Monocle Weekend
Edition: Saturday

It’s time to tie the year up in a nice bow. For some of us that means burning off those Christmas gains in your freshly gifted running gear, but for others it will involve tucking in to engrossing winter reads. A lucky few might even follow the lead of the Monocle Concierge and enjoy a weekend in Graz. Here to wrap the year up is Andrew Tuck.

This was 2024…

Hong Kong for The Chiefs conference – a line-up of amazing speakers and life stories spilling out on stage. There’s an after-party hosted by the dapper menswear player Mark Cho at his shop, The Armoury. There’s much dancing on his cigar den’s sofas (stockinged feet, mind). “One day, I must find my handbrake,” I think as the car makes its way back to the hotel.

There’s time, however, to have a bleary-eyed shirt fitting at Ascot Chang – the tailor makes one cuff slightly larger than the other to accommodate my watch. Also, dangerously, a shopping session with Mr Cho.

My octogenarian neighbour, Leo, takes his leave with no warning. One day we are gossiping in the mews, the next I’m standing there watching his casket disappear from view. I still haven’t forgiven him. Not least because we always enjoy a December knees-up with him.

But the dog decides to stick around. That’s a relief.

I get a camera. I get frustrated. I take a one-day photography course that explains what each button and setting could potentially deliver. I will not be beaten but you can see why the iPhone took over.

It’s been a year of being on the road with colleagues. Carlota in Bratislava, Luke in Dubai, Josh in Stockholm, Rebecca in Athens, Tyler just about everywhere. I work with amazing people.

Monocle in Paris. A new office, a new team of colleagues. And the story has just begun – come February we will have a shop, café and radio studios too. Ooh la la.

Another year of making The Urbanist podcast, another year of the producer, David Stevens, keeping it together as I fumble a script or forget to put an interview in the diary. But the highlight is a recording at The Natural History Museum in partnership with the Holcim Foundation. A crowd, wonderful panellists, a perfect Indian summer’s evening after days of rain.

The back and forth to Mallorca. The cementing of friendships. Making a home. An island that believes in the slow reveal, forever divulging more of its secrets.

We hold our annual Quality of Life Conference in Istanbul and afterwards take a squad of our Patron subscribers away to the Maçakızı beach club in Bodrum. We dive off a yacht, swim in the sea, laugh a lot. The barrier between work and personal lives vanishes in moments like this.

It has been a year of learning how to make the most of time on stage while interviewing clever people. In Istanbul I talked to designer Eduardo Aires and later the mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj. Their passion and commitment come across so eloquently with the most modest of prodding. It holds the room. I enjoy this.

I head back to Tokyo for the first time since the pandemic and I’m almost overwhelmed by the experience. The quality, the consideration, the precision, the service, the beauty.

Athens to interview the prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as the opening fireside conversation at the Greece Talks event. Then back again for the launch of Greece: The Monocle Handbook. A city transforming at pace and you laugh to yourself at how you ended up here. Which god smiled down on you?

Another year of life and work, of ups and downs. Here’s to 2025 and may we move through interesting times with ease.

From ghosts in the Argentinian wilderness to a heart-warming tale of a Japanese librarian’s selflessness, we round up the best new literature to keep you company on a cold night. For the full rundown, pick up a copy of our seasonal Alpino newspaper.

‘Ædnan’ by Linnea Axelsson
Sámi-Swedish writer Linnea Axelsson’s epic novel in verse tells the story of two Sámi families’ fight to preserve their complex history.

‘What You Are Looking For Is in the Library’ by Michiko Aoyama
Sayuri Komachi, an eccentric but endearing librarian in Tokyo, helps five clients to find their next read. Aoyama’s charming novel explores deep questions about what people are searching for in life.

‘White Nights’ by Urszula Honek
Poet Urszula Honek makes her fiction debut with a collection of short stories set in a small village in Poland’s Beskid Niski region. As her characters fight to survive, Honek explores themes of isolation, grief and hope.

Earning kudos as a runner in real life is harder than on Strava (writes Chiara Rimella). On the run-tracking app, hidden behind pace numbers and the GPS’s bright-orange circuits, no one knows what you look like or – crucially – whether you’ve invested in the right kind of kit. But on the pavements of running clubs there’s nowhere to hide; and some of us don’t even try to. It turns out that the coolest guys at run clubs are those ones who don’t fear the chill, who shun the long-johns and don their shorts instead, no matter the weather.

