Monocle Weekend
Edition: Saturday

Sit back and settle in, preferably on a plumped sofa, because it’s Saturday and Andrew Tuck is welcoming us into the comfort zone of his living room. Then it’s time for a relaxing row on The Lake in Manhattan’s Central Park, a charming conversation with Alabama rocker Jason Isbell and the Monocle Concierge shows us another side of Dubai.

It was 18 years ago that we went to the B&B Italia store on the Brompton Road in Knightsbridge and bought a sofa: a “Harry”. We had it covered in a dark-grey fabric to contend with the pawprints of our then hound, Bruno the Weimaraner. Somehow, come delivery day, the team managed to manoeuvre Harry up the stairs, like some reluctant-to-be-budged drunk, and deposited him in the first-floor sitting room (to be clear he’s actually rather svelte – and his legs can be unscrewed – it’s just that our London mews home is a bit dinky).

Harry is the guest who stayed. As I write this from the comfort of an armchair, he’s stretched out in front of me, not a care in the world. Unsurprisingly, over that 18-year arc he’s needed a bit of work to maintain his looks. Cushions had to be restuffed when his sinewy body gave way to the upholstery equivalent of middle-aged spread. And the covers have been replaced twice – the most recent makeover saw Harry get a new light-grey Kvadrat suit.

Our November issue came out this week and it’s a design special with a 16-page Expo about, well, sofas. Being editor in chief of Monocle, you get to come up with ideas for all the editors (who rightfully ignore most of these in favour of their own genius plans). But in my colleague Nic Monisse, our design editor, I have a sparring partner who is always up for a challenge and sometimes seems happy to make some of my dafter ideas work. Ages ago, I suggested that we do a feature on architects and designers, and their sofas of choice. Well, he’s delivered with aplomb. We see a suited and shoeless Daniel Libeskind perched on the vast sculptural stretch of his La Maquette sofa designed by Pierre Paulin and produced by Louis Vuitton – piles of reading matter awaiting his attention on the complementary coffee table. Then there are the designers Fien Muller and Hannes van Severen on their Pillow sofa by BD Barcelona and, chilling on the cushions between them is their adorable dog. Or how about Grant Wilkinson and Teresa Riviera with their Peonia sofa by SCP who we see with their four-year old child, all squeezed together in a moment of familial intimacy.

Beds are more likely to be the stages for life’s biggest events, from births to deaths (and hopefully lots of mattress-spring-challenging nocturnal activity) but sofas are where life just happens. Sofas are where we snuggle, have TV dinners, where newspapers are read, sneaky Saturday naps taken. Sofas are where we entertain neighbours and parents, or use as a sort of domestic holding pen for outsiders. Sofas are where first kisses happen, where children bounce, where news is broken. Sofas can embrace you at the end of a crap day. Sofas are for sharing and solitude too. That’s pretty remarkable for a single piece of furniture.

It’s why our sofa will be sticking around for some time. On its cushions and resting on its steadying arms, my household’s lives also continue to unfurl. Two men and a dog. Oh, and Harry, of course.

The November issue of Monocle is on sale now. It’s a plumped cushion perfection.

Louis Vuitton baseball cap, Gucci shoulder bag and counterfeit designer trainers is the chosen garb of the “Talahon”, an urban sub-culture that has emerged in Europe (writes Andrew Bulkeley). Talahon is one of the newest words in the German lexicon and its adherents are a familiar sight in Munich, Hamburg and Köln alongside cheap beer, kebab shops and grumpy octogenarians. It describes groups of young men, typically but not necessarily of a Middle Eastern background or from the region around the former Yugoslavia, hanging out in groups near fountains and town halls. Swinging gold chains add a flash of ostentation and they’re conspiring with ageing hipsters to keep sales of skinny jeans afloat.

The term trending on the internet was popularised in 2022 by Kurdish-Syrian rapper Hassan from Hagen in Central Germany and stems from the Arabic “Ta’al huna” for “come here”. The word even came in second place in a 2024 contest for the German youth word of the year (an Anglicism, “aura”, inexplicably took top honours). Unfortunately, it has already been co-opted as an anti-immigrant slur by the growing German far-right. Nevertheless it continues to be a badge of honour for the style-conscious folk who have adopted the look.

A couple of weekends ago, I made a splash in New York (writes Tomos Lewis). On that occasion, making waves was a literal rather than figurative endeavour, as I plonked myself into one of the distinctive bottle-green rowing boats that dot the lake in Central Park. A smiling member of the on-land crew pushed the vessel from the shore and I found myself taking to the experience like a duck to water. The charm of Central Park’s rowing boats, which debuted in the 1860s, is that rowers, pros and novices can all use them to chart a course across the lake.

