Issues

How John Lobb footwear stays one step ahead

“The way that people move during the day has changed,” says Philippe Gonzalez, the global CEO of storied footwear brand John Lobb. “We need to be responsive to that.” When Monocle meets Gonzalez in London, he is fresh off an early Eurostar with just a small suitcase in tow. “It’s important for us to be like a sponge,” he says. “When you look at people in the street, you see men cycling in the morning with their children, taking them to school before heading to work. That’s why we developed a bag for our customers where they can put their shoes for their commute.”

Gonzalez has been the custodian of John Lobb since 2019, safeguarding a heritage that is as compelling as it is complex. The brand combines British origins with French flair, a Northampton workshop with a Paris atelier and a ready-to-walk range of shoes with a top bespoke service. Spanning more than 150 years, its history includes a royal appointment from the Prince of Wales in 1863 and acquisition by French fashion house Hermès in 1976.

Under Gonzalez, the brand has stayed focused on its core category, men’s footwear. But working under an ethos of “slow evolution”, it has subtly updated its collections by making changes such as adding bike-friendly accessories, lighter fabrications and signature hardware. The introduction of replaceable rubber soles was also a direct response to the changing needs of the label’s customers.

John Lobb’s latest collection, presented in a small gallery inside the Palais-Royal in Paris, includes perforated leather loafers in supple suede (a nod to driving gloves), derbies in new colour-block patterns and dress shoes embellished with silver buckles. The oval metal rings have become a discreet brand signifier that is only identifiable to those in the know.

Launches of the brand’s collections have become a mainstay at Paris Fashion Week Men’s but its production remains in the UK. When Monocle meets Gonzalez, he is on his way to Northampton, where 90 per cent of the brand’s ready-to-walk offering is crafted. There, he will present the spring-summer collection to the artisans and congratulate them for bringing it to life.

Having a manufacturing base in the English heartland of shoemaking is a point of pride for Gonzalez. People who hail from Northampton (as well as the local football team) are nicknamed “cobblers” because of the town’s historic association with the trade; the Goodyear-welted shoe-construction method originated there.

“Britishness means having a sense of humour and a certain attitude,” says Gonzalez – a warm, generous view of the UK that defies the general post-Brexit sentiment. “Our bestselling Lopez shoe was created in the 1950s and has a specific English sensibility, a sort of rock attitude. Our latest model, the Smith, is also infused with that same spirit but with a rubber sole. Our customers want to feel at ease throughout the day when they’re walking but also want to feel elegant.”

Bespoke services are available in the company’s Paris atelier, where every made-to-order pair of shoes begins with a conversation between the customer and the makers. This is followed by detailed measurements, trials and plenty of design discussions.

Gonzalez’s commitment to growing both the bespoke and ready-to-wear parts of the business is yielding results. He tells Monocle that despite an overall slowdown across the luxury industry, the past year has proven “healthy” for the brand. The Hermès Group reported a 9 per cent sales increase across the business for the first quarter of 2025. “We’re seeing a nice, steady growth that shows that our convictions are right,” says Gonzalez, pointing to a balance between the brand’s core markets, which include the US, Europe and Asia (particularly Japan).

The brand’s wholesale distribution includes partners in Dallas, Madrid, Seoul and Hong Kong. “We want to grow our presence where we are successful,” says the CEO. “We often say that it’s like a shoe: we only open a shop if it fits. My intention is not to reinvent the brand but to nurture it. After all, what are shoes? They are very personal objects that reveal a lot about their wearer. So we don’t want you to disappear behind the shoe.”
johnlobb.com

A tale of two shoemakers

John Lobb’s history stretches back more than 150 years, when the eponymous founder, an apprentice bootmaker from Cornwall, travelled to Australia during the gold rush. There, he developed shoes with hollow heels in which miners could stash contraband nuggets of gold. Despite these somewhat illicit origins, Lobb was named as the bootmaker for the Prince of Wales in 1863 upon his return to the UK. A shop on Regent Street followed in 1866, then a Paris boutique in 1899. The brand was acquired by Hermès in 1976; as part of this deal, Lobb’s descendants (who have their own workshop in London as a separate entity) requested that the sale of the Paris-made shoes be prohibited in the UK. Though John Lobb London and John Lobb Paris share a founder and a history, the two are not to be confused.

