The Monocle Minute

The main reason for hoping that Russia’s rampage in Ukraine might soon end is, of course, humanitarian. The ceasefire pitched by Ukraine and the US this week would at least prevent more people joining the long list of victims of Russian aggression. But there are commercial imperatives at play too, especially among airlines. The Lufthansa Group’s CEO, Carsten Spohr, has said that he hopes that Russian airspace might shortly reopen. His airline wants to expand its business in Asia but is hampered by the logistical and financial burdens of finding ways around the considerable obstacle that is Russia.

When Moscow launched its full-scale assault on Ukraine in February 2022, the US, EU and many other Western-allied nations banned Russian aircraft from their airspace. Russia responded in kind. Airlines should not have needed to be told, however. Russian forces or their proxies have shot down commercial airliners before – for example, the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 over Ukraine in 2014. In January the EU Aviation Safety Agency reiterated its warning against flying over Russia.

Some airlines continue to take their chances, however. Turkish Airlines and Air Serbia, to name two, will still fly you to Moscow. Some European airlines, struggling to compete on China routes, simply gave up on them: British Airways suspended flights to Beijing in October and halved its Hong Kong services. Virgin Atlantic cancelled its Shanghai route last July, noting that flying around Russia added an hour to the outbound flight and two hours to the return. Even at the relatively economical operating costs of the Boeing 787 – €18 per seat an hour – this stacks up. It might be a forlorn hope that airlines will ponder the ethical issues: in 2023, Russia ramped up overflight fees by 20 per cent to help pay for its war.

Andrew Mueller hosts ‘The Foreign Desk’ on Monocle Radio. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

For Monocle’s March issue, we visited the former residence of Albania’s communist dictator Enver Hoxha, Vila 31 in Tirana (writes Lucrezia Motta). While the building’s marble-floored hallways and walls daubed in soft pastel hues exude decadence, the weight of history here is heavy. But the building has recently been converted, in partnership with French art foundation Art Explora, into an artists’ residence.

In 2021 the foundation’s founder, Frederic Jousset, met Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, to discuss repurposing the property. “They realised that they shared common values, particularly in regard to the importance of art as a bridge between people,” Art Explora’s artistic director, Blanche de Lestrange, tells Monocle. With Vila 31, the foundation hopes to create a fresh chapter in the history of the building – and Albania at large – paving the way for a new artistic network in the Balkans. Seven artists have arrived since January, with the first open studio slated to be held in April.

To read the full story and hear from the artists involved, pick upthe March issue of Monocle, which is on sale now.

Northvolt, the Stockholm-based manufacturer of battery cells for electric cars, was once heralded as Europe’s potential breakthrough star in a market otherwise dominated by China (writes Petri Burtsoff). But yesterday it filed for bankruptcy. Despite being one of the continent’s best-funded start-ups, with more than $13bn (€11.9bn) in capital, the company faced severe cashflow issues. It was also plagued by production difficulties that led carmakers such as BMW to cancel orders.

When Monocle visited Northvolt’s gigafactory in Skellefteå last year, the firm was only able to produce a fraction of the promised 16GWh per year’s worth of battery capacity. The scale of the investment, from the likes of Blackrock and Volkswagen, underlines the opportunity for a European maker that can get the model right. But Northvolt’s failure will give China renewed vigour in the long-term trade war. This was an outage that Europe could ill afford; the continent must lead a new charge on renewable energy.

For more on Northvolt and Skellefteå, read our feature inIssue 177 of Monocleor listen toepisode 664 of ‘The Entrepreneurs’.*

Hermès is bucking the trend of the luxury market: its most recent financial results showed a 15 per cent uptick in revenue (writes Natalie Theodosi). Its leather goods continue to be as desirable as ever, while plans to expand into new categories, from haute couture to skincare, promise even further growth. Part of this success is down to the abilities of its various creative directors to respect the house’s codes, experiment with craft and sprinkle in the right amount of novelty and humour. Here, Monocle catches a moment with its creative director of womenswear, Nadège Vanhée, after her stellar autumn/winter 2025 show in Paris.

When designing this new collection, what themes were you trying to work with from the outset?
I was thinking about being fierce and assertive. It was a matter of tension between strength and vulnerability; structured and fluid silhouettes; new and established codes.

Why did you put an even bigger emphasis on leather?
It’s about being more confident with leather craftsmanship and highlighting what a sensual – and sustainable – material it is. The whole team and I have this effervescence around leather and its potential. But we also mixed in simpler items, such as cardigans and turtlenecks. It’s an invitation for women to style them in their own way.

The music of the show really matched these confident, leather looks. Tell us about your choice.
We picked a beautiful piece by composer Anton Bruckner and brought in a whole orchestra to inspire really strong emotions. I wanted to create the illusion of a heartbeat and a galloping horse.

Greece: The Monocle Handbook is the latest in our series of vibrant country guides to inspire your next trip – or move. Looking to take the leap yourself?