Monocle Weekend
Edition: Saturday

The crisp chill of winter has snapped to attention in the northern hemisphere and driven us indoors – making it the perfect time to catch up on must-watch documentaries and talk shop with Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen about his latest release. Then it’s off to Kyoto with the Monocle Concierge but not before a quick stopover at LAX for a touch of planespotting. Our first bit of business comes courtesy of Andrew Tuck, a man warmed by the fires of entrepreneurial spirit.

The new issue of Monocle: The Entrepreneurs is out and, of course, we would like you to purchase a copy or, better still, become a subscriber, so that you can receive all our magazines.

Entrepreneurship is a topic that’s always been central to Monocle’s reporting. Why? Because it’s our foundation story. We are a business started by a serial entrepreneur and, even as the company has evolved and grown, that foundation story has remained a point of reference that we often return to. Indeed, the nimble thinking, the determination to set your own course and the energy that got the business off the ground are just as evident today in all that we do (sometimes a mite exhausting, nearly always thrilling).

And, as with many companies – well, the good ones – started by enterprising men and women, the notion of being entrepreneurial isn’t something that only resides in the boardroom. It’s an attitude that permeates all our decision-making, a reflex in (you hope) all your team. In part, I know that this is effective at Monocle because I see what people go on to do if, when, they leave the company. One of my former colleagues messaged me this week from Bangladesh, where he is consulting on a project for a client. Another I spotted on Instagram has just completed an interior-design project with his business. Others have their own media companies, restaurants, you name it.

But it’s clearly not just among Monocle graduates that this self-confidence, this grit, can be seen. I am struck again and again by how many young people I meet who have no desire to work for anyone else, who have set their hearts on creating their own enterprises. And oldies too. I sit close to my colleague Tom Edwards, the head of radio and the host of The Entrepreneurs podcast (with the very clever Laura Kramer in the producer’s chair) on Monocle Radio, and so I hear who is coming on the show and get to meet many of their guests. It’s incredible how many people have successful corporate careers but then jump ship in, say, their forties, to set up on their own, leaving behind pensions and security.

Among the mavericks in this edition of Monocle: The Entrepreneurs are the founders of three businesses who jumped ship to go it alone – and who, despite the challenges, have no regrets. There’s Chris Tag, the art director from Ogilvy who now has a luggage brand; Philipp Mayr and Dominic Flik, who ditched jobs as industrial designers to found a company making US-style barbecue equipment in Austria; and Bianca Gerber, who left a law career to make furniture. It will get you thinking.

Anyway, it’s some of this attitude – endless motivation, resilience, sleeves-rolled-up willingness – that we hope comes across in our plucky annual. It’s a magazine that, in the nicest possible way, should provide a kick up the backside, an enticement to take the leap, to do things your way for once.

‘Monocle: The Entrepreneurs’ is available now online, in all well-run, entrepreneurial newsstands – and in the high-street chains too.

A recent trip to Prague confirmed what I had already long assumed: the ultimate barometer for winter chic is women of a certain vintage from Central and Eastern Europe (writes Grace Charlton). On the cobbled streets of the Czech capital, the local babičky are walking masterclasses in cold-weather style as they sashay about in cashmere jumpers, fur coats and leather gloves. One silhouette-topper in particular is currently prevailing as the accessory-of-choice: the shearling chapka (the version without the fur-trapper earmuffs). It seems that the high-fashion crowd is finally cottoning on to the humble chapka as it makes a quiet comeback this winter.

While people-watching in London, Copenhagen and Zürich, my research shows a surge in sightings. Leading the charge are the Scandinavians, with Swedish brands Toteme and Stand Studio peddling versions in pebbled-black leather. Italian fashion house Miu Miu also offers a fuzzy lambskin number. As a convert myself (how did you guess?), I find that it brings a Slavic slant to an otherwise ordinary outfit. Chapkas are broader than regular old beanies and create a boxier, more sculptural statement. A chapka brings a theatrical touch that would give Anna Karenina a new lease on life. So if you’re starting to feel the chill and the temptation to bring some flair to your winter wardrobe, consider the chapka – it’s easier than donning a floor-length mink coat but just as timeless.

While other airports may transit more passengers, LAX stands out in the US for the sheer number of planes that it moves (writes Tom Vanderbilt). For this reason, the airport and its surrounds attract a certain flock of fuselage-fanatics and cockpit-peepers rarely found at other major airports.

The sheer traffic, combined with the fact that LAX is surrounded by Los Angeles – you can be walking down Sepulveda Boulevard when a shockingly low Korean Air Airbus A380 nearly blows you over – has made the airport a favourite of aviation geeks worldwide. Add in the bewitching Californian light, dramatic mountain and ocean backdrops, and LAX is a planespotter’s paradise.

These big-game twitchers congregate at a handful of spots, accessible on a long layover. One is a small stretch of pavement on a hill in El Segundo that overlooks the airport’s south runways. It is dubbed “Clutter’s Park” for a local councilman who saved the neighbourhood from airport expansion. Another is the famously bustling In-n-Out Burger branch at Sepulveda and Lincoln. Fortified with an “animal-style” Double Double and fries, you can rock up at a picnic table or stretch out on an iridescently green lawn nearby, bathing in sun and jetwash, gawping at “heavies” on the final approach. My favourite perch is the H Hotel, which spotters will book so that they can access its rooftop terrace, which offers a sweeping view of runway 6R/24L.

