Monocle Weekend
Edition: Saturday

Is today the day that LA overtakes New York as the US’s fashion capital? Dover Street Market (DSM), the agenda-setting multibrand shop by Comme des Garçons’ Rei Kawakubo and Adrian Joffe, is opening Downtown. The outpost, DSM’s sixth globally, will feature international brands and LA labels including Cactus Plant Flea Market. DSM has proven immune to the troubles facing bricks-and-mortar retailers thanks to its talent for spotting up-and-coming names and its innovative shop layouts. With the exception of Singapore, its locations have focused on top fashion destinations, so opening in LA is a hat-tip to the city. “LA feels good right now: more creative, artistic, outspoken and rebellious,” Joffe recently told Monocle. “In fashion, it is important to have freedom of expression and California is open to all kinds of new ideas.”

An exhibition of political cartoons scheduled for Hong Kong’s Free Expression Week has been cancelled. A political satirist known as Badiucao was due to be honoured with his first solo exhibition today; the Hong Kong Free Press, in association with Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International, had planned the week as a reflection on the city after the now-defunct pro-democracy Umbrella Movement. However, on Friday it decided to cancel the show out of fears for the dissident artist's safety. This follows hot on the heels of the closure of the People’s Bookshop (the last on the peninsula to sell titles banned on the mainland), which stopped trading earlier this week under pressure from the central government.

Today marks the opening of one rather buoyant installation in the US city of Doraville, Georgia. Marian Liou, founder of the non-profit community enterprise We Love BuHi, has organised three bulging inflatables – one bent into a child-sized arch, one wrapped like a croissant and another stood bolt-upright – to adorn Pinetree Plaza on Buford Highway. The area is known for its food offerings, from Cuban bites to east Asian fare, and diverse immigrant heritage. The BuHi Lights project will bring the space to life as an interactive centrepiece for events throughout November. The installation is also an attempt to weave together the stories of the different immigrant communities in the area. The project features a range of ethnically inspired patterns by Peru-native Campana, Korean-American artist InKyoung Choi Chun, Vietnamese-American artist Dianna Settles and Indonesia-born Chintia Kirana.

In what feels like a swift turnaround after one of the country’s hottest summers in 150 years, Switzerland opens for the ski season this weekend after a timely snow flurry. Slopes in Verbier and Andermatt will open every weekend until early December, at which point they will be open daily. The snowfall is good news for the Alpine regions, which have experienced temperature rises of almost twice the global average in the past two decades, resulting in shorter seasons. However, the resorts have not left everything in nature’s hands: this year’s Women’s Alpine Ski World Cup in Courchevel will take place on last year’s snow. How? A snow-farming method used widely in the region allows for consistent seasons by storing snow under cooling traps in spring before distributing it for festive furrows.

The London duo determined to create a new tea culture in London, Helsinki’s new wine bar and bakery concept, and why Noma’s former Copenhagen site is again filled with delicious aromas.

The German capital has become home to numerous new businesses and start-ups, attracting people from around the globe. And despite its complex past, it is an outpost of liberalism, possibility and ambition. How can other cities learn from Berlin’s successes – and the challenges it’s faced?