old is among the dozens of artists whose profile is rising. Her career began in high school, when she signed a Canto-pop label deal as a songwriter. She has been releasing music professionally for more than 10 years but her latest album, A Kiridiculous Distance, has a stronger Cantonese focus than ever. Her track “You Gotta Screw Up At Least Once” was one of the top five most-played of 2025.

We join Kiri T for an open-air campus performance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. For this new wave of artists, university shows have become an opportunity to meet fans and go on a mini-tour within Hong Kong without the pressure of filling a stadium or playing a full set. This time, it’s short and sweet – she’s onstage for only two songs. The courtyard is full of students fresh from late lectures and die-hard fans holding placards. They dance under clear skies and sing along, eyes closed, to melancholic lyrics about identity and belonging.

The last time that the city listened this closely to its own voice was Canto-pop’s golden age. The genre reached the public from the 1970s and sales soared in the 1980s and 1990s as stars such as Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui and Beyond filled the Coliseum for weeks at a time. It was a regional force and a symbol of Hong Kong itself: on the up. At its 1998 peak, annual record sales hit HK$1.6bn. But then came a precipitous decline. “The post-handover period [after the UK returned Hong Kong to China in 1997] was buffeted by the Asian financial crisis, piracy and creative fatigue,” says Wong Chi-Chung, a DJ, a music journalist and a lecturer at the Hong Kong Design Institute. The centre shifted from idols to indie acts, a fragmented ecosystem that he calls “HK pop”. In the meantime, Mando-pop and K-pop surged in popularity. “Public engagement couldn’t compare to the golden age.” By 2017, annual sales had fallen to HK$200m. “Canto-pop has always been a way to feel ‘Hong Kong-ness’,” says Wong. Its popularity rises and falls with the city’s identity. At its best, it unites residents of all ages, the diaspora and even some mainland listeners through anthemic melodies. “Hong Kong has been in need of that,” he adds, especially after the 2019 anti-government protests and the coronavirus pandemic. “There was a hunger to recentre around a shared cultural identity.”

Jessica Ho, the executive music director at Commercial Radio 2 and host of 903 Music, has seen tastes change at first hand. “When newer artists come in for our afternoon programme, there are crowds of fans waiting in the lobby, sometimes having queued outside for up to a week,” she says. “That’s a level of excitement that we haven’t seen since the 1980s.”

Nonetheless, challenges remain: some universal, some specific to Hong Kong. The pressure to release new music isn’t always a boon to quality and the culture of live music and supporting up-and-coming artists isn’t as strong here as it is in Europe. This tension is amplified by the role of generative AI in music, with platforms such as Suno able to create complete tracks that many see as a threat to artists.

A few days before Kiri T’s performance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, we visit her at a Kowloon recording studio. “I can’t tell you much about this song but it’s for an upcoming long-form project,” she says. She savours a pineapple bun and a hot drink. “To warm up the vocal cords,” she explains.

Though Kiri T has her own concerns about the future of her industry, she sees Cantonese, a complex language with nine tones, as a unique safeguard. “Cantonese is so legato [smooth]; AI just makes it sound choppy,” says Kiri T. “You could generate 10 English dance tracks and they’ll sound legit but in Cantonese it still sounds wrong. It really makes me treasure Canto-pop: it’s full of emotions, inherently human, and it’s a luxury to be able to sing it.”

This article is from Monocle’s newspaper The Hong Kong Correspondent, which is available to purchase now. In its pages, we meet the entrepreneurs going against the grain, survey fresh projects that are reshaping Central and give you a taste of what the fashionable Hong Konger is wearing about town. Plus: Monocle’s favourite places to eat, drink and be merry.
Purchase your copy today.

In a residential neighbourhood in the east of the city, regulars are propping up the bar at Banco d’Assaggio, an old-school wine spot of the type that proliferates around Milan. Follow the road for another 100 metres towards the park, however, and the scene changes altogether. Despite the lack of signage outside, the interior patio at Fiorin Fiorello is filling up with a fashion-hipster crowd sipping on French whites and nibbling from cheese platters. Inside, music is played through large custom-built speakers fixed to the walls.

A few years ago, places such as Fiorin Fiorello didn’t exist. The choice was between a fun, old-school joint or a more contemporary offering that didn’t always get it right. Maybe it has something to do with Milan’s new residents or perhaps the Lombard capital is simply playing catch-up with the likes of London, Paris, New York and Copenhagen – but new spots are emerging and there’s a definite Milan aesthetic being established, in which stainless steel and mood lighting play an important part.