Sharp new styles from the Monocle Shop

Teba travel jacket and travel trousers by Monocle

A project with fabric mill Vitale Barberis Canonico, this premium worsted-wool jacket and trouser pairing are thermo-regulating and anti-crease. The jacket has three patch pockets and one inside, while the trousers have a single pleat and welt back pocket.

Price: €440 (jacket) / €340 (trousers)
Colour: Navy
Material: 100 per cent wool
Made in: Lithuania

Yeti corduroy cap by Kappy Design x Monocle

These cotton corduroy caps – the result of a partnership between Seoul brand Kappy Design and Monocle – feature exclusive designs from Japanese artist Toru Fukuda. Made in South Korea, they are available in red and navy or forest green and white.

Price: €80
Colour: Red/navy or forest green/white
Material: 100 per cent cotton
Made in: South Korea

FreeWalker GL suitcase by Proteca x Monocle

Proteca’s 50-litre FreeWalker GL is made in Akabira, Hokkaido by Japan’s leading luggage manufacturer Ace – a specialist in suitcase technology for more than 50 years. It comes with a TSA-approved lock and a luggage tag from Japan’s Brooklyn Museum.

Price: €770
Colour: Olive
Material: Polycarbonate-abs resin blend
Made in: Japan

All-season work jacket by Monocle

This classic jacket is made in Portugal from pure cotton, with corozo buttons. Designed by our in-house team for writers and artists needing to stow away notebooks, it has five pockets, including one internal option. It is available in navy and olive.

Price: €250
Colour: Navy or olive
Material: 100 per cent cotton
Made in: Portugal

Correspondent bag by L/Uniform x Monocle

Born from a conversation between Tyler Brûlé and L/Uniform’s founder, Jeanne Signoles, this compact version of the No 54 Large Bag has extra pockets. It is handmade in Portugal from Italian cotton-linen canvas and full-grain calfskin leather.

Price: €1400
Colour: Ecru
Material: Cotton and linen
Made in: Portugal

Flight bag jumbo by Beams Plus x Monocle

This jumbo version of our flight bag is inspired by airline carry-ons from the 1960s and 1970s. Sewn by hand in Tokyo, it is made from Japanese nylon with PVC coating. The double-layered front pocket is exclusive to Monocle customers.

Price: €250
Colour: Navy
Material: 100 per cent nylon
Made in: Japan

Tyrolean leather shoes by Tep_P x Monocle

Handmade in Tokyo, these shoes from Tep_P are a laidback answer to the loafer. The collaboration features some exclusive alterations, including leather in the black pair. The shoes have a lightweight Vibram sole and no extra interior linings, for a natural feel.

Price: €350
Colour: Black
Material: 100 per cent leather
Made in: Japan

Your autumn style edit: Weather-proof picks and smart layers

Stylist: Kyoko Tamoto
Hair & makeup: Hiroshi Matsushita
Model: Frederico Takahashi

How locals saved and reinvented a modernist Junzo Sakakura building

Walk below the “White Phoenix” castle of Iga-Ueno and history is never far away. There are rows of old townhouses and shops selling traditional ceramics, while the Iga-ryu school of ninjas and 17th-century poet Matsuo Basho are widely celebrated. This summer, however, it’s an icon from a more recent era that’s renewing interest in this part of western Mie prefecture.

Built on a gentle slope by the castle, the former Ueno Municipal Office was designed by Junzo Sakakura, one of Japan’s finest modernists, whose impact on life in the postwar era extended to numerous civic projects in regional Japan. Completed in 1964, the low-rise building merges with the landscape, welcoming Iga’s citizens rather than looking down on them. It has long been a beloved architectural icon. When it faced the prospect of demolition in 2008, a local movement led by former mayor Sakae Okamoto ensured its preservation. It was designated as a cultural property in 2019, laying the foundations for the creation of a destination for local residents and visitors alike.

