The Monocle Minute

The next time you walk through any crowded city, count how many times you see the words “Los Angeles” – on peoples’ clothes, on products, on the signs of fast-food restaurants. Even under the steely skies of northern Europe, you will see people with no connection to LA walking around with the name of this sunny West Coast city emblazoned across their chest. That’s because it means something: optimism, glamour, culture. Brand LA has survived the wildfires that ravaged the city two months ago but the reality has drifted far from the dream.

I spent last weekend reporting in LA, which was my base of operations during the three years that I covered North America for Monocle before I returned to London last year. Visiting an old stamping ground can be a strange experience, especially when it’s picking up the pieces after a disaster. Rents are rocketing across the city, with reports of price-gouging by landlords. The surf breaks are mostly deserted after warnings about fire debris in the Pacific. The mayor, Karen Bass, has been accused of setting off on an overseas jolly just as her aides were warned about potential fires; a recall petition to oust her is gathering steam.

People want someone to blame, of course, but what’s needed is a plan. Beyond the immediate task of the clean-up, there is no co-ordinated vision for where LA goes next. Well-meaning Angelenos are doing their bit: an architect friend is sourcing designs from the city’s studios for a new wave of “case-study” houses to match the high notes of mid-century LA design. There are residents marching for the ocean, marching for wildlife. Urbanists are talking about rebuilding LA with greater density to address an exacerbated housing shortage, despite pushback from those who say that they don’t want to live nextdoor to an apartment building. Yet all of this feels tangential without a figure who can rally the city, unify its people in the face of competing private interests and make a convincing case for how LA can bounce back. Angelenos must dare to be optimistic: to put it simply, the city needs to get back on brand.

Christopher Lord is Monocle’s executive editor. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.

Australians are fond of the old joke that we’re the only country that eats the animals on our coat of arms (writes Callum McDermott). Though the country’s appetite for kangaroo meat is growing, there’s less demand for its leather. That’s despite broad admiration for its strength, which is 10 times that of cowhide, and the marsupial’s status as a pest. There are about 40 million of them in the country, of which 15 per cent are quoted for culling and commercial harvesting each year. So why doesn’t every Australian have a kangaroo-leather jacket?

That’s partly because, despite what the classic Australian TV show Skippy would have us believe, kangaroos can’t be tamed or domesticated (sadly, they can’t solve petty crimes either). As a result, they must be hunted by licensed harvesters. But some bad actors and illegal poachers – as well as accusations of misleading population estimates – have galvanised a growing international backlash against “K-leather”. Major brands such as Nike and Puma are phasing it out; late last year, the Kangaroo Protection Act banning imports of products made from the animals’ skin was introduced to the US Senate.

Though its use is waning abroad, ethically sourced kangaroo leather is becoming a badge of honour for luxury Australian brands seeking to reassert their homegrown credentials. In 2020 mining magnate Andrew Forrest returned bootmaker RM Williams to Australian ownership; among its most sought-after products are kangaroo-leather boots and belts. While other brands such as Blundstone have moved their production out of the country, Forrest is committed to the idea of “Made in Australia”. In 2023 he also acquired Australian hatmaker Akubra to ensure its wares’ continued domestic manufacture.

Preventing some of the country’s best-known brands from foreign acquisition might help to reverse Australian fashion’s rampant offshoring. There are signs of progress. In 2022, Country Road reissued its Aussie-made chambray shirt from the 1980s. Reshoring might just catch on. Who knows? One day, Australia might even get Ugg boots back from the Americans too.

Depending on who you ask, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II programme has been US air power’s biggest success story of the past two decades or, as aviation expert Bill Sweetman recently put it, “a trillion-dollar train wreck” (writes Julia Lasica). Orders for the aircraft continue to roll in from across the globe but the wind might be changing. Last week, Portugal’s defence minister, Nuno Melo, suggested that his country should reconsider making any F-35 purchases, citing concerns around Donald Trump’s commitment to European security. Some defence experts have warned that the plane’s long-term operational capabilities would be hampered if the US were to stop sending parts and updates for the plane to other nations. In recent weeks, rumours have also circulated about a “kill switch” built into F-35s, which, according to a German arms manufacturer, the US could use to remotely disable the aircraft. (Lockheed Martin denies the existence of such a function.)

For now, Portugal is reportedly considering buying planes built closer to home instead, such as the Eurofighter Typhoon – developed by the air forces of the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain – or France’s Dassault Rafale. With Air France-KLM currently bidding to acquire Portugal’s flag carrier airline, TAP, the French will be lobbying hard for a big order of the Rafale. If there’s a change of heart by more allies (Canada is reportedly also reconsidering its long-standing order of F-35s), this could be the moment when Europe’s arms manufacturers reach new heights.

In Monocle’s March issue, we pull at the threads of carpet-making traditions and take a look at how the rug industry can lay the groundwork for communities across the globe (writes Prasad Ramamurthy). Monocle visits one such maker on a sun-soaked rooftop on the outskirts of Jaipur, where a young woman sews the edges of a hand-knotted carpet. Around her, fellow artisans wash, stretch and snip rugs in a multitude of shapes and colours. Since Nand Kishore Chaudhary established Jaipur Rugs in 1978, it has grown to become one of India’s largest handmade-carpet manufacturers. It is now set for further expansion, following the acquisition of another rug maker, Shyam Ahuja.

The takeover is a boon for India’s carpet-making sector. In a country that has become a manufacturing hub for international labels, it’s refreshing to see makers that are based in the same communities as their workers. This communal approach plays into Jaipur Rugs’ longstanding brand outlook. Historically, Rajasthan carpet makers came from communities that were regarded lower down the caste hierarchy than that which Chaudhary came from. But he decided early on in his career that the business would go against the grain and empower skilled artisans.

For more on Jaipur Rugs, pick up a copy of the March issue today.

We speak with Joanna Hunkin from Australian food-and-travel title Gourmet Traveller. Plus, Emmanuelle Goutal on her interiors title Objection, each issue of which is dedicated to a different room of a house.