Issues

Zegna’s ‘golden fleece’ material is a new language of elegance

Zegna’s autumn/winter 2025-26 collection took inspiration from the Piedmontese capital of Turin, a city close to the brand’s heart and not far from its HQ in Trivero. On show within the mix of chunky bombers, suede jackets and long trenches was a material innovation best discovered by touch: Vellus Aureum. Latin for “Golden Fleece”, this softer-than-cashmere merino wool is partly inspired by a suit made for the brand’s founder, Ermenegildo Zegna, for a trip to Teatro Regio di Torino.

Vellus Aureum isn’t just a pleasure to the touch or a theatrical flourish though; instead it’s a feat of craftsmanship and the result of years of research and sourcing. Procured from pure-bred Australian merino sheep, this rare hair makes up less than 0.05 per cent of the annual global wool production and each fibre is so fine that they’re barely visible to the naked eye.

“With Vellus Aureum, we wanted to explore the full potential of the world’s finest wool, not only in terms of softness but also durability, resilience and timeless beauty,” says Alessandro Sartori, Zegna’s artistic director. “It’s not just about luxury; it’s about a new language of elegance rooted in nature, craft and innovation,” he adds. “This collection represents a true milestone for Zegna, one that celebrates our legacy while shaping its evolution.” The traceable, sustainable fabric is a testament to the founder’s quest to use the best materials – and it goes to show that not all innovations mean forgetting the past.
zegna.com

Dine like a New Yorker at GAT, a new elite watering hole in Stockholm

If anyone can transform a district with a classy yet cosy French-inspired bistro, it’s the trio behind beloved spots Tjoget, Paradiso and Liebling – restaurants that have drawn crowds in Stockholm for years. Joel Söderbäck, Andreas Bergman and Simon Åhnberg (pictured) have now launched GAT, a New York-inspired space with a restaurant and bar, opposite Stockholm’s opera house. (The name is an abbreviation of the central square, Gustav Adolfs Torg.) It sits snugly inside the Davidsonska Huset, which was once a bank, then a travel agency selling tickets for steamships headed for the US. “We would like this to be the new gathering spot for the neighbourhood,” says Söderbäck.

It’s easy to imagine GAT becoming the watering hole of choice for Sweden’s top politicians – the Swedish parliament meets around the corner, after all. Ballet dancers and opera singers, curators from museums and technology workers from the nearby Spotify headquarters should also help to make up the numbers.

Though the building itself is expansive and stately, with high ceilings and oak-panelled interiors, architect Andreas Martin-Löf has imbued GAT with an elegant, welcoming charm. The dining room and bar feature two of his spectacular art deco-style lamps made in sheets of glass fibre. Our picks from the menu include the scrumptious prawn cocktail, the king crab legs and the onion pie, topped off with GAT’s signature midori sour cocktail.
gatstockholm.com

Deux Gares Express brings style back to Parisian station dining

The advent of quick, low-cost air travel brought the heyday of grand train journeys to an end and with it a venerable institution: the glamorous railway restaurant. In the 1900s these establishments turned train terminals into destinations in which to linger but they were subsequently replaced by samey, uninspiring chains. Thankfully, things are changing – at least in Paris.

When Parisian hospitality group Touriste opened Deux Gares Express in October 2025 – just below its Hôtel Les Deux Gares – the restaurant concept seemed a little nostalgic. But located between the Gare de l’Est and the Gare du Nord, the site, which overlooks the tracks, now enjoys plenty of footfall.

Understanding the transience of its clientele was important, says founder Adrien Gloaguen. “Efficiency is the key aspect of the express concept. The dining counter plays a central role. You can sit there and enjoy the dish of the day in 20 minutes while keeping an eye on the clock.”

Gloaguen also had a point to prove. “For too long, ‘station food’ has been synonymous with mediocrity,” he says. “We wanted to challenge that stereotype. After all, a good meal is the best way to start or end a journey.” Dishes include oeuf mayonnaise, brioche croque monsieur and soup of the day.

The interiors are by UK designer Luke Edward Hall, who cherry-picked the best in French and British design with panache. The eccentric 1970s style includes green marble tables, antique furniture from a French monastery and a dresser that looks more like something from a domestic kitchen than a commercial one. “The idea was to recreate the excitement of the station buffets of yesteryear but with a bolder colour palette and a touch of humour,” says Gloaguen. “The result feels almost cinematic.”