For Luca Marullo, co-founder of Parasite 2.0, the design studio behind Fiorin Fiorello’s interiors (as well as Porta Venezia’s Sandì), the new wave of Milan bars has something to do with patrons’ changing habits. “The way you spent the night used to be aperitivo and then clubs,” he says. “Now people are spending more time in places like Fiorin Fiorello. You can drink, spend the evening here and even have a little dance.”

Entering the bar feels almost cinematic. Once through the door, you part a giant, elaborately hung curtain, revealing a bar that is decked out in raw stainless steel and manned by American sommelier and manager Louis Turano. A giant light box hanging from the ceiling changes colour from yellow to red as the night progresses (red lighting is a thing, pioneered by new-wave trendsetter Bar Nico, which featured in last year’s newspaper, as well as new opening Bar Sensa). At Fiorin Fiorello there are also references to old Milan: notably the radica (briarwood), popular in the 1970s, covering some walls; and the DJ booth located round the corner in a nook where drinking turns to dancing from Thursday to Saturday.

“The idea was to have a bar that did music and wine,” says Luca Fiore, one of its four co-founders. “It’s neither an enoteca [wine bar] nor a listening bar.” Still, it has probably drawn inspiration from other music-centric places that have sprung up of late in Milan, such as Mogo – from the team behind Bentoteca and Pan – and Corso Genova’s San.

Another feature of the new wave is New York-style bar seating, which is a nod to what Fiore calls “conviviality”. Milan’s bar resurgence has been led by Silvano, a wine-and-bites spot in the Nolo neighbourhood where diners sit at a stainless-steel bar. The bancone (counter) is also an integral part of excellent new opening Kiwon, a small-plates Korean restaurant and wine bar. With interiors designed by Milan’s Oooh Studio, there are conventional tables but the prime spot is on the raised chairs facing a large open-plan kitchen. “We love the counter, which is why we created it,” says Carmine Colucci, who met his fellow owners, chef Ha Neul Ko (whose family has a 40-year-old Korean restaurant) and Emanuele Romanelli, working at Enoteca Flor. “When we go out, we like to be there; you see everything. You never know what will happen at the bar.”

Kiwon’s dishes are a breath of fresh air for Asian food in Milan. They are a mixture of traditional fare and more contemporary offerings, although the presentation clearly leans towards the modern. Classics include simmered rice cakes called tteokbokki with vegetables, served with a gochujang spicy sauce made with fermented soya, as well as an excellent fried-chicken dish. More modern takes include a turbot carpaccio and a toasted sandwich filled with roast beef, marinated white radish and lightly spiced mayo.

A similar contemporary take can be felt at the buzzing Balay in Porta Venezia. Near Milan Design Week’s Spazio Maiocchi, it is hosting Monocle’s daytime pop-up café. A small, casual spot along the road from speciality coffee opening Rito, Balay serves funky beers, excellent wine and plates that pop in your mouth thanks to their interesting flavours. Despite only being a little more than nine months old, Balay has established itself as one of the city’s most popular destinations. Getting a seat can be tricky.

“Milan is changing in terms of modern Asian food,” says Balay’s founder, Ray Ibarra, who is from the city but has Filipino heritage. He cut his teeth at Milan’s Bentoteca, where he worked for six years before opening his own place after travelling in Japan. “Finally there is a young approach,” he says.

The food and drink at Balay is global and draws on the Philippines’ gastronomic influences, which span China, Spain and the Americas. Ibarra has created an intimate home-like feel, with jazz, soul and funk music playing on a Bowers & Wilkins stereo and pictures from the Philippines taken by his parents. Tables are pushed close together and metal shelves left exposed like the uncovered walls often found in the Philippines. The showpiece dish is the herby sesame prawn toast dipped in a banana ketchup (washed down, in our case, with an Austrian orange wine), while another winner is a deconstructed take on a devilled egg. “I’m happy that I had the courage to open something like this,” says Ibarra. So, too, is Milan.

Address book:

Fiorin Fiorello
Via Fratelli Bronzetti, 38

Sandì
Via Francesco Hayez, 13

Bar Nico
Via Cesare Saldini, 2

Bar Sensa
Via Garofalo, 21

Mogo
Via Bernina, 1C

San
Via Cesare da Sesto, 1

Silvano Vini e Cibi al Banco
Piazza Morbegno, 2

Kiwon
Via Macedonia Melloni, 35

Balay
Via Achille Maiocchi, 26

Rito
Via Achille Maiocchi, 18

It can be hard to know where to turn during Milan Design Week, with events sprawling from the central Brera neighbourhood to the far reaches of the city’s Isola district. To help you navigate the week, here’s a guide to 50 events that are worth visiting.