Working closely with the local government, Iga-based Funatani Holdings developed plans for Sakakura Base, a culture complex with a hotel, an Iga-brand shop and a public library. The first phase of the project includes Hakusen, a 19-key hotel on the second floor. Its design was led by Yohei Takano and Sachiko Morita of Tokyo-based studio Maru Architecture, which also oversaw the building’s renewal and the design of the library.

“Junzo Sakakura was one of Japan’s greatest architects, so there was a bit of pressure,” says Takano. “The building felt like Sakakura’s at first but, over time, the boundaries between his work and ours became less clear. Our aim was to seamlessly connect the old and the new.” Yet the architects quickly found out that bringing a 60-year-old heritage-listed building into the present era was not without its challenges. Sakakura’s largely passive design – the building originally had no air-conditioning – had to be updated, leading to the creation of spaces that transition from calm interiors to the external surroundings.

“Sakakura really valued circulation, so he created details that catch your gaze as you move through the building,” says Morita, pointing out the variations in grain on the wood-pressed concrete pillars. “Even the same materials are given different textures in different places, drawing you in deeper and deeper.”

From the Hakusen Suite, the former mayor’s office, all the way around the perimeter, the guest rooms feature ash-wood veneer, sakan plasterwork and shoji panels in harmony with restored heritage materials. A mix of new and vintage furniture from Tendo Mokko, designed by Sakakura Associates architects and engineers, adds further character, alongside art curated by Shunsuke Kato of Shigaraki-based Nota&design. “This building has survived due to the strength of its architecture, so I was intent on finding works with a quality that will remain powerful a century from now,” says Kato. Three young artists with roots in Mie prefecture were selected: Masaomi Yasunaga, whose ceramic glaze mosaic takes pride of place at the reception; Lena Fujimoto, who lends her abstract paintings; and Taro Tsubota, whose wood-fired vessels and objects appear throughout the rooms.

The local flavour extends to Iga-made products, including Nagatani-en ceramics, amenities from 101-year-old Kimura Soap and room numbers designed by UMA/Design Farm. There’s also ample reading material: architecture, modernism and art titles can be found in every room. Once the ground-floor library opens next spring, plans are under way for hotel guests to become honorary members, able to borrow titles to enjoy in the comfort of their room or in the reading lounges.

“The hotel’s concept is a ship on a lake of words. I want people to arrive here at this dock and not worry about time, enjoying their stay before embarking on a new voyage,” says Iga local Takashi Wada, who joined the hotel as hotelier. “This building has always been here, watching over us. I hope that, just like me, the children walking past on their way to school will want to work here when they grow up.”

How a remote Swedish vineyard became a must-visit winery, hotel and spa

Daniel Carlsson was right to act on his dream of creating something unexpected in the middle of the countryside in southwest Sweden. With his siblings Linda and Mattias, he has transformed his grandparents’ organic milk farm (which was among the first in the country) into Ästad Vingård, a spa and hotel with an organically certified vineyard and a Michelin-starred restaurant called Äng. “This is the kind of place that I love to visit when I’m travelling,” Daniel tells Monocle. “I wanted to build that right here in my family home.”

The Carlssons tapped Copenhagen’s Norm Architects to design their hotel, Sjöparken, and Äng restaurant, both of which are understatedly Scandinavian delights. They planted their first grapes in 2011 and only reaped a good harvest seven years later. “We live in hectic times,” says Daniel. “It felt special to work on something that can’t be rushed.”

Two microclimates – one inland, one coastal – make for a unique wine matured in steel or French oak barrels and aged according to a traditional method involving a second fermentation once bottled. “Sweden can become a wine-producing country,” says Daniel. “We don’t have to be small-scale any longer. We’re making a great wine that can compete on the world market.”

The commute: Join José Miguel de Abreu biking from Porto to the central Ribiera district

In the first of a new series joining people we admire on their way to work, we hitch a ride with Portuguese entrepreneur José Miguel de Abreu, co-founder of menswear brand La Paz. As a keen surfer and photographer, De Abreu has an eye for the sublime.

He uses his short scoot east from his home in the riverside neighbourhood of Lordelo do Ouro to the central Ribeira district to study the light on the water, stop at a portside café to see what the locals are wearing and unplug a little before the day ahead.