Open from 07.30 until 22.00, Deux Gares Express is more dependable than the trains. Gloaguen ensures that Parisians and travellers are fed from morning until night. “Stations never sleep and neither do hotels,” he says. “We need to be there at all times of the day.” The railway restaurant, it seems, is back on track.
hoteldeuxgares.com

Tokyo’s best barmen are serving timeless elegance at the Palace Hotel

Contrary to the received wisdom that the best places to have a drink are casual and up to date, the Palace Hotel Tokyo’s Royal Bar takes itself seriously and wears its history proudly. When the hotel opened in 1961, bartender Kiyoshi Imai’s trademark dry martini was served in a glass that he designed on a mahogany counter. Since the hotel was rebuilt in 2012, the bar – tucked away in a corner of the ground-floor lobby with a polished counter cut from the original – has faithfully served Imai’s martini and a few of his other favourite cocktails from the 1960s and 1970s.

Dim lighting, leather armchairs and barstools, parquet floors and antique bohemian glassware in display cases along the wall are complemented by suit-and-tie-clad bartenders unperturbed by the rise of modish mixologists. Novelty comes in subtler forms, and today’s award-winning chief bartender, Manabu Ohtake, is a dab hand with seasonal drinks. His Roku martini – made with Roku gin, Japanese vermouth, Shodoshima olives and yuzu zest – has a fragrant smoothness that belies its punch, and his yuzu gin sour, with a dash of elderflower, is a fine-tuned aperitif. Drinks are the focus here but the bar, which opens daily at 15.00 and upholds a dress code, offers an extensive menu that includes grilled Wagyu tenderloin, escargots, clubhouse sandwiches and snacks prepared in the hotel restaurant’s kitchen.

Unlike in other establishments, where the bartenders’ flair and showmanship is part of the appeal, the Royal Bar’s staff prefer an understated approach. Ohtake’s every movement has a ritualised precision that he has perfected over more than three decades in the industry. Watching him in action is riveting: he performs the simple acts of pouring from a shaker or swirling a drink with a mixing spoon with sublime elegance.

With only 25 seats, the bar is small enough for Ohtake and his staff to maintain lofty standards of attentiveness while customers sit back and enjoy the show and their drinks. “From behind the counter, we have a view of every seat. We can read our customers’ facial expressions and anticipate their needs,” says Ohtake.
palacehoteltokyo.com

Inside Galeto, Lisbon’s legendary counter-culture classic

Galeto opened its doors on Lisbon’s Avenida da República in 1966 and has been buzzing ever since. Operating from morning until late at night, seven days a week, it has become a city institution. “The way I see it, Galeto is almost like a hospital or a post office,” says Francisco Oliveira, the restaurant’s current owner – in other words, a place that residents rely on.

Sixty years ago, it offered something new to the city. Brazil’s Italian community had popularised canteens centred around a chicken dish known as galeto. Inspired, six Portuguese restaurateurs living in the country at the time – including Oliveira’s father – brought the concept home. The idea was to create an eatery shaped by modern habits: neither a restaurant nor an ordinary snack bar. While the chicken failed to capture the Portuguese imagination, this speedy yet refined approach to dining proved an instant hit.

Galeto attracts an eclectic mix of patrons to its address on one of the city’s main arteries. Families and tourists fill the terrace by day; at night, journalists and politicians rub shoulders with groups of youngsters over a prego and an imperial. “The counters have a particular quality that makes it easy to meet people,” says Oliveira. “Over the years, Galeto has been responsible for both marriages and divorces.”

The menu is vast but some dishes – such as the bife à Galeto with ham and pickles or the hamburger with chips and creamed spinach – have become cult classics. Likewise, a handful of people among the almost-170-strong staff have become staples of the service, waiting counters with speed for more than 40 years. “This is a family-owned business with a mission,” says Oliveira.
galeto.pr

The place to contemplate: Chapel of St Thérèse of Lisieux Lyttelton

Charity – an approach to giving rooted in care for one’s neighbour – is a crucial tenet of Christianity. New Zealand-based architect Michael O’Sullivan’s family’s decision to design and donate the Chapel of St Thérèse of Lisieux to the people of Christchurch, on the country’s South Island, nicely embodies this philosophy.

The structure is clad with an aluminium weatherboard developed by O’Sullivan’s Lyttelton-based architecture practice, Bull O’Sullivan. The material gives the project an ethereal atmosphere, thanks to its soft, reflective quality. It’s an effect enhanced by a translucent red panel that runs over the entirety of the roof, which diffuses a warm glow inside the chapel. The triangular doorway, meanwhile, is a play on the concept of the Holy Trinity.