6:AM Glassworks
In the basement of the Piscina Romano, the Milanese firm presents Over and Over and Over and Over, an exploration of repetition as a source of creativity.
Via Ampère, 24

Acqua di Parma
The Italian perfume brand will celebrate the launch of a new series of fragrances, Buongiorno La Collezione, with an installation in the courtyard of the publishing house ERG Media.
Via Bernardino Luini, 12

Alcova
This popular design showcase takes place in a former military hospital and a rationalist residence by Franco Albini.
– Baggio Military Hospital Complex,Via Giovanni Labus, 10
– Villa Pestarini, Via Mogadiscio, 2/4

Alessi
The design brand, which was founded in 1921, has put together an ode to the inimitable postmodern Italian designer Ettore Sottsass, in an installation titled “La Bella Tavola”.
Palazzo Stampa di Soncino, Via Soncino, 2

Alphabet
A retrospective on the work of UK design duo Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby over the past 30 years, on display at the Triennale.
Triennale Milano, Viale Alemagna, 6

Arclinea
New work by Antonio Citterio, the architect and artistic director of Italian kitchen company Arclinea, will be presented in the brand’s showroom.
Via Durini, 7

Artemest
The historic Palazzo Donizetti provides a theatrical setting for the fourth edition of L’Appartamento, the design retailer’s annual showcase of Italian design.
Via Gaetano Donizetti, 48

Baccarat
Marseille-based artist and scenographer Emmanuelle Luciani presents “Crystal Crypt”, an installation with a cyberpunk and science-fiction influence, for French glass manufacturer Baccarat.
Centro Brera, Via Marco Formentini, 10

Bocci
Light, as a medium in and of itself, is the subject of this year’s exhibition from Bocci, interrogating the theme through the lens of design gallerist David Alhadeff.
Via Giuseppe Rovani, 20

Buccellati
With an installation titled “Aquae Mirabiles”, the Italian silverware specialist presents Caviar, its latest collection for the table.
Piazza Tomasi di Lampedusa

CC-Tapis 3 Fornasetti
Surrealist patterns from 1958 by Piero and Barnaba Fornasetti are reimagined as rugs by Italian brand CC-Tapis.
Piazza Santo Stefano, 10

Convey
More than 20 brands are taking part in the fourth edition of this design showcase, which will occupy five storeys of a building.
Via San Senatore, 10

Dedar
Custom textiles, including chair upholstery, curtains and more, form the subject of the Italian experts’ exhibition, Versi Liberi.
Via Lazzaretto, 15

Design Singapore Council
Is Singapore the ultimate prototype nation? This exhibition explores this idea, reimagining the Asian city-state as a centre for optimisation and future-proofing.
Foro Buonaparte, 54

Dropcity
What are the key challenges of the near future? This is the question that Dropcity posed to students of London’s Central Saint Martins for this year’s showcase.
Via Giovanni Battista Sammartini, 40

Geberit
The Swiss leader in sanitary products, founded in 1874, stages a site-specific installation titled “Form. Flow. Function.” in collaboration with Atelier Oï.
Opificio 31, Via Tortona, 31

Giorgetti
High-end Italian furniture maker Giorgetti unveils its latest wares in its showroom, as well as through an immersive experience staged at the Teatro Manzoni.
– Via Della Spiga, 31
– Via Alessandro Manzoni, 42

H&M Home x Kelly Wearstler
The US designer joins forces with H&M Home for a capsule collection that spans large-scale furniture as well as smaller design objects.
Palazzo Acerbi, Corso di Porta Romana, 3

Hermès
The French luxury fashion house returns to its usual Milan Design Week address at La Pelota, a former 1940s sports court, to unveil its latest collection of homeware.
Via Palermo, 10

Humbert & Poyet
The French duo present a limited-edition version of their Hug chair – rendered in lacquered aluminium, polished brass and garnet velvet – for gallery Maison Pouenat.
Via Borgonuovo, 5

Interni Venosta
A private apartment opens to the public, displaying objects by the furniture brand founded by Dimorestudio.
Via Bigli, 21

Jil Sander
Simone Bellotti, the creative director of Hamburg-founded, Milan-based fashion brand Jil Sander, invites guests to peruse a selection of 60 books chosen by 60 different creatives as part of its “Reference Library” installation.
Via Luca Beltrami, 5