At any of these vantage points, you’ll see spotters, usually male, usually equipped with long-range lenses and sunhats (the kind that drape over the neck as they shoot with the sun at their back), ears glued to air-traffic-control chatter. The pursuit is not so different from birdwatching. Instead of calls, spotters recognize engine sounds; wing shapes and coloration similarly aid in identification. If you can’t make it to LAX, there are two Youtube channels, both with hundreds of thousands of viewers and robust chat feeds, offering live footage of everything that lands and takes off, from private jets to Air Force One.

Paraboots are everywhere (writes Jack Simpson). Roaming through Milan, flitting between shops in Tokyo or crossed beneath broadsheets in London, the French-made shoe is enjoying yet another heyday. However, discerning shoegazers now look for more than the brand’s infamous Norwegian welt and green label. To properly stand out, one must nab a pair of the hard-to-find collaboration releases, which feature distinct materials, laces, buckles and more.

Perhaps out of deference to the shoemaker’s quality craftsmanship or idolism, younger brands are lining up to collaborate with the 116-year-old company – and it’s paying off. Studio Nicholson recently reimagined the shoemakers’ classic “Michael” shape in an espresso-coloured, grained deerskin, and it sold out quicker than you can sink your morning coffee. Fortunately, Paraboot has opened its studio to plenty of other tastemakers. Arpenteur and Pyrenex have also released fresh takes and there’s still pairs of Engineered Garments’ “Chambord Bride” available. Fill your boots!
paraboot.com; paraboot.com/en/engineered-garments; studionicholson.com; arpenteur.fr; pyrenex.com

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 each week.

Dear Concierge,
I am looking to visit Kyoto in December. What are some unique experiences in this beautiful city during winter?

Thanks in advance,
Ioana Posea,
Romania

December is a good time to visit Kyoto as the bustling city of 10,000 shrines may be a touch quieter than other months of the year. You’ll have space to meander the city’s serene temples, charming back streets and warming cafes.

We recommend a stay at Moksa, a small hotel in Kyoto’s leafy northeast, just next door to the historic Ruriko-in Temple. Traditional breakfasts are served using local herbs and vegetables; start the day in one of its private steam-bath saunas that uses the neighbouring Takano river’s flowing water. Alternatively, head to craft shop Kyo Amahare, set in a beautifully restored machiya (traditional two-storey townhouse) with three small gardens and an interior designed by architecture studio Tonerico Inc. Tucked away in the back is a teahouse where you can enjoy a well-poured brew and peruse the ceramics.

For lunch, head to Teuchisoba Kanei, a short walk from Daitoku-ji Temple, for a taste of Kyoto’s best soba noodles. Meals begin with homemade fried soba chips and customers sit at low tables on tatami-mat floors that extend to a small garden. We also recommend the soba-zenzai (dumplings with sweet red-bean soup and seaweed).

No trip to Kyoto would be complete without some Zen meditation. For a 90 to 180 minute session led by monk Tosei Shinabe, try Ryosoku-in Temple. Or dip into one of Japan’s oldest public art museums, the Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art. Restored by architects Jun Aoki and Tezzo Nishizawa, the 1930s imperial-crown-style brick building is a marvel in and of itself.

While the sun hangs low, the last of the autumn colours still linger and the city’s winter chill starts to set in, book a good table at Dupree. Opened by Masanobu Egami in 2018, it has a warm, candlelit mix of wooden furniture from Kyoto maker Jurinsha and antique French tiles.

The bistro’s menu contains vegetables from nearby Ohara and carp from Arashiyama, as well as fish from Mie and Fukui prefectures. Then, when you’ve had your fill of Kyoto-French fare, step out onto the snow-dusted streets for a scenic stroll through the city’s winter illuminations.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen is known for his in-depth, human exploration of characters and history executed with an artist’s eye. We speak to McQueen about the release of his new film, Blitz, which details the lives of 20th-century Britons during the Second World War.

Was your experience in Iraq a starting point for ‘Blitz’?
That was my real starting point. I was commissioned to go to Iraq by the official war artists’ programme at the Imperial War Museums and I wanted to bring that warzone experience to a situation which was more familiar to people like myself.

Tell us about the character of George [played by Elliott Heffernan].
My inspiration for George was a photograph I saw from the period of a young mixed-race child standing in a railway station waiting to be evacuated. He was my way into the film – seeing war through a child’s eyes.

How does race affect the film and its audience?
Not so long ago, there was a fascist march in Central London. Unfortunately, it seems the world is on fire and I feel this gives the film so much more urgency. Race is a huge thing, not a side topic – each one of these wars today is about race. So this is the topic.

You can listen to the full interview with Steve McQueen on‘Monocle on Culture’. ‘Blitz’ was released in select theatres on 1 November, and is now streaming on Apple TV+. For more cultural insights and travel tips, pick up a copy of Monocle’sNovember edition. Or, better yet,subscribeso that you never miss an issue. Have a super Saturday.