Inside, a hushed, contemplative mood is created by chocolate-hued wool carpets and walls clad with darkly coloured timber from a native rimu tree. “This particular tree was extracted from a river where it’s said to have been for 600 years,” says O’Sullivan. “Before that, it was alive for a millennium. There’s something quite beautiful about the idea.”

Here, Christ himself is represented in the form of a crucifix, which was carved by Maori artist Johnny Hauraki from kauri timber beams that were salvaged from an earthquake-damaged warehouse in Christchurch.

This combination of a minimal palette of materials evokes the spirit of the chapel’s namesake, Thérèse of Lisieux. The Carmelite nun was known for her humble, simple approach to spirituality and was affectionately nicknamed “the little flower”. She is an appropriate patron, given that the compact chapel’s structure emerges gently from the landscape like a flower looking out at Lyttelton’s harbour.
bosarchitecture.co.nz

The savviest lobby addition: a gourmet minimart at the Sydney Paramount Hotel

You know the drill: a late-night drink with a client means that any decent dining establishment has called last orders by the time you’re back in your hotel room. The mini-bar offering is uninspiring and you know that the convenience store across the road won’t have the quality fix that you’re after. It’s this very predicament that Paramart, the new vending machine-cum-mini mart installed in the lobby of Sydney’s Paramount House Hotel, seeks to solve.

Open day and night, Paramart offers hotel guests and locals in the know (it’s open to the public) a taste of quality food at all hours. It’s stocked with food and drink from local restaurants and cafés, including taramasalata from Greek restaurant Baba’s Place, bread from AP Bakery and onigiri from Japanese café Parami.

“We love where we live and Paramart is an opportunity to showcase the exceptional work of our local friends, suppliers and producers,” explains Aimee Bayliss, Paramount House Hotel’s head of brand and marketing. “From handmade-in-Marrickville taramasalata or small-batch martinis from Enmore to bespoke playing cards designed by a Sydney artist, it all contributes to a sense of place, helping each guest stay like a local.”

The result? A playful and welcome gesture of hospitality, with the vending machine sitting in a space designed by Anna Wu of Awa Studio, who drew inspiration from Australia’s milk bar culture. These corner shops dishing out snacks, sodas and, originally, milkshakes, formed the foundation for a design that’s about serving a community – in this case, those who frequent Paramount House. “We were very intentional about carrying the milk bar idea throughout the design. We recreated an Australian streetscape with a bright sign and mirrored door; a tiled portal greets you, referencing the iconic tiled facades of the classic milk bar,” says Wu. “The open lockers are supposed to make you feel like you’re peering into an ice cream freezer and the Paramart team did a great job of stocking the machines to really enhance that sense of wonder.”

It’s a sense of wonder that’s also enhanced by a host of other products carefully selected to bring fun to a guest’s stay. A token allows the loaning of everything from Nintendo Game Boy consoles and cassette players to chess sets and even exercise kits. A reminder that hospitality goes beyond simply offering somewhere to rest your head. “Paramart’s products will be constantly updated to share and celebrate what our evolving neighbourhood has to offer,” adds Bayliss. “It’s just another way to make a stay in the House feel like home.” 
paramounthousehotel.com

How Blaise Metrewell is redefining secret intelligence as the first female chief of MI6

Blaise Metreweli has described her role as the UK’s most senior spy as a kind of “hidden service”. That’s less a show of modesty than a statement of intent. Her path to becoming the first female chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (commonly known as MI6) wasn’t what you might expect from reading spy novels. After training as an anthropologist, she studied psychology and then artificial intelligence. What was closer to James Bond was her time at Q, MI6’s technology arm. There, she rose to director general after years in the field, recruiting and running sources in hostile environments and leading operations in warzones.

MI6 is fundamentally a humanintelligence collection service. Its job is to find, recruit and run sources. It doesn’t assess. Signals intelligence, geospatial imagery and opensource material come from other agencies. Those streams are fused at the Joint Intelligence Committee, which produces assessments for UK ministers. The model’s value lies in complementary perspectives; premature consensus is a danger.

Metreweli’s strategic brief is exacting. Rapid advances in AI, biotechnology and quantum computing are changing risks, while global power realignment is reshaping alliances and broadening fault lines. Yet she warns that technological superiority alone won’t decide outcomes. “The defining challenge of the 21st century is not simply who wields the most powerful technologies but who guides them with the greatest wisdom,” she told an audience in London recently.