Ah, you’ve got a helmet on, so perhaps you’re not walking to work. Tell us about your vehicle of choice.
It’s a BMW c400 GT motorcycle that I’ve had for the past two years. It’s on the bigger side so perfect for riding in the city.

A soundtrack? Are there any headphones under those flaps?
That’s not possible, I’m afraid. I’ve got to listen out for other vehicles. An accident in a car could leave you with a few scratches. On a motorbike, you’re a little more exposed.

And for the day, what reading material do you bring?
I’ll always pack a book as well as my computer. I’m reading A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler and The Way of the World by Swiss photographer Nicolas Bouvier. I also pack Público, a Portuguese daily, to keep me informed.

Best time to beat the traffic?
In Porto it’s about 08.30. There’s lots of investment in transport for commuters and there are a few metro lines under construction. But right now, there’s a lot of congestion because often only one lane on most roads is available. So it gets busy in the morning; a journey of 4km could take 40 minutes. People in cars get stuck – that’s why I ride.

Any pit-stops?
Most mornings there’s an espresso at Paparoca da Foz, a café in the port where the Douro River meets the ocean. I soak in the atmosphere and see the locals; it’s very different to the city centre.

And, since you’re in the business, let’s talk outfits. No leathers?
In winter, I’ll wear a heavier jacket, which helps with safety. Usually it’s just the clothes I’m wearing that day.

How is Porto’s road etiquette?
Drivers here don’t beep their horns too much. They’re pretty polite and respectful. Even so, if you’re on a motorbike like me, you have to keep your eyes peeled.

Some people see the commute as a means to an end but you seem to enjoy it. What’s the best bit?
The view. There’s water everywhere, with bridges taking me over the river and the ocean on the horizon. In the evening the light on the waves is beautiful.

Kone: The Finnish lift company quietly reshaping cities

“We talk about thinking outside the shaft,” says Jussi Herlin, vice-chair of Finnish lift-engineering firm Kone’s board of directors. He is the fifth genaration of his family to help steer the company; his father, Antti Herlin, is chairman of the board and former long-time CEO. “We build lifts and maintain them – but our real job is designing how people move through built environments,” says Jussi.

Founded in Helsinki in 1910, Kone now operates in almost 70 countries and employs more than 60,000 staff. Its products move a staggering two billion people every day. When Monocle visits Kone’s high-rise headquarters in Espoo to meet 41-year-old Herlin (pictured), we’re told that he is waiting for us on one of the building’s upper floors. So we take one of the company’s signature lifts, which glides silently up 16 storeys and politely pings before its doors slide open. Beyond the HQ’s plate-glass windows are sweeping views of the Baltic Sea and Finland’s coastal archipelago.

Herlin’s great-great-grandfather bought Kone more than 100 years ago, when it was just getting started in the business of lifts. The Herlin family, one of northern Europe’s wealthiest dynasties, has been associated with Kone ever since, both for being its biggest backer and for running the firm for most of its history. The company, which has an annual turnover of about €11bn, manufactures and services lifts, escalators and automatic doors, and prides itself on being a Finnish export. It has continued to service Ukraine’s lifts in metro stations, hospitals and residential buildings throughout the country’s war with Russia. “Functioning lifts are essential infrastructure, especially when cities are under stress,” says Herlin.

The increasing digitisation of how buildings operate is Kone’s next frontier and the firm is hoping to rise to the challenge. Its elevators now connect to the cloud and communicate in real-time with building systems, maintenance teams and, increasingly, with users themselves, to help anticipate maintenance needs, shorten wait times or even turn on the air-conditioning in your office as you enter the building. Sensors monitor everything from vibration and temperature to acceleration and door cycles to ensure smooth travel and to optimise energy use.

These inputs help predict breakdowns and optimise performance. “We can see how a lift behaves over time,” says Jussi. “We use AI to predict issues before they happen and make maintenance proactive. This improves reliability and reduces downtime.” Kone has also opened up its systems to third-party developers, allowing smartphones, delivery robots and more to interact with its lifts.

