The Monocle Minute

This week, Cathay Pacific’s (CX) top brass took to a temporary stage at Hong Kong International Airport and unveiled the airline’s new cabins. The star of the show was the Business-Class Aria Suite, a project six years in the making. The spectacle of hundreds of people clapping at a chair in an aircraft hangar might seem odd to anyone outside the aviation (or, indeed, furniture) industry. But the theatrical production, supported by a Chinese film star, a retrofitted Boeing 777-300 and the sound of jet engines roaring nearby, underscored the importance of this milestone to the Hong Kong flag carrier’s post-pandemic recovery.

Arguably hit harder than any other airline by coronavirus-related disruptions, CX finally has some forward momentum. A government bailout has been repaid, it has no more planes parked in the Australian desert and passenger numbers are expected to return to 2019 levels by early next year. But the launch event also highlighted a dilemma facing the world’s premium airlines. How to elevate customer experience and generate excitement without any new planes? CX’s original plan was to showcase its new onboard designs inside Boeing’s next-generation long-range 777-9 aircraft. The decision to retrofit the existing fleet is a result of ongoing delays in Seattle that have pushed delivery back to 2026. This pivot could prove shrewd. Boeing’s production problems appear to be going from bad to worse and some frustrated airline bosses are already raising doubts about the revised timeline.

Singapore Airlines, CX’s regional rival, might have chosen to wait for the 777-9 but its current cabins are showing their age. And its passengers will soon start seeing pictures of the Aria Suite in flight; the first new-look CX cabins depart for Beijing today. As Boeing executives buckle up for a turbulent few years, their peers at Cathay Pacific could offer them some advice on how to fly into an aviation abyss and come out the other side with a smile on your face.

James Chambers is Monocle’s Asia editor. Tune in to ‘The Globalist’ from 07.00 London time to listen to our interview with Vivian Lo, the general manager of customer experience and design at Cathay Pacific. And, for more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today

Giza’s Grand Egyptian Museum finally held its soft launch this week, two decades since the project commenced. Originally scheduled to open in 2012, the serially delayed institution features more than 100,000 artefacts and has cost in excess of $1bn (€921m) so far. Despite the long wait, the museum’s ambitious scope and scale has never been in doubt. Covering an area of almost 50 hectares close to the pyramids, the sprawling collection is now partially open to the public and includes priceless pieces dating back to the Old Kingdom (2649 BCE to 2130 BCE).

However, questions remain about the management’s ability to set a firm opening date for the rest of the museum. As Egypt seeks to boost international tourism, there’s a renewed push to open it fully – but the Israel-Hamas war has led to a sharp fall in visitors to the country. Unless stability returns to the region, the Grand Egyptian Museum might not receive the attention that it deserves.

When Tokyo-based label Auralee released the first pieces from its autumn/winter 2025 collection, queues at its Minami-Aoyama shop stretched out of the door and its brown-leather blouson swiftly sold out.

It has been a busy few months for designer Ryota Iwai: this summer he was part of the official Paris Fashion Week schedule for the first time, there’s a new press showroom in Aoyama and the nearby flagship has been expanded and refreshed. The stylish yet understated brand has long flown under the radar – but it seems to be on the point of blowing its cover.

This season, it has a strong line-up of winter coats in cashmere and tweed, as well as puffer jackets covered in brushed alpaca. “I want people to feel like themselves in my clothes,” says Iwai. Its accessories are equally attention grabbing: canvas suit bags made by Japanese brand Aeta, a selection of soft-suede shoes crafted with a Kobe shoemaker and trainers created in tandem with New Balance. Iwai also has another collaboration up his sleeve. He has been working with Copenhagen-based Tekla on a line of sleepwear, outerwear and bath products – a perfect marriage of Japanese and Scandinavian design. “I put the same effort into designing a T-shirt as into a coat,” he says. “For me, it’s all about great fabrics and meticulous tailoring.”

For more fashion insights and ideas from our global network of reporters, buy a copy of Monocle’sOctober issue, which is out now and features this autumn’s best finds in our menswear-focused style directory.

This week’s pick is “Cuban Girls” by UK-based Lee Vincent Grubb. It’s part of MND300, a print sale organised by fashion photographer Mark Sanders to raise funds for research into motor neurone disease. The sale, which ends on Saturday 26 October, includes photographic still lifes, landscapes and portraits by more than 100 practitioners.
300mnd.com

In a special episode in collaboration with the Holcim Foundation Awards, we look at how nature can be designed into our cities, as well as ways to foster sustainability in the building sector. We meet Laura Viscovich, the Holcim Foundation’s executive director for sustainable construction, and bring you a live discussion from London’s Natural History Museum, where we discover the award-winning Urban Nature Project – a new globally celebrated green space in the heart of the metropolis.