Metreweli’s predecessor, Richard Moore, described her as a “powerful recruiting sergeant” and a corrective to the “damage” done by 007 – who is not a helpful model for anyone contemplating an intelligence career. Metreweli, on the other hand, is. She believes that intelligence, grounded in human judgement and institutional restraint, can help to steady a destabilising world. In that belief lies a contemporary vision of the quiet service.

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Eight elegant objects that will make your days feel more considered

1.
No Ads Please: Stories from the Founder of the World’s Most Creative Agency
A new book by the co-founder of creative agency BETC offers hard-won lessons on how to make adverts that cut through the noise.

French creative director Rémi Babinet’s new book, No Ads Please: Stories from the Founder of the World’s Most Creative Agency, is packed with photos, campaign stories and reflections as it charts 30 years of his career running BETC, a firm with clients including Michelin and Evian. According to Babinet, No Ads Please is a manifesto for why advertising matters beyond the marketing bubble. “My goal is to reach everyone working in the creative Comment: Babinet isn’t concerned by the potential effect of AI on advertising. “Only humans can understand what will move people,” he says. industries,” he says. Babinet believes in the value of simplicity. “When people are overwhelmed with content and messages, it’s how you become memorable,” he says. “At first, I liked it for aesthetic reasons but [clarity] has a strategic advantage.” He adds that openness is key to creativity. “Listening is central. People think that our job is to talk but first it’s to listen – to consumers, social trends, culture and daily life.”

2.
A timeless timepiece: The Seiko SJE121
To mark 145 years, Seiko unveils limited edition King Seiko KSI969 honouring heritage.

Seiko’s roots lie in a humble watchmaker’s shop opened by Kintaro Hattori in Tokyo’s Ginza district in 1881. As the brand celebrates its 145th anniversary, we have been admiring this commemorative release from King Seiko – its luxury brand, born in 1961, which sits between Seiko’s everyday watches and its premium handcrafted line, Grand Seiko. This special-edition KSI969 is an automatic that riffs on both the company’s origins and the King Seiko 45KCM, released in 1969. The dial’s design is derived from an intricate pattern that Hattori had engraved on imported pocket watches in Seiko’s early days. Its slim, stainless-steel case features a shield emblem inspired by the logo from the 1960s and is paired with a comfortable link strap. Only 800 of these have been made – so start shopping now.
seikowatches.com

3.
Berker’s Serie 1930 switch
Ideal for pre-war homes but also suited to those who don’t want to ask Alexa

In 1919 brothers Hugo and Robert Berker set up a light-switch factory in a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Their workshop focused on rotary switches – ones that you would twist, rather than flip on and off. It was a novelty in many German households. The siblings found loyal customers in the Bauhaus school, founded in the same year, whose architects often installed Berker lights in their buildings.

Fast-forward to the 1990s. When the Bauhaus school’s Dessau complex was restored and the interiors returned to their original condition – which, of course, included the switches – Berker faithfully recreated them by mining the archives. The result was launched as Serie 1930 in 1999. The Serie 1930 comes in several variations but the ceramic light switch in white is the most authentic. The design is ideal for pre-war houses but equally suited to owners of new homes seeking something distinctive – but don’t want to ask Alexa, clap their hands or tap at a screen just to get the lights on. The turn of the wrist is an analogue action that Berker has spent more than a century perfecting.
berker.com

4.
A furniture threesome to provide an instant upgrade
Good seating, soft lighting and a smart side table can liven up any living space. Here’s our perfect trio.

The ideal living room strikes a balance between relaxation and social interaction. A comfortable chair, such as the Flexform Luchino is essential. Sturdy but lightweight, it’s inspired by chairs used by film directors, giving those who sit in them a sense of control. It’s made from solid hand-turned and finished ash or walnut wood, with a seat and a backrest in durable cowhide.

The Muuto Dedicate Lamp casts a soft, flattering glow, with a classic spring-loaded articulated design, making it easy to rotate and reposition. A handsome side table is a must too – a surface on which to rest everything from drinks to magazines. UK-based studio Pirajean Lees recently released a furniture collection that includes this TC01 Coffee Table. Originally designed for a restaurant project, it brings a sense of hospitality and the bespoke to any space. Combined with the other pieces, it creates a space where you can retreat from the world – or a welcoming environment in which to gather.
flexform.it; muuto.com; pirajeanlees.com

5.
Waphyto, your skincare champion
Waphyto blends Japanese herbalism and botanicals into simple, plant-based skincare solutions.

Beauty brands from Japan (also sometimes clunkily called J-beauty) are nonetheless gaining popularity as a simple answer to South Korea’s popular skincare, which often calls for complicated multi-step routines.