Elevators are often described as the world’s safest form of public transport. Kone’s business has hinged on providing reliability at scale. Its systems operate in the background of daily life, helping billions of people to get around without thinking twice. But the company’s ambition goes beyond just being dependable behind the scenes. “Our one clear aim is to shape the future of cities,” says Antti Herlin. “We know cities and have enabled them to grow taller, more energy efficient and more accessible for more than a century.”

According to UN projections, by 2050 about two-thirds of the world’s population will live in urban environments. Kone sees plenty of opportunity in helping this mass of people to go about their lives smoothly. One of the firm’s innovative products is Office Flow, which offers touch-free access through turnstiles, mobile elevator calls (allowing users to summon and control lifts using a smartphone app) and real-time wayfinding. Meanwhile, Kone’s flagship DX Class elevators feature built-in connectivity, through which third parties can connect its elevators to the likes of service robots, accessibility guidance systems and other advanced people flow solutions. In mass transit, Kone is piloting digital modelling software in metro stations in Helsinki, blending sensor data from escalators and corridors to model crowd patterns. This works to prevent bottlenecks and improve commuter experience at peak hours. “AI is revolutionising urban infrastructure and services,” says Antti Herlin. “We are constantly looking at how we can add technology to what we sell and our ways of working.”

In addition to Kone’s 3,000-plus patents, Herlin points to milestones such as the development of the “machine room-less” elevator in 1996 as evidence of Kone’s ability to lead, not just follow.. One of its latest innovations is Ultrarope, a carbon-fibre hoisting solution that reduces the weight of elevators and allows them to travel further using less power. Another example is energy recovery, in which lifts are equipped with regenerative drive technology, which can recover up to 40 per cent of power used and put it back into the building’s electrical grid.

As cities become more vertical and digital, the way that people move within them is becoming increasingly important – and complex. Kone’s answer is to build tools that are elegant, intuitive and all but invisible. Its products seek to make movement feel seamless, whether you’re stepping into a metro station, navigating an airport or returning home at the end of the day. “That we move two billion people per day is not just an abstract statistic,” says Jussi. “It’s a human reality. And our job is to make every one of those journeys feel effortless.”

The unmissable films, exhibitions, books and music for September 2025

Art

Prism of the Real: Making Art in Japan 1989-2010
The National Art Center, Tokyo
If 1980s Japan looked like a vision of the future from afar, the view was markedly different on the ground. While the technology boom brought financial stability, globalisation shook things up creatively. Here, works by more than 50 artists and collectives wrestle with these contradictions.
‘Prism of the Real’ runs from 3 September to 8 December

Kerry James Marshall: The Histories
Royal Academy of Arts, London
US artist Kerry James Marshall’s striking, large-scale paintings co-opt the visual language of white Europeans such as Seurat and Manet to tell the stories of black history. This exhibition of 11 bodies of works – more than 70 pieces in total, including eight new and unseen depictions of the African slave trade – is his largest showing in Europe to date.
‘The Histories’ runs from 20 September to 18 January 2026

Film

The Long Walk
Francis Lawrence
Having directed four of the five films in The Hunger Games series, Francis Lawrence takes on another dystopia. In this Stephen King adaptation starring Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson and Ben Wang, 100 boys must walk until only one remains. If they stop or slow down, they will be executed. It’s surprising that this wretched tale – one of King’s first novels – took so long to reach the screen but it arrives in an era when narratives about human cruelty feel more plausible than ever.
‘The Long Walk’ is released on 12 September

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
Rob Reiner
Legacy sequels often suffer from a hollow self-mythology that drowns out the actual joke but the first Spinal Tap already introduced us to a band convinced of its own hype. The original cast returns to play a group that’s well past its prime. Cameos from real rock royalty blur the mockumentary line but the film understands that ridicule and reverence have always lived side by side in rock’n’roll.
‘Spinal Tap II’ is released on 12 September

The Glassworker
Usman Riaz
Pakistan’s first hand-drawn animated feature is an exquisitely crafted film that balances the intimate and the political. An artisan’s son and a colonel’s daughter meet across a widening gulf of class and ideology that threatens to tear both their relationship and their country apart. The film wears its Studio Ghibli influence on it sleeve but its message feels distinctly relevant.
‘The Glassworker’ is released on 19 September