Legions of men in the northern parts of Europe and the Americas have, over the decades, displayed their virility by way of naked knees in sub-zero temperatures. But in runners, that lumberjack-survivalist aesthetic goes a step further. A self-consciousness about packed-in groins, and a desire to inspire rugged masculinity, is obviously part of it. A friend confessed that he would give tight-fitting leggings a miss because he thought they made him look like a ballerina. Another said that the intensity of his sporting pursuits make him simply too hot (temperature-wise, I assumed) to withstand a long-legged garment. Nevermind the fact that torsos, heads, ears and hands can stay nice and toasty inside waterproof jackets, beanies and gloves. Forget the smartwatch or the carbon-plated shoes, true devotees will clock each other on the streets by way of exposed shins and raw skin – though you may have to refer back to Strava for the facts.

Colnago has been producing high-end racing bikes, best known for their road-cycling performance and sleek designs, for 70 years (writes Fiona Ma). To commemorate this milestone, the brand is venturing into clothing for the first time with a limited-edition capsule collection launched on its website in time for the holidays.

The new range focuses on winter layering – think soft cashmere polo shirts, crewneck sweatshirts and lightweight T-shirts that can be worn under puffer jackets for winter adventures or by themselves come spring. Given the firm’s sporting roots, three outerwear pieces are also on offer, including a roomy trench coat and varsity jacket. These are crafted using Loro Piana cashmere and treated with the Italian brand’s Storm System process, a microfiber that ensures garments are both wind and water-repellent.

Alongside the clothing, a series of 70 limited-edition Steelnovo bikes has also been released, combining the signature Colnago steel frame with new motorsport technology. “In perfect Colnago style, we never stop experimenting,” says the company’s CEO, Nicola Rosin. “We have indulged in a capsule collection of clothing handmade in Italy that takes advantage of the best raw materials and cutting-edge manufacturing technologies. Such a project fully embodies [the spirit of] our brand.”
colnago.com

As snow falls and locals head inside for warm servings of apfelstrudel and vanilla cream, the forested hills of Graz in southeast Austria make for a perfect winter getaway. Looking to join them? The Monocle Concierge recommends a stay at Kai36, one of the city’s best boltholes, nestled at the foot of Schlossberg hill.

For breakfast, pop into one of Martin Auer’s bakeries before taking a stroll through town.

Sate your cultural appetite at Kunsthaus Graz and enjoy a spot of plant therapy at the Botanical Garden of the University of Graz, which is set among the city’s myriad art nouveau villas. Lunch is served at Frankowitsch, a local institution specialising in open-faced sandwiches with smoked salmon, lobster and cured meats.

If there’s time for some shopping before dinner, try out vintage furniture shop Oxandbear, where you’ll find a well-picked collection of mid-century Scandinavian pieces. Then settle down for the evening in Mohrenwirt, a 500-year-old tavern where traditional fare is elevated with local, organic ingredients. Don’t miss out on the veal schnitzel. Guten appetit.

Copenhagen-based label Palmes is one of the upstarts homing in on the sportswear scene and snapping up market share. Since it was launched in 2021, the brand has scored points in the court of public opinion with its tennis-style garb – and now it has launched its first shop in the Danish capital. The brand’s founder, Nikolaj Hansson, spoke with The Monocle Weekend Edition about the company’s development and its first bricks-and-mortar location.

Why did you focus on tennis?
The big companies didn’t really care about tennis. There seemed to be no need to innovate because they were catering to a very consistent and conservative audience. But now a lot of my friends in New York who used to skate are into tennis. The sport has opened up culturally and we want to continue breaking down that barrier.

What have the bigger players in the industry been missing?
Emotion – that’s what we’re buying into. It’s tough when you’re bigger to have the same sense of identity but it’s about communicating stories and feelings with depth, while also not taking anything too seriously.

The new shop is in Carlsberg Byen. What’s the location’s appeal?
It’s a somewhat unexplored area for most Copenhageners. But we’re excited to help bring it to life. There’s not much existing structure for retail, which allowed us to take quite an experimental approach to the space and its interior. The area feels like what we’re trying to do with Palmes and tennis – communicating sentiments of the past in a progressive yet balanced way. There’s a beautiful old lighthouse here, Italianate villas, an incredible garden with winding paths and a pond from the 19th century – together with the subtle new constructions, it makes for a dynamic area to open a shop in.

To read the full interview and more industry insights, pick up a copy ofThe Forecast, available now online and on newsstands. Have a super Saturday and a happy New Year.