One niche, in-the-know brand is Waphyto. The idea for the business came to Atsuko Morita after a stint working as a flight attendant, which led her to develop asthma as well as dry skin and hair. After a friend recommended herbal medicines, which helped to alleviate her symptoms, she went on to study botanical therapy in France. She launched a series of plant-based beauty products that blend traditional Japanese herbalism with plant biomethodology in 2020.

The key to Waphyto’s products is using botanicals (think mulberry, chrysanthemum, mugwort and horsetail) sourced from Morita’s hometown of Mikawa and carefully extracted through a delicate steam-pressure method. It’s proof that the best ideas often come from finding solutions to genuine needs – and not overcomplicating it from there.
waphyto.com

6.
A Zuriga E2 for your daily grind
Zuriga champions Swiss-made, two-button espresso machines built with elegant, durable simplicity.

In a cluttered coffee market, this Swiss-made wonder wins by doing less than the competition. Imagine: a kitchen gizmo that doesn’t have a touchscreen or require an app. Zuriga’s machines are precise from manufacture to macchiato – all tough glass, stainless steel and walnut-wood handles. Oh, and there are just two buttons. The coffee market can be faddy but Moritz Güttinger’s firm, founded in 2016, presents a good argument for simplicity over gimmickry.
zuriga.com

7.
The stove-top staple from Alessi
An iconic 1980s stainless-steel kettle celebrating refreshingly non-automated design simplicity.

Not everything designed in the 1980s stands up today but in this age of fiddly taps shooting scalding water directly into the sink, this classic kettle feels like a welcome return to common sense. The Richard Sapper creation for Piedmont kitchen kingpin Alessi has aged well, thanks to its domed stainless-steel body, sinuous black handle and latch, plus brass pipes that whistle – the notes E and B, if you’re wondering – as the water boils. The sound was inspired by Sapper’s memories of riverboat sirens on the Rhine. This hints at an important truth often forgotten in the kitchen: not everything needs automating.

8.
The most cutting edge blades from Japan
Sharpness, effortless slicing and precision.

“When it comes to knives, I look for three things: sharpness, ease at which food releases from the blade and the feel of it,” says Justin Kowbel, co-founder of London’s handsome kitchenware retailer Borough Kitchen. For sourdough lovers, Kowbel recommends the Kai Shun Premier Bread Knife. “The direction of the serration changes at the midpoint, effortlessly cutting through tough crusts.” The Kai Shun Classic Scalloped Santoku (middle) slices through everything from vegetables to cuts of meat. And for something a little extraordinary, choose the Masamoto FS Series Nakiri. “A nakiri’s straight blade is excellent for fine chopping. There’s a reason why Masamoto is one of Japan’s most respected knifemakers.”
boroughkitchen.com

The CEO’s survival kit: Six essential items for leading the charge

How much more elegant is it to jot down your thoughts in a notebook than on your phone? The best solutions don’t run out of battery mid-meeting. With this in mind, Monocle’s fashion team has brought together a few items that will demonstrate your discernment, whether you’re in the boardroom or at the boarding gate.

1.
Briefcase by Prada Saffiano
Italy

The briefcase is back (sort of). Mercifully, it’s not the hard-cornered kind lugged around in yesteryear. Prada’s softer leather number, Saffiano, offers plenty of storage space and a svelte silhouette.
prada.com

2.
Card holder by Hermès
France

The only thing that’s more naff than being caught without a business card is having a digital one. How people remember you is crucial. Handmade in France, Hermès’s RMS calfskin cardholder is slim and subtle, and comes in 11 seemly colourways.
hermes.com

3.
Diary by Hobonichi and pen by Montblanc
Japan & Germany

There’s a reason why those little computers with a stylus never took off: no technology has ever replaced our urge to scribble on a page. Montblanc’s classic ballpoint makes it even more of a pleasure, especially when it’s paired with one of Hobonichi’s pocket-sized diaries. montblanc.com; 1101.com

4.
Comb and nail file by Officine Universelle Buly
France

Good grooming broadcasts your respect for the person who you’re meeting. You can always rely on this retractable Swiss-made comb and nail file from Officine Universelle Buly.
buly1803.com

5.
Eye mask by The Silk Collection

UK
A disco nap in a taxi or between meetings has its place but this eye mask will help to keep the light out when only a proper night’s sleep will do.
thesilkcollection.com

6.
Cap by Luca Faloni
Italy

This Italian-made cashmere cap from Milan-based brand Luca Faloni is just the ticket when you want to go incognito at a conference (or if you need to hide an unruly post-flight hairdo).
lucafaloni.com