Books

The Quiet Ear
Raymond Antrobus
Poet Raymond Antrobus long struggled with shame and anger while trying to find a language to fully express his experience of deafness. In The Quiet Ear, he intertwines his story with those of deaf cultural figures whom he discovered in adulthood. Part memoir and part cultural history, it is at times a difficult read but it’s an essential work that will hopefully help to shift attitudes to deafness.
‘The Quiet Ear’ is published on 28 August

Amity
Nathan Harris
Slavery in the US might have officially ended following the civil war but Nathan Harris’s second novel, set in the late 1860s, offers a glimpse of a society that still wanted black Americans in bondage. Harris writes with a sparseness and beauty that mirror the landscape of Mexico, where servant Coleman searches for his sister June, who has run away from their old master, Mr Harper, in pursuit of a better life.
‘Amity’ is published on 2 September

Cursed Daughters
Oyinkan Braithwaite
The irresistibly titled My Sister, the Serial Killer launched Nigerian-British novelist Oyinkan Braithwaite onto the literary scene in 2019. Her follow-up, Cursed Daughters, was worth the long wait. It tells the story of Eniiyi, the latest member of her family living under a curse that condemns daughters to heartbreak. When she falls in love, it’s time for her to finally stop ignoring the gloomy legend.
‘Cursed Daughters’ is published on 25 September

TV

The Girlfriend
Amazon Prime Video
In The Girlfriend, Robin Wright plays a mother with an unhealthy interest in her son’s romantic life. When a beautiful young woman (House of the Dragon’s Olivia Cooke) arrives on the scene to steal her son’s heart and potentially ruin his life, she becomes jealous and suspicious. There’s plenty of salacious double-crossing in this sleazy, erotic thriller with deplorable yet sexy characters.
‘The Girlfriend’ is released on 10 September

Black Rabbit
Netflix
This New York-set show stars Jude Law as a restaurateur and owner of the eponymous Black Rabbit, who finds his meticulously organised life turned upside down when his chaotic brother (Jason Bateman) reappears, wanting to be let back into the family business. After financial difficulties come knocking, the siblings are forced to consort with the criminal underworld, with resentment and bitterness building with every passing hour.
‘Black Rabbit’ is released on 18 September

Task
Sky/HBO
Still thinking about the moody and captivating 2021 hit Mare of Easttown? Its creator, Brad Ingelsby, is back with another procedural thriller, this time set in Philadelphia. It stars Mark Ruffalo as an FBI agent and former priest who is tracking a thief whose motives are far more complicated than greed alone. Tragedy hangs in the air as the story unfolds, blurring the line between right and wrong.
‘Task’ is released in September

Photography

New Photography 2025: Lines of Belonging
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Marking 40 years since the first New Photography exhibition was held at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, this anniversary edition features artists from four cities, including Johannesburg and New Orleans. The images from Mexico City could prove to be the most arresting, thanks to Sandra Blow’s unflinching portrayals of the LGBTQ+ community and Tania Franco Klein’s cinematic vignettes. And make sure that you don’t miss Nepalese visual artist and curator Sheelasha Rajbhandari’s artfully embroidered scenes from Kathmandu.
‘New Photography 2025’ runs from 14 September to 17 January 2026

Music

Myd
Mydnight
French DJ, producer and singer Myd has brought together a sparkling cast of collaborators for this dancefloor-ready album. Channel Tres shines on “All That Glitters Is Not Gold”, while Calcutta features on the gentler “9am”. “Song for You” is an Ibiza anthem in the making. Mydnight was informed by Myd’s recent globetrotting and we’re sure that the samba beats on “So High” were inspired by a long night out somewhere sweaty.
‘Mydnight’ is released on 29 August

Saint Etienne
International
Sad news for fans of English trio Saint Etienne: the group’s 13th album will be its last. Unlike The Night, the band’s previous release, International is a poppy electronic album produced by synth-lover Tim Powell (formerly of Xenomania). The record is full of soaring highs and emotive lows with lively early-1990s sounds on tracks such as “Brand New Me” and a tearjerker of a closer, “Last Time”.
‘International’ is released on 5 September