Kaldewei
The work of Milanese architect Piero Portaluppi forms the central theme of German bathroom experts Kaldewei’s exhibition, staged in a palazzo designed by Portaluppi himself.
Palazzo Crespi, Corso Giacomo Matteotti, 1

Kettal
To celebrate its 60th year in business, Kettal is staging collaborations with design luminaries, such as Verner Panton and Jasper Morrison, at its Milan showroom. Over at the Triennale, the Eames House Exhibition revisits the US architects’ flat-packed house.
– Via Broletto, 44
– Triennale Milano, Viale Alemagna, 6

Kohler
Can design aid personal wellness? Lifestyle brand Flamingo Estate teams up with Kohler to create a brutalist bathhouse and delve deeper into the topic.
Via Palestro, 14

Laboratorio Paravicini
Milan workshop Laboratorio Paravicini presents a new collection exploring the contrast between ceramics and metal, created in collaboration with Colombian-born designer Natalia Criado.
Via Nerino, 8

Lina Ghotmeh
The Lebanese architect presents a Pepto-Bismol-pink labyrinth for visitors to explore within the courtyard of the Palazzo Litta.
Corso Magenta, 24

Loro Piana
Plaid takes centre stage at the luxury Italian house’s headquarters. The display pays homage to different weaving techniques and patterns through focused case studies.
Cortile della Seta,Via Moscova, 33

Louis Vuitton Objets Nomades
The French luxury fashion house unveils new designs for the home, including works by São Paulo firm Estúdio Campana and Parisian paper sculptor Géraldine Gonzalez.
Palazzo Serbelloni, Corso Venezia, 16

Marni x Cucchi
The Milanese social ritual of the morning espresso (and later an aperitivo) is reimagined by fashion brand Marni at a café, in collaboration with design studio Redduo.
Pasticceria Cucchi, Corso Genova, 1

Monument Magazzino Archive
London gallery Monument teams up with French design expert Harold Mollet to present a collection of rare functional art, exhibited at the Mulino Factory.
Via Aosta, 2

Muuto Apartment
The colourful Danish brand takes over an apartment in San Marco with an installation titled “The Art of Belonging”, which unites new lighting and furniture designs in a distinctive and tactile environment.
Via Solferino, 11

Nilufar
Nina Yashar’s gallery is putting on two showcases. The first, at her depot, is conceived as a fictional luxury hotel; the second, “La Casa Magica”, explores the house as a symbolic and ritual space.
– Nilufar Spiga, Via della Spiga, 32
– Nilufar Depot, Viale Lancetti, 34

Objects Are By
The Milan-based design studio launches a tea brand called Cromo with a temporary teahouse on the 25th floor of a Milanese brutalist landmark.
Torre Velasca, Piazza Velasca, 5

Poltrona Frau
What does it mean for design to be timeless? For Poltrona Frau, the answer is in materials that develop patina, a central theme of its “True Over Time” presentation.
Via Alessandro Manzoni, 30

Prada Frames
The fashion powerhouse returns for the fifth edition of Prada Frames, a series of talks curated by Formafantasma. This year’s topic of conversation is the role of image-making in contemporary culture.
Complesso Santa Maria delle Grazie, Via Caradosso, 1

Pro Helvetia
In partnership with Presence Switzerland, the Swiss Arts Council presents “Shared Matter”, a showcase on emerging design voices from the Alpine nation.
Via Pinamonte da Vimercate, 4

Range Rover
After making its debut last year, the UK carmaker is back with “Traces”, an installation that explores personalised luxury, materiality and sensory design.
Galleria Meravigli, Via Gaetano Negri, 6

RH Gallery
The US design behemoth marks its Italian arrival with the opening of its Milan outpost, which comprises a shop, a library, a restaurant, a bar and a lounge.
Corso Venezia, 56

Rimadesio
The Palazzo Isimbardi provides the site for an exhibition of Rimadesio’s furniture by Swiss firm Encor Studio.
Corso Monforte, 35

Rosewood
The legacy of Andrea Branzi, one of the leaders of the 1960s Italian Radical Design movement, is honoured by hotel group Rosewood with a large-scale display of the designer’s rice-paper lamps.
Via Carlo de Cristoforis, 1

Technogym
The Technogym Unica, the gym-equipment company’s all-in-one machine designed for at-home strength training, celebrates its fourth decade with a high-energy installation at the brand’s showroom.
Via Durini, 1

