Issues

Editor’s letter: Andrew Tuck on meeting with approval

Let’s start with the final pages of this issue: the Expo. We have recently been interviewing candidates for the role of travel editor and I’ve found myself launching into some rather detailed explanations of what makes for a perfect Monocle hotel or restaurant story. I stress that we, of course, want to apprise people of the latest openings but that we are also just as happy to put the spotlight on an establishment that has navigated the decades untouched. That sometimes a simple three-star with a good owner can outshine the five-star joint run by a global chain. How modest but delicious food can satiate more than a laborious 20-course tasting menu. That luxury comes in many guises. I might have left a few candidates just wishing that we wanted to run the same style of reviews that you see in other titles.

But from now on, if asked to explain our perspective, I will simply hand over this issue and ask people to drink in the restaurants that made our Expo. Commissioned by our editor, Josh Fehnert, it’s a story that looks at “hospitality holdouts” – establishments that have triumphed with consistency, tradition and the knowledge that sometimes all you have to do is nothing much at all. Just before we send any issue to print, we do a final run through of all the pages. This month everyone ended up staring at the tempting dishes from the likes of Kronenhalle in Zürich and The Odeon in New York, hoping to somehow be transported to their dining rooms; to find themselves eating the perfect smørrebrød and having a lunchtime glass of red.

What these establishments also have in common is a reputation for well-oiled hospitality; knowing how to welcome people in from the rain or a harried day to slowly restore their usual ease. This theme of being hospitable runs throughout the issue – and not just in the realm of restaurants and hotels. We also have a masterclass on the broader subject of hospitality delivered as 50 lessons. Because how you treat people, how you greet and take care of folk, is a discipline that needs to be perfected by every airport chief, diplomat, business owner, receptionist and mayor. The steps you are willing to take to be a good host reveal everything about your qualities and beliefs. It speaks to who you really are.

This issue is also our Fashion Special and, as always, these pages have been elegantly stitched together by our fashion director, Natalie Theodosi. Just as in our coverage of travel, when it comes to fashion we also have a different take on what makes for the perfect mix of stories. Of course, we want to offer some suggestions on brands and shops that really should be on your radar but we also want to take you behind the scenes and into the boardrooms and ateliers where you get to see how businesses are really made. So in addition to a peerless Fashion Top 25, Natalie delivers a series of stories that explore the remaking of Jil Sander by design duo Lucie and Luke Meier, the revival of Piaget and how APC is planning to become a total lifestyle brand. It’s a complete look.

Monocle has been back on the road this year and we’ll be in Hong Kong for the latest edition of The Chiefs summit on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 March. We hope you can join us (ticket details at monocle.com). And the squad will be at numerous trade, design, diplomatic and urbanism events across the coming weeks too. We look forward to sharing some monocle-style hospitality with you soon. Until then, have a great month.

If you have ideas for stories, recommendations for forgotten hospitality holdouts or even a few style tips, feel free to contact me at at@monocle.com.

Subtle spring looks with the season’s best combinations

Model: Ikken Yamamoto
Grooming: Kenichi Yaguchi
Producer: Shigeru Nakagawa

The diplomacy agenda: A Q&A with Lithuania’s prime minister Ingrida Simonyte

Democracy
In the public eye
USA

Would you ever willingly sit in on a council meeting? What if you were paid to? This is roughly the question that inspired the Documenters programme, an initiative launched by Chicago’s City Bureau journalism lab in 2018 to increase awareness of local democracy by training and paying residents to take notes, live-tweet and even video-record public meetings.

The positive effects are manifold. By offering training and cash incentives, the programme encourages civic engagement while providing those out of work with an income; it also makes life easier for cash-strapped journalists too busy to sit in on every meeting. The programme has proven a success and expanded nationwide, partnering with news outlets in 11 cities. More than 2,200 documenters have been trained, covering some 5,000 meetings for an outlay of about $600,000 (€550,000).
documenters.org

Geopolitics
Continental shift
Italy

The Young Italian-African Diplomatic Fellows Programme brings African diplomats aged under 35 to Rome to study international relations at the Luiss School of Government. The programme is part of an effort by Rome to win hearts and minds in Africa in 2024. It complements the €5.5bn Mattei Plan, which aims to boost economic ties with Africa in exchange for helping to control illegal immigration.

Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has staked her success on stopping immigrants crossing the Mediterranean. But many African leaders, including Moussa Faki, chair of the African Union, have criticised what some see as its neo-colonial pretensions. The Young Italian-African programme, meanwhile, is unequivocally a soft-power tool. Raffaele Marchetti, professor of international relations at Luiss, says that it will allow “fellows to exchange ideas, opinions, and enrich each other’s training”. 

Tourism
Business or pleasure?
Russia

The foreign-holiday options of Russians have dwindled these past couple of years. One place is rolling out the welcome mat, however. The first post-pandemic tourists to enter North Korea were Russians, who must have enjoyed the novelty of visiting the fiefdom of a belligerent pariah who terrorises his neighbours and crushes internal dissent. Though North Korea is a niche destination, this expedition is indicative of warm relations between Pyongyang and Moscow. These other popular spots for Russians have geo-strategic subtexts too.

1.
Turkey

With about six million visits by Russians in 2023, Turkey seems an unlikely first choice – it has Nato’s second-largest military. However, since Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022, Turkey has tried to maintain a relationship: Turkish Airlines and Aeroflot still fly in both directions.

2.
United Arab Emirates

Trade between Russia and the UAE continued to grow in the 12 months following the invasion of Ukraine and an estimated 500,000 Russians have relocated to the country. Russian tourism to Dubai in particular has been booming.

3.
Egypt

Egypt’s resorts have long been popular with Russians. The affection goes all the way to the top – in January, presidents Putin and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi took part in a joint video event to inaugurate a Russian-built power unit in Egypt.

Politics Q&A
Ingrida Simonyte
Prime minister, Lithuania

Ingrida Simonyte has been prime minister of Lithuania since 2020 and is a candidate in the country’s presidential election in May. 

Do you feel like there is still an East-West divide in how seriously Europe takes the threat posed by Russia?
There is a very different sense of the probability of something happening – of Putin trying to test Nato’s Article 5.

The Estonian intelligence service’s annual report assessed that Russia is planning for armed conflict with the West in the next decade – how do you see it?
Is there political will in Russia for confrontation with Nato? Definitely, yes. But as long as they are stuck in Ukraine, they have quite a challenge.

You hosted Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this year. What is a leader-to-leader conversation with him like?
He knows that Lithuania is doing a lot but we have limited capacities in providing, for example, jet fighters. But our role is important in terms of persuading others not to lose time in contemplation, saying they cannot provide Ukraine this or that, and then, at the end of the day, providing it but with a significant loss of Ukrainian lives.

Lithuania and the Baltic states will always live alongside Russia. Is there hope of that arrangement ever being amicable?
Russia has never rethought its past. It is a colