The Monocle Minute

The most popular conversation starter at recent womenswear fashion weeks in Copenhagen, New York and London – as well as in Milan, running this week – wasn’t about the hemlines or colour palettes that will be on trend next season but about the cities that are in and out. Can Copenhagen maintain its momentum? Is London over? Will New York ever get its groove back? These were the kinds of questions being asked on front rows and around dinner tables. Many of these cities have been struggling to hold on to their fashion-capital status as designers redirect investments or decamp to Paris, where there’s a better chance of crossing paths with the right international players and big maisons.

London is an interesting case study. Once a training ground for the world’s best designers, the city has lost its way since Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic. Rising export and living costs have forced many brands to move or pause their operations and skip show seasons. Luxury houses are also looking beyond Central Saint Martins when hiring up-and-coming creative directors. But the UK capital’s latest fashion week offered glimmers of hope with fewer but promising collections. One brand to watch is SS Daley, which is on the rise thanks to designer Steven Stockey Daley’s ability to bring humour to wardrobe classics and traditional British fabrics. His duffel coats and corduroy suits are highly recommended for the next winter season. Younger names such as Kazna Asker, who presented her collection in a makeshift souk, proved that the city still has plenty of potential.

Things are looking up for Burberry too. The brand’s creative director, Daniel Lee, and its newly appointed CEO, Joshua Schulman, are sharpening their focus on the brand’s beloved signatures: trench coats, Scottish-made scarves and shearling jackets. The company’s rising share prices and the smiles inside Tate Britain, where the show was held, suggest that the label is bouncing back. Recovery and course correction have also been key themes among established houses in Milan this week. On Tuesday afternoon, Gucci presented a collection designed by its in-house studio as the search continues for the house’s next creative director. Change is also afoot at Jil Sander, Bally and Bottega Veneta. It’s time for the fashion industry to re-evaluate and make ambitious hiring moves.

Natalie Theodosi is Monocle’s fashion director. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Hamburg has come a long way since it was synonymous with sex, sin and the Reeperbahn (writes Michael Booth). And, thanks to logistics billionaire Klaus-Michael Kühne, it could be on course to establishing itself as one of northern Europe’s premier cultural destinations. The Kühne Foundation has pledged €300m to build a new opera house on the docks at Baakenhöft in the city’s Hafencity quarter. When completed in 2032, it will house the Hamburg State Opera, the Hamburg Ballet and the Philharmonic State Orchestra. The announcement was met with the kind of political consensus that’s increasingly rare in Germany these days. “We are delighted when the rich give something back to their city,” said a Green Party spokesperson.

While the donation would cover about 75 per cent of the total construction, the project’s architects – when a practice is finally picked – will have to do something quite audacious to draw attention from the nearby Elbphilharmonie concert hall (also funded by Kühne). Designed by Herzog & de Meuron, it resembles a towering column of frozen ocean. The new plans are not without critics. Some have questioned whether another lavish cultural venue is excessive. Would the city be better served by a battery factory or an AI-data centre? Perhaps not. Private support for the arts must be applauded, particularly as state support declines everywhere.

Whether you want to buy a designer handbag or a freshly baked croissant, these days you’ll probably end up waiting in line. Sometimes you’ll need to sign up via a QR code first and you’ll no doubt be rushed off to make way for the next customer as soon as your time slot is over. But shopping should be neither protracted nor hurried – particularly in the world of luxury. Luckily, a new generation of retailers is emerging to fill the gap, obviating the need for queues by doubling down on personal service and privacy. Think by-appointment showrooms, one-on-one consultations and sharp product picks.

For Monocle’s February issue we paid a visit to Dawn Nguyen, who recently opened multi-brand boutique L’Ensemble in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighbourhood. Crafted with interior designer Patrick Bozeman, the dimly lit space is furnished with mid-century pieces and dotted with wood sculptures. It already has a regular clientele of fashionable New Yorkers and a shopfront space is in the works for 2025. You can read the full feature here.

All Nippon Airways (Ana) is expanding its fleet to meet the growing demand for travel to Japan (writes Julia Lasica). A record 3.7 million people visited the country last month, a surge that shows no sign of slowing down. Ana, Japan’s largest airline, has placed a $14bn (€13.3bn) order for jets from Airbus, Embraer and Boeing. Powered by General Electric’s GEnx engines, Boeing’s long-haul aircraft will be well suited to routes between Asia and North America. Ana expects an increase of 50 per cent of traffic on these flight paths by 2030. The Airbus order includes three of the manufacturer’s Xtra Long Range models for Ana’s budget airline, Peach Aviation, signalling the carrier’s intention of establishing non-stop connections with Australia.

Meanwhile, Embraer plans to supply Ana with 20 E-jets. This will eventually allow the airline to slim down its domestic fleet, which has traditionally consisted of Boeing 737s. “This is the ultimate aircraft smorgasbord and will allow Ana to meet the strong consumer appetite for travel to and within Japan,” says Paul Charles, the CEO of luxury travel consultancy The PC Agency. “Ana’s corporate leadership clearly believes that the destination will become even more popular over the next decade.”

Ram Murali’s pivot from law to filmmaking sparked his route into writing. His debut novel, Death In the Air, blends elements of an Agatha Christie whodunnit with the sumptuous setting of a world-class spa in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas. He speaks to Georgina Godwin at the 2025 Galle Literary Festival about his diverse career background and the importance of India’s cultural community at literary events.