The Lucia Eames Rug Collection
A new rug collection centred on the work of Lucia Eames, the only child of design duo Charles and Ray Eames, makes its debut, in collaboration with Barcelona’s Nanimarquina.
Via Statuto, 13

Tod’s
The visual language of 20th-century Italian design provides the inspiration for a limited-edition collection of the Italian fashion brand’s signature Gommino shoe.
Via Savona, 56

USM x Snøhetta
Multisensory installation “Renaissance of the Real” invites visitors to explore the Swiss brand’s metal modular system through a spatial journey.
Corso Venezia, 52

Visteria Foundation
This group showcase, entitled Polish Modernism: A Struggle for Beauty, covers the impact of modernist ideas and the movement’s symbolism as an act of resistance in Poland.
Torre Velasca, Piazza Velasca, 3-5, 16th floor

Warsaw, São Paulo, Milan
Jorge Zalszupin’s emigration from Poland to Brazil – and his contributions to the latter country’s modernist architecture – is told for the first time in Milan.
Torre Velasca, Piazza Velasca, 3-5, 16th floor

Zaha Hadid Architects x Audi
The German carmaker presents “The Origin”, a titanium-hued fibreglass portal, in partnership with the acclaimed London-based architecture firm.
Corso Venezia, 11

Zucchetti
The evolution of the Italian brand’s Octo faucet collection, designed by David Lopez Quincoces, is presented in stainless steel, as well as in several new configurations.
Corso Venezia, 29

After a drive down the highway I’m sitting in my hotel’s courtyard. A cool, late-afternoon breeze is making the palm trees dance. Squawking mynah birds are cruising the decking, in search of food. Meanwhile, people are working on laptops and having meetings at the tables around me. It’s a normal close of day in Dubai. Except, well, there’s a war in the region, currently on pause, that’s proving to be a distraction.

Monocle Radio has been in the UAE all week, reporting from Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Dubai (listen to the special episodes of The Globalist and The Briefing that we have made in each of these emirates). We came here to explore the nuances of a story that’s affecting the whole world and to find out what’ll come next. We have spoken to ministers, business leaders, designers and media folk about events that have caused oil prices to soar, airlines to cancel flights and questions to be raised about a country that some are always too quick to write off.

As with most stories, when you speak to the people at the heart of the narrative, it turns out that the headlines and op-eds, often written in London and New York, don’t always reflect the mood on the ground. The war is undoubtedly causing pain. While restaurants might be busy, the hotels that we have stayed in have been quiet. We have been told about projects put on hold and staff let go. While property prices have held, the velocity of sales is down. Yet something more interesting strikes you in interview after interview: a focus not on a moment of crisis but on the bigger vision.

Whether it’s Issam Kazim, the CEO of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Noura al-Kaabi, the minister of state at the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or Mohamed Khalifa al-Mubarak, the chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism in Abu Dhabi, our guests have turned up to speak to us smiling, unflustered and engaged. Their vision remains the same. They are nation builders and will not let this moment deter them. They have a plan.

During times of crisis, it’s not unusual to see people rallying around their flag and reaffirming the values that give them strength, wherever you are in the world. But it’s fascinating to watch this happening in a nation of 11.5 million people, where only 11 per cent of the population is Emirati. Yes, some residents did leave when the first rockets and drones targeted the country but many more stayed – not just because they like the tax system but because they also feel loyalty to a place where they have lived for 10, 20 or 30 years. Some were even born here.
 
Again, there has been a lot of strange reporting about the UAE in the media, with some journalists suggesting that such attachment is misguided. Why don’t we let the people who moved here decide how they feel? In the UK, we’re often suspicious of anyone who is proud of where they live but that’s not something for residents of Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Dubai and beyond to worry about.
 
On our drive to our hotel, we passed billboards decorated with patriotic messages. Others carried slogans underlining how the people of this country have found common cause: “One nation, one community”, “In the UAE, everyone is Emirati”, “Proud of who we are”. Judging by what people have told us this week, these express something genuine.

Countries change in the face of crises, moments that force people to reflect on who they are and what they stand for. What seems likely to emerge from this episode is a place that knows how to stand up for itself and is clear about who its friends are. Meanwhile, there’s a final team dinner – and I’m as hungry as a pacing mynah bird.

To read more from Andrew Tuck, click here. 

In recent months the culinary world has been rocked by reports of abuse inflicted on staff members at Noma, the restaurant often considered one of the world’s most influential. Though volatility in professional kitchens has long been documented, the details that have surfaced – of violence, public shaming and threats; the type of horrors common in food-centric dramas such as The Bear – have taken on extra significance given that Noma and its chef, René Redzepi, had the authority to stamp out these toxic behaviours rather than uphold them.

