Monocle Weekend
Edition: Saturday

Is doggy couture the next frontier for luxury brands? This month Moncler launched “Mondog”: a capsule collection of puffer vests for pooches designed in collaboration with pet brand Poldo Dog Couture (and modelled on a French-bulldog mannequin, naturally). The move follows a similar collection by Ralph Lauren and collars by Ermenegildo Zegna and it makes sense. Luxury brands want to court younger buyers and, right now, people are spending more on their furry friends. Research firm Mintel revealed that the younger cohort spend more on pets than any other demographic, which is attributed to the fact that they are having children later in life so have more time and money to spend on their furry friends. Brands have long spoken about conjuring a universe to buy into; now that universe contains collars and kennels as well as dresses and shoes.

Japan Village, a 1,900 sq m Japanese market, opens today at Industry City on Brooklyn’s waterfront. Started by Tony and Takuya Yoshida, owners of Michelin-starred restaurant Kyo Ya and grocery chain Sunrise Mart, the complex will contain a grocer serving homemade tofu and soy milk and a butchers offering wagyu beef. The remaining space will include food stalls, a Japanese izakaya restaurant and a liquor shop specialising in the country’s whiskeys, wines and sakés. Japan Village is another example of New York’s single-cuisine food-hall movement: it’s a Japanese answer to Eataly and Le District, offering cultural immersion along with culinary delights. Mercado Little Spain, a Spanish take on the idea, is scheduled to open in 2019.

The mix of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman architecture in Thessaloniki is a sign of its historic significance but Greece’s second city, and it’s undergoing a more contemporary resurgence. Art Thessaloniki, the city’s contemporary art fair is only in its third year but this weekend’s event will feature 1,500 individual works from more than 450 Greek and international artists, including painters Alekos Fassianos and Sol LeWitt. The city’s mayor Yiannis Boutaris is receiving credit for putting more emphasis on the arts. Let’s hope that the momentum continues as he approaches his final stint in office.

Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters has finally landed on US and UK screens and is your best bet for a weekend trip to the cinema. It’s the latest film by Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda, whose work has been nowhere near as popular internationally as it should have been. With a sublime softness of touch, this tale explores the meaning of relationships via the vicissitudes of a family of thieves who take in a girl they find abandoned on the street. It’s a heartbreaking and profound effort that has plenty of relevant social criticism to make, allied to a tone that Kore-eda has perfected via his documentary background. It’s all the more reason to explore his lesser-known back catalogue; our colleagues in our Tokyo bureau recommend that you begin with 2004 family drama Nobody Knows.

To celebrate the release of Monocle’s brand new Helsinki travel guide, we are in the city to meet the makers and shakers on its fast-evolving food-and-drink scene

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.