Monocle Weekend
Edition: Saturday

The Year of the Snake is upon us and with it comes a spate of Lunar New Year offerings from luxury brands. Then we change gears with the story behind a racy Alfa Romeo and take an artful tour of Tokyo and Kyoto with the Monocle Concierge. Next: we explore the reasons why the Canadian prime minister is locked out of his official residence and read the room at the Jaipur Literary Festival. Getting the ball rolling is our editor in chief, Andrew Tuck, on the value of keeping good company.

I might have told you this story before – if so, apologies – but its retelling will let me set this column off on the right course. I was working for Time Out magazine in London back when its offices were in Covent Garden. A journalist employed on a TV show in Manchester had arranged to meet my boss to pitch her a story about Toronto. He would be coming down by train at the end of the day. Unfortunately, she had already skedaddled by the time he arrived. I presume the glorious front-of-house double act of Geraldine and Michael were in situ because I got the call to come to reception in her stead. That’s how I met this young guy working in TV who was a writer too – one Tyler Brûlé. A friendship began that day that has endured for decades, remaining in place through all the years that we have worked together at Monocle.

This year is off at full pelt. We are working on a big new digital project and we’ve started planning for The Chiefs conference in Jakarta and The Monocle Quality of Life Conference in Barcelona. There are two new books under way, issues to send and radio shows to record. So, to bring everyone together and unite outlooks – and with Tyler in town – we held one of our regular company “minglers” this week. The format is simple: a few team members give speedy updates on what they’re up to and we also invite a couple of guests. This time our new security correspondent, Gorana Grgić, talked about how the year might be affected by the new incumbent in the White House and Iain Ainsworth, the founder of The Aficionados hotel organisation, spoke about trends in hospitality.

Later that evening, Tyler invited Gorana and Iain for dinner and I made sure that I tagged along. There were six of us squeezed into a booth and, post-mingler, the stories just kept coming. Tyler talked about an assignment, from not long after we first met, that involved a civil war, a pile of cash, a troublesome warlord and a downstairs infection that nobody wanted to see (not his, I hasten to add).

The idea of friendships that endure has been a theme all week. Last Sunday, as the rain refused to relent, we hunkered down in The Hero pub in Maida Vale, a new establishment that has been winning rave reviews. We had a table in the upstairs restaurant: me, the other half and Peter and Hamish, who have also been friends for decades (even though life and travel schedules mean that the gaps between seeing each other can be too long). Yet nobody was in a rush, there were no Monday-morning flights to pack for and phones were, for once, neglected. Again, stories were retold, new ones unfurled, our bond burnished over plates of food and glasses of good wine. And we laughed. I might have cackled on occasion.

When you are a child or a teenager, friendships are easy. Simple daily routines bind you together. As you grow older and experiences mould you in different ways, people’s outlooks change and it can be harder to hold on to them. But hunkered down in a bustling hotel or in a bar on a rainy afternoon, the simple art of storytelling can keep the past alive and ensure no fraying at the edges.

As the Year of the Snake starts to uncoil, luxury brands across Asia are busy selling seasonal wares (writes Jenna Wang). But simply releasing items in lucky red or slapping the year’s zodiac animal onto a hoodie is no longer enough. This Lunar New Year an increasingly discerning Chinese clientele is choosing understatement.

Spanish fashion house Loewe has set the bar high with enamelled jewellery inspired by Chinese cloisonné and cloud-stamped leather goods. In Mandarin the word for cloud, yun, sounds auspiciously similar to the word for luck. However, it’s the snake-shaped charm for its calfskin bag (pictured) that will turn the most heads. Hublot, meanwhile, has issued just 88 laser-etched onyx timepieces (eight is the luckiest number in Chinese numerology). And for those who still want a dash of red to ward off bad luck, Polène’s dodecagonal bucket bag in garnet is an artful option.

These pieces aspire to be more than just a nod to bygone eras or collectible curios. Their success reflects a broader appetite among consumers for creative honesty and cultural taste-making – an antithesis of what online platforms such as Temu offer. As Asia’s luxury market continues to scale up – and with the Year of the Snake symbolising intuition, wisdom and transformation – will more retailers follow suit? They might well try their luck.

“I’ll wing it,” said Justin Trudeau on 6 January as he stepped out of the stately redbrick Rideau Cottage – the Georgian revival house that he has lived in for the duration of his premiership – and watched the pages of his resignation speech flutter from the podium and float into the air (writes Tomos Lewis). Though the cottage has become a familiar sight to Canadians during the Trudeau years, it is not the official prime ministerial residence. That much grander mansion in Ottawa’s New Edinburgh neighbourhood has been deemed uninhabitable for a decade.

The property at 24 Sussex Drive served as the home of Canadian prime ministers since 1951 and hosted dignitaries including Winston Churchill and John F Kennedy. But it is now no place for a PM: there’s hazardous asbestos insulation, drafty windows and no central heating or air conditioning; long-dead rats have been discovered in the walls. Proposals for a makeover of the building range from a full refurbishment to erecting a new residence from scratch. But these plans have all gathered dust as politicians tend to be wary of the potential for an electorate to balk at leaders spending public funds on their own comfort. And so the mansion has become a millstone. But Canada will get a new prime minister (perhaps two) this year – and surely a wealthy G7 economy can ensure that its head of government has a fittingly august roof to work under.

For more on the predicament of the Canadian prime minister’s residence, tune in to‘Tall Stories’, brought to you by the team behind ‘The Urbanist’ on Monocle Radio.

Danish fashion has a lot in common with its Japanese counterpart: simple silhouettes, a focus on functionality and craftsmanship, and the use of high-quality materials. Copenhagen-based menswear brand Another Aspect seamlessly captures this shared approach in its newly updated Made in Japan series.

“We began by sourcing the best fabrics from Japan,” says Daniel Brøndt, the label’s co-founder and brand director. “But after a friend introduced us to an atelier in Hiroshima that he had worked with before, we decided that the entire thing should be crafted there.” The collection features striped patterns and lightweight, breezy fabrics including cord voile and brushed twill.

On our wish list are the long-sleeved T-shirts in blue or brown, the everyday button-up shirts and the vintage-inspired jersey with a crisp texture. “This collection is our way of honouring the dedication and skill of Japan’s craftspeople,” says Brøndt.
anotheraspect.org

You can rely on classic-car auction house RM Sotheby’s annual Paris sale for extraordinary collectors’ items of impeccable provenance (writes Michael Booth). This year a black Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS with an oxblood-hued leather interior has caught our eye.

Prince Aly Salomone Khan – a dashing, horse-loving, Turin-born, Pakistani socialite better known as Aly Khan – bought it new in 1950. He was so taken with the 2.5-litre, six-cylinder Alfa that he bought another one for his then wife, Hollywood star Rita Hayworth. But dashing, horse-loving, Turin-born socialites aren’t known for fidelity to their toys (or their women: Khan counted a Churchill, a Guinness, Joyce Grenfell and the Duchess of Argyll among his many romances). And so the two-door soft top with Pinin Farina coachwork was sold in 1953. As with many rare Italian postwar sports cars, chassis No 915766 ended up in California before returning to Italy for a ground-up restoration.

The value of classic cars is tumbling at the moment as blue-chip wheat is being sorted from second-rate chaff. But this model is not only rare (only 383 were built – and who knows how many survive?) but also exceptionally elegant and still quite a potent performer. We will be casting yearning thoughts towards the auction’s venue, the Louvre Palace’s Salles du Carrousel, on 4 February. Expected to fetch between €350,000 and €450,000, this Alfa with a glamourous past seems a bargain compared to the star of the sale: a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM valued at €25m.
rmsothebys.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, clickhere. We will publish one answer every week.

Dear Concierge,

In March I will be visiting Japan with my children, who are aged six and eight. Given your enthusiasm about the country’s emerging art scenes, do you have any gallery recommendations for Tokyo and Kyoto?

Best regards,
Stefan,
Munich

Dear Stefan,

The arrival of spring and cherry-blossom season in Japan makes March a month to savour. A big event on the cultural calendar is Art Fair Tokyo. Collectors and aficionados will be gathering at the Tokyo International Forum from 7 to 9 March for this year’s edition, which will feature 139 galleries from both Japan and abroad. The 2024 fair rang up sales of ¥3.28bn (€20m) and you can expect some big purchases this year too. Also opening will be Tomokazu Matsuyama: First Last at Azabudai Hills Gallery, the contemporary artist’s debut solo exhibition in the Japanese capital.

One of the most recent additions to the Tokyo art scene is the Toda Building in Kyobashi, which you’ll find alongside the Artizon Museum. The building is home to four new artistic outposts including the likes of Tomio Koyama Gallery and Kosaku Kanechika. Artworks from the APK Public programme are also presented, while on the sixth floor Creative Museum Tokyo hosts large-scale exhibitions spanning pop culture, contemporary art and design.

When it comes to Kyoto, don’t miss Nonaka-Hill on Shinmonzen-dori. The two-level gallery, housed in a transformed kyo-machiya (Kyoto townhouse), will be exhibiting Takeshi Honda’s charcoal works and Tomoko Obana’s wood-fired ceramics until 22 March.

Set aside some time to explore the surrounding streets of the Gion district, home to contemporary gallery Sokyo and shops selling art, antiques and incense. Take a stroll along the canal on your way to Essence Kyoto, where ceramics and crafts await in an intimate setting. Its selection of teas also makes for good gift ideas. Just down the road, you’ll find the Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art among a cluster of institutions that shine a light on the past, present and future of the city’s arts and crafts. Let us know how you get on and keep your eyes peeled for local artists displaying their works streetside too.

The Jaipur Literature Festival is billed as the world’s grandest celebration of books and ideas (writes Monocle Radio’s Georgina Godwin). That isn’t just a rhetorical flourish: now in its 18th edition, the event has become a literary phenomenon, hosting almost 2,000 speakers and welcoming more than a million book lovers. This year there are Pulitzer Prize winners, Booker Prize winners, Nobel laureates and a host of other renowned writers and thinkers at the event, which is as bright and labyrinthine as the Pink City itself. With a speech from EU’s ambassador to India and a reception hosted by the Norwegian embassy, it’s a truly global affair. Some food for thought for European book festivals: the speakers’ green room has at least five chefs on hand. The festival boasts a music stage and a night market too.

The talks are held on the verdant grounds of the Hotel Clarks Amer, an oasis that helps to bring some serenity to what is considered the world’s most crowded literary festival. But book lovers tend to be well-behaved and the throngs are nothing that a tamarind shot or a Bombay Sapphire and tonic can’t fix.

What am I reading this week? Paro: Dreams of Passion by Namita Gokhale, a co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival. Since its publication more than 40 years ago, it has become a cult novel. It follows the emotional journeys of Indian women negotiating the challenges of city life. Daring in the 1980s, it still sizzles with insight and romance.

For more literary insights and Monocle’s interview with Gokhale, tune in to ‘Meet the Writers’ on Monocle Radio. Have a super Saturday.