At their worst, restaurants are maelstroms of flames and chaos. But at their best, they can be a centre of community and creativity, and produce transcendent moments for their diners. Here, Monocle speaks to forward-thinking chefs and restaurateurs from five institutions about their efforts in striking the right balance between ambition, passion and creating safe, supportive environments in which their employees can thrive.

These conversations have been edited for clarity and length.

---

Kwang Uh and Mina Park
Co-owners, Baroo

Partners Uh and Park are revered in Los Angeles not only for their ambitious, fermentation-driven Korean menu but also for their progressive work practices.

What measures have you introduced [in your kitchen] to create an equitable, supportive workplace?
Mina Park: We offer good pay for the kitchen [staff] due to how big the tipping system is [for front of house] in the US. Our cooks make a higher-than-average hourly pay and we provide top-ups for our managers [to ensure] they’re never behind an employee who earns tips. What’s equally important is that our cooks work 40 hours a week.

Kwang Uh: I won’t ask my team to do anything I’m not willing to do myself. I set clear expectations and will follow up to make sure that things are on track. But I also want my cooks to feel a sense of responsibility for their work and that what they do here is helping them develop. I have frequent one-on-ones to see how they’re doing.

Kwang, you once considered becoming a monk. Do you operate the kitchen with a monk’s mindset?
KU: Being aware of every moment really helps with clear communication and focus. Buddhist ideas of compassion also help me be open to others and try to understand people from their own perspective, rather than be stuck on my own point of view.

---

Ben Shewry
Chef and owner, Attica

Attica, co-managed by Shewry, was one of the first restaurants to bring native Australian ingredients to global attention. Shewry’s 2024 book, ‘Uses for Obsession: A Chef’s Memoir’, calls out the industry’s toxic attitudes.

Why do you want Attica to be seen as one of the world’s best small businesses rather than as one of the world’s best restaurants? 
The world’s best restaurants often have some of the world’s worst business practices. I will never allow the abhorrent things that have happened to me – bullying, harassment, verbal and physical assault – to occur under my ownership. When I took over, I wanted to draw a line in the sand, so I looked to companies in other fields for inspiration, including Patagonia [which is known for its fair labour practices and commitment to sustainability]. I couldn’t get around the idea that a culture of fear is somehow linked to elite performance. There are many performance advantages when you have employees who are supported, paid properly and know they’re not [just] a number.

How do you encourage staffers to take ownership of their mistakes – and how does doing so allow for better work?
Our workplace grants people the freedom to express opinions without fear [of being] made to feel stupid for doing so. If they can’t do this, it’s very hard for them to feel secure when they actually fuck up, which we all do. [When] people feel comfortable enough to make their managers immediately aware of any issues, problems are addressed quickly.

Why do your staffers do weekly speeches?
The front of house and kitchen used to be at odds and it would get fiery during service. The issue was that the teams didn’t know each other. We would never [reach] high performance unless we addressed this. Staff speeches were introduced [about] 15 years ago. Everyone gathers for 20 minutes on Wednesdays and a different person presents to the group. Our head chef has spoken about his love of Richmond, the local AFL football team, and we’ve also heard about much harder things. The day that someone told us about their experience of being bipolar was really touching. Standing in front of an audience and receiving positive reinforcement is empowering and being vulnerable builds empathy – and that passes over to our diners.

---

Norma Listman and Saqib Keval
Chefs and co-owners, Masala y Maíz

The Mexico City restaurant bridges the cuisines of Mexico, South Asia and East Africa. The duo behind the establishment is equally known for championing sustainability, social justice and better working conditions in the industry.

What measurements have you put in place to create a fair work environment?
Saqib Keval: We have humane working hours – the first guests arrive at 12.00 and the last staff member leaves at about 21.00. We hire more employees so that we don’t have to ask people at the last minute to stay late. We have open-book financial management [which allows our] staff to see the restaurant’s expenditures. There’s profit-sharing and the team shares tips, which applies even to those who are on leave.

Norma Listman: We decentralise our power. There’s an annual general assembly with our staff, during which we make addendums to the rules of the restaurant. We also have someone who does group coaching and provides one-on-one growth plans – for example, if there’s a worker who wants to eventually open a restaurant, then they’re going to sit in on our operations meetings.

The notion of the ‘genius’ chef has long been problematic. How do you combat that?
NL: When someone makes a dish that’s served in the restaurant, the menu and our servers will credit that person. It’s their creative and intellectual right to have their name attached to their work.