Parcels
Loved
Berlin-based Australian band Parcels is back with another happy-go-lucky album full of scintillating grooves. The euphoric “Yougotmefeeling” is an eminently danceable delight. The languid “Summerinlove” (yes, all the tracks are written this way) is another highlight. Parcel’s sunny sounds have attracted many fans, who will be flocking to see them on tour in Europe and North America this autumn.
‘Loved’ is released on 12 September

Images:
Netflix, Peter Kramer/HBO, Christopher Raphael/Prime, Murray Close/Lionsgate, Kerry James Marshall/ Patrick L Pyszka, Tania Franco Klein

Isaia: The Italian tailor bringing Neapolitan style to the world

“I knocked on so many doors in the US without much luck but now it’s our most important market,” says Gianluca Isaia, the CEO of Neapolitan tailoring company Isaia. Founded as a fabric shop by his grandfather, Enrico, in the 1920s, the business quickly evolved into a bespoke tailoring workshop and was supplying suits across Italy by the 1960s. Gianluca began as a tailor’s apprentice in his grandfather’s enterprise before moving to sales. He took over in the 1990s, redirecting the company towards a largely global clientele.

Under Isaia’s watch, the label has established a network of boutiques across the US, with outposts in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Palm Beach, Florida. Italy now makes up just 10 per cent of the business, which saw €90m in revenues last year. And Isaia is only getting started. More shops in Washington, Zürich and Paris are planned, each designed to offer a taste of the brand’s Neapolitan spirit.

Its flagships usually feature a bar and piano in the same coral hue as the brand’s logo, turning the shop floor into a space where customers can order a bespoke suit (which comes with a personalised label and a hanger featuring the client’s name), socialise and enjoy an aperitivo. “Naples has something that sparks desire – a quality that can’t be copied,” says Isaia, who is dressed in a double-breasted blazer with hand-stitched shoulders, his sandals peeking out beneath matching trousers.

In recent years there has been a renewed appreciation of Neapolitan tailoring, which is known for louche silhouettes and soft shoulders. Parisian heritage houses, such as Balenciaga, have offered interpretations of the wearer-friendly tailoring of the Neapolitan jacket. Isaia has naturally doubled down on its signatures, waving the flag for its home city’s style sensibilities and venturing into new categories to offer a full “Made in Naples” look.

The brand’s recent success includes a highly anticipated womenswear collection. The line debuted during the January edition of Milan Fashion Week with a runway show, which was held inside the historic Circolo Filologico Milanese and received much praise for making Neapolitan wardrobe staples available to a female audience. Relaxed herringbone suits, double-cashmere coats and liquid-silk shirts made their way down the runway, signalling the brand’s ambitions to carve a space for itself in the competitive world of women’s fashion. Isaia’s commitment to “Made in Naples” quality remains as strong as ever. While many labels outsource production, it has invested in a mill in the Piedmontese textile hub of Biella and begun producing more exclusive fabrics. The factory at the company’s headquarters employs more than 300 artisans who oversee the production of every ready-to-wear category. Suits, knits, button-down shirts, denim, ties and leather goods are all manufactured in-house.

On the factory floor, the team wears matching, aubergine-coloured T-shirts embroidered with the brand’s signature coral branch: a symbol of luck in Naples. The whirr of sewing machines is the soundtrack to artisans hand-sewing pockets and cutting out the silk shapes of ties. Around a table, women stitch buttonholes, each requiring 10 minutes of concentration. Isaia employs 60 embroiderers. “You can only find this level of detail in the south of Italy,” says Giuseppe Crispo, Isaia’s production manager, pointing to the soft shoulders and slanted barchetta pockets that distinguish Neapolitan jackets from other varieties. “This world is disappearing.”

This is why the company has set up a new tailoring school and apprenticeship scheme that will help to secure its future, as well as the region’s reputation as a leading player in the fashion industry. “Naples’ tailors exalt the shape of the person wearing their jackets and aren’t afraid of bright colours,” says menswear commentator Fabio Attanasio. “Like a vintage watch or car, the Neapolitan jacket offers a certain unmatched pleasure.”
isaia.it

The Monocle Concierge: Where to eat, shop and stroll in Kowloon

Click here to enjoy Monocle’s complete city guide to Hong Kong