There are families squeezed into some, couples on dates in others, friends catching up, and solo rowers taking pause from the day. All of this unfolds on the shoreline too: picnics are nibbled at, proposals of marriage are made and accepted, and wedding photographs are snapped. From the rowing boats, that same sense of romance extends to the vantage point that you get of the city – the grand, clustered skyline feels as though it has room to breathe. As our oars finally found their rhythm, it was time to turn back to shore. There really is no pleasure quite like messing about on a boat.

The Monocle Concierge is our purveyor of top tips and delectable recommendations for your next trip. If you’re planning to go somewhere nice and would like some advice, click here. We will publish one answer a week.

Dear Concierge,
Any recommendations for a weekend in Dubai?

Tommaso Pondini
Italy

The answer, Tommaso, is a resounding yes. As Dubai matures as a city, it’s developing a rich seam of culture and cuisine beyond the faceless malls and skyscrapers. Start your day at Mazmi, a café in a traditional Emirati home. Order coffee on the terrace as you watch the abras ferrying passengers across Dubai Creek.

From here, head across town (taxis are plentiful and cheap in Dubai) to Alserkal Avenue, a network of warehouses containing independent galleries, boutiques, cultural venues and creative studios. After stocking up on fine leather goods at Nappa Dori and catching a matinée at the worldly Cinema Akil, it’s time for dinner. Monocle favourites include Lowe, a stylish concrete-and-wood spot in the Al Barari neighbourhood where fresh seafood is given an inventive twist; and Business Bay’s Soul Kitchen, notable for its vibrant cocktail bar, Latin-Levantine fusion menu and soulful DJs who ensure that dessert is followed by dancing.

For a nightcap, find a low-lit nook at Blind Tiger and ask bar manager Francesco d’Arienzo to whip up The Fire Eater – a tequila and beetroot cocktail laced with wasabi. For more Dubai recommendations, grab a copy of The Monocle 100: Dubai, which will be published next month.

Jason Isbell is a singer-songwriter from Alabama. Previously a member of Drive-By Truckers, he is now a six-time Grammy-winning solo artist – and, as of his role in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, an actor. His latest studio album is Weathervanes. He is on tour in Europe in November.

You played the Democratic National Convention earlier this year. When you were growing up, did the idea of a southern rocker with broadly liberal views strike you as a contradiction?
It’s to be in a club which is relatively small but populated with people I respect so much – people unabashed about their southernness but at the same time possessing a progressive view of the world. I grew up around a lot of rednecks and, God love them, they’re great at some things but they’re not very good at voting for their own interests.

How terrifying is making a big-screen debut opposite De Niro and DiCaprio?
It felt so good to be terrified. The first day was a rehearsal with De Niro and DiCaprio. I could hardly make words come out of my mouth. I memorised my line, knew how to deliver it but just croaked. I was so afraid and I was so grateful for that feeling. I’m in my forties, I don’t have any bills, I’m not sick and I got to be scared in a controlled and creative environment – it felt great.

Did your breakthrough solo album Southeastern feel like a big leap forward when you finished it?
At that time I was bitter, I was resentful, I was unhappy – and then I got sober and saw why I had those feelings. So one of my primary concerns was: only live by your own rules, only work to your own standards, see how that goes. So when we finished Southeastern I was completely satisfied with it, because I thought: this sounds like a good album to me, I’m going to stop there and see what happens. And then it just went crazy.

Do you note recurring themes emerging in the songs, by now? There’s a thing of rebelling against stereotypes of southern masculinity, going back to ‘Alabama Pines’ or ‘Hope The High Road’ – even ‘Outfit’, with Drive-By Truckers.
I’ll stop singing about that when it’s no longer necessary. Any minute now, the toxic southern masculinity is going to go away and I’m gonna have to sing about something different. It’s an ongoing struggle – I go through my life and realise that it is a hang-up from being a big-redneck man from Alabama. Until I have it sorted, it’s still going to be in the songs.

To hear the full interview with Jason Isbell, tune in to ‘The Big Interview’ on Monocle Radio.

Swiss jewellery house Gübelin has partnered with the world-renowned Spanish-Swiss architect Santiago Calatrava to create its first limited-edition watch. The Gübelin Ipsomatic features an organically curved shape in platinum colour with black strap that’s inspired by the architect’s distinctive flowing sculptural design.

It evokes Calatrava’s work on the Turning Torso Tower in Malmö, the Milwaukee Art Museum and the transportation hub at New York’s World Trade Center. The watch’s rear side features an engraving of two bulls based on an original drawing by Calatrava. Its limited edition means that there are only 170 pieces on offer – marking 170 years since the house was founded as a watchmaker.

For more timely stories from the world of Monocle, pick up a copy of our Novemberdesign special. Or better yet,subscribeto ensure you’re always in the loop. Have a great Saturday.