Unpaid kitchen interns have long propped up the industry. What are your opinions on their role?
NL: We [hire] one stagiaire [an intern] every few months and it’s a paid position. If you’re doing a trial with us, you’re paid for it. We don’t believe in free labour.

---

J Kenji López-Alt
Chef and author

Before a career in cookbook writing, López-Alt spent years climbing the kitchen ladder. Between 2018 to 2022 he operated Wursthall, a beerhall-inspired space in California.

Other than the obvious rules, such as no violence, what are your non-negotiables in the kitchen?
You can raise your voice to be heard but you can’t do so in anger. There are no public put-downs; if there’s something that needs correcting immediately – a safety issue, for example – you can address it but anything else must wait for when you can talk privately. And it’s always about addressing the issue, not the person. No sarcasm. No gender, race, sexuality and appearance-based comments. No cursing in any language. And make sure that camaraderie extends to everyone.

How did you make sure that your kitchen ran efficiently?
We made the space accessible for everyone. Many restaurants are designed around an average male frame. We adjusted shelf heights and made sure that step stools and ladders were within easy access.

Can you provide an example of good leadership that you have witnessed?
You have to let your staff know what the priorities are but you need to also understand that they’re there to learn. When I had questions, my old boss Jason Bond would say, ‘I hear you; right now is not the time but I’ll get back to you.’ After service, we would discuss my queries. 

Good leadership is also not just about being prepared for a busy night but making sure that there’s a contingency plan – such as notifying the bar staff to send free drinks to tables that have been waiting a while for food – and that you’re mentally prepared if something goes wrong. You want people to respect you because you respect them, not because they fear you.

---

Asma Khan
Chef and owner, Darjeeling Express

The kitchen at Darjeeling Express, Asma Khan’s Indian restaurant in London’s Soho neighbourhood, is run exclusively by South Asian women, including several grandmothers.

How have you made your kitchen a safe space for women?
I have a flat system regarding leadership and payment: everyone has the same rate, including [myself] when I’m in the kitchen. It’s important to recognise that the kitchen porter is no less skilled than the person cooking the korma. It also prevents us from using the brigade [the traditional Western system for organising hierarchy in the kitchen], which is a system set up to feed individuals who thrive on power. The perfect kitchen is where there is no fear.

How are duties assigned?
The cooks decide what to do on the day. Those who are good at certain tasks will do them. Those who aren’t in the mood to, say, make koftas and want to do the garnishing [instead] will negotiate – this is about communication. The staff [many of whom are second daughters, a family position traditionally subject to discrimination in India] are survivors of a patriarchal system, so they know that shouting leads to a zero per cent chance of co-operation.

How can hiring practices [in the industry] be improved?
Those in charge are choosing people who they can relate to and hang out with or they want the stereotypical chef – a young, volatile person with tattoos and piercings. Instead, they should [use their] imagination; hire women and train older women.

Read next: Is cooking art? Denmark is chewing over the divide between meal and masterpiece

“This is the place where makers have sought refuge and inspiration,” says Gus Casely-Hayford, director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, of the area in which London’s newest cultural destination has just opened its doors. V&A East Museum (V&A East), which opens to the public on 18 April, is the latest addition to what was once the site of the London 2012 Olympics and is now a buzzing cultural hotspot in the borough of Newham. “It feels both like we’ve come home and that we’ve been welcomed by east Londoners,” adds Casely-Hayford.

Visitors are greeted at the museum’s entrance by a striking, five-metre-tall statue by British sculptor Thomas J Price. An unlikely sentinel, the bronze figure of a young woman clad in trainers and clutching a smartphone feels right at home here. The borough has one of the youngest populations in the country and creating a museum that not only speaks to that demographic but was also made alongside them has been one of the defining novelties of this project. “Young people advised on everything from our uniforms to the food that will be served in our restaurant,” says Casely-Hayford. “It has been wonderful to reshape our operational and curatorial delivery to reflect their interests, needs and aspirations.”

The building itself was designed by architecture firm O’Donnell + Tuomey. It is angular and composed of sand-coloured triangles that tessellate to create a façade that seems to pleat. From the right angle, it has something of a spaceship look about it. 

