Monocle Weekend
Edition: Saturday

In the lead up to this year’s Salone del Mobile you could be forgiven for thinking that we were diving into catwalk season rather than heading to a design fair. Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Loewe and Marni are just some of the big names that are in the running at the furniture fair this year. In the past, fashion brands leveraged Milan’s PR opportunities with costly installations but today more are actually showing products: from patterned vases (Hermès) and hand-painted blankets (Loewe) to furniture (Bottega Veneta). Fashion houses launching homewares is a trend that has been gathering pace in recent years: in 2017 Gucci and Loewe both debuted home collections but this year has seen a more concerted step by luxury-apparel brands to show that they are about function as well as fashion. For more on Salone, check out Monocle’s Salone Weekly.

The third most populous city in the lone-star state is further cementing its reputation as a cultural centre, as the Dallas Art Fair returns to town for the tenth year running. From the warehouses of the Design District in central Dallas to the Arts District centred on the Dallas Museum of Art and Renzo Piano-designed Nasher Sculpture Center, the city will be abuzz with parties, openings and exhibitions: 92 to be precise. Massimo De Carlo and James Cohan Gallery are present as ever, alongside emerging talent from LA’s Night Gallery and Dallas’s And Now. While Dallas Art Fair has increased in size and profile since its opening year, many hail it as one of the few big fairs on the arts calendar where visitors can still view work unmolested by crowds in exhibition spaces that more closely resemble indoor markets than galleries.

In recent years the Japanese practice of forest bathing has grown in popularity in the West, with more people retreating to the woods in pursuit of calm. To cynics, this most arboreal of pursuits might seem sentimental but according to a new book, Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness, there is more to it. Author Dr Qing Li highlights the therapeutic benefits of forest bathing: boosting the immune system, lifting mood, reducing blood pressure, increasing focus, improving sleep and it can even accelerate recovery from illnesses. With stress on the rise, and with more people living in cities than ever, perhaps forest bathing is a way to finally see the wood for the trees.

While the death of Leonard Cohen in November 2016 was mourned the world over, the city where his loss was most acutely felt was his hometown, Montréal. The city has continued to mark the life and career of its prodigal son, from public murals to memorial concerts. The jewel of the tributes, however, has been the record-breaking exhibition at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MAC). Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything closed on Thursday, after its initial five-month run was extended to accommodate demand (more than 330,000 Montréalers have seen it, making it the most visited exhibit in the museum's history). Plans are now underway to tour it internationally, from May 2019, with talks in progress with galleries in New York, Prague, Copenhagen and San Francisco. “Leonard is an extraordinary ambassador for Montréal and Canada,” says John Zeppetelli, MAC’s director and chief curator. “But the exhibition, here in Montréal, actually provided a place for people to gather somewhere. To mourn, to celebrate. It’s been very special.”

Rome’s Michelin-starred chef on his new London venture and what it takes to launch a successful restaurant business.

We pull up a bar stool in Amsterdam at the inaugural Night Mayor Summit to hear from pioneering night watchmen and urban provocateurs in cities around the world.