Inside, V&A East comprises three galleries, the excellent Café Jikoni, an events space, shop and terraces. The permanent galleries – named Why We Make – celebrate the creative process by bringing together more than 500 objects from the V&A collection in an eclectic, unexpected way. Local heroes are, of course, paid their dues. On display is a wispy, ethereal dress covered with an angel motif by Alexander McQueen (who grew up in Stratford). It is from McQueen’s final collection before his death in 2010, poignant and hauntingly beautiful. Less ghostly and more garish are Leigh Bowery’s ballet costumes from 1987 – bright, sculptural outfits that include floral-patterned gimp masks and pink sequined cod pieces. 

Elsewhere, it is hard to miss a poofy hot-pink dress by contemporary east London designer Molly Goddard. Hanging within the same gallery is an Indian talismanic shirt inscribed with the entire text of the Qur’an from around the late 1400s and a Paimio armchair designed by Finnish modernist Alvar Aalto. This assortment, in the words of Zofia Trafas White, senior curator at V&A East, represents “a fresh and topical remix” of the museum’s collection. “Here, we’ve foregone typical displays based on chronology – displays sorted by materials or geography,” she says. “Instead, we’re looking at big ideas that we know are close to our audiences’ heart – identity, wellbeing, social justice, environmental action. It’s a thematic way to bring together objects that wouldn’t normally be displayed together and that mix of different cultures, countries and time periods is quite unique.”

The first temporary exhibition here catalogues the immense impact of Black British music on culture both in the UK and around the world. Objects tell the story – from Winifred Atwell’s piano to the Banksy-designed vest worn by Stormzy at Glastonbury – but so does the music, as motion-sensor headphones play an ever-evolving soundtrack to visitors while they move through the rooms. “This is one of the great stories of British creativity,” says Casely-Hayford. “It is uproariously inspiring and positive.” The very same could be said of this new museum itself.

Not too long ago I saw a young couple step into Shakespeare and Company, Paris’s storied English-language bookshop. After looking around, one of them turned to the other and said, “Oh. It’s just books.” Perhaps they were looking for a café. Despite their evident disappointment, I’m pretty sure that they left with one of the shop’s coveted tote bags. 

No one needs another tote: our cupboards runneth over with them. They accumulate in our closets but more of us seem to be seeking them as souvenirs than ever, to serve as canvas chronicles of our tastes and travels. The tote-bag market in 2025 was worth $2.75bn (€2.33bn). They have, in effect, become the concert T-shirts of our time. 

In the French capital, where I live, demand for these sacks is sky high. The trouble is that tote-seekers are warping the businesses that they claim to love. Some of my favourite shops are overrun with people who aren’t even there to buy what the establishment is known for. What they want is a branded bag that doesn’t scream “souvenir”. It simply whispers, “I shop in Paris and might even live there.” Sure, these visitors might walk out with a book, a bowl or a pair of jeans. But what they came for is visible proof of their connection to the City of Light.

At Merci, a chic shop in the Marais, you’ll find bed linens in saturated colours, fashionably lumpy pottery and luxe jumpers. It’s like the old Barneys New York if Barney had grown up in Brooklyn with French parents. But so many people now show up for its bags that the shop has now devoted a register to them and put up a blazing neon sign saying “Le Tote”. Merch seems to be eating up more and more of its space. You have to fight through an ocean of totes, banana bags and trinkets to get to the shoes and clothing. 

Local customers of any shop with a coveted tote brace themselves for the summer hordes. Queueing times in the line outside Shakespeare and Company can be 30 minutes or more. (Somehow, I can’t picture the world’s next James Baldwin waiting out there in the heat.) Maybe it should set up a dedicated tote stand, like Merci. Then again, perhaps the bags serve as bait, luring customers to the books. But there must be an existential tipping point at which a business starts selling more souvenirs than anything else. 

Some people go to even greater extremes to signal international-shopper status with totes. Fashionable folk in London, Tokyo and Paris are carrying bags from a US grocery chain called Trader Joe’s, a very unfancy place that many of them have never even set foot in. The bags sell in the US for less than $3 (€2.50) and the company doesn’t offer them online. Yet trend followers have paid hundreds for that elusive American cachet on Ebay and even more for rare versions. 

Significantly overpaying for a canvas bag from a grocery shop might be the souvenir-tote obsession in a nutshell. I admit that I probably won’t be able to resist buying a few more of them from places that I want to be associated with or support. But there’s something a bit weird about having a cabinet stuffed with empty bags. Sure, they’re souvenirs of places that we have visited, worked or shopped. But we’ll never use them all. We buy these things for what they signal to the world but the story that truly matters is what we carry inside them: the Lewis and Clark-level survival kit that we lug to work, the gifts for the friend in hospital and the lopsided apple cake that we’re bringing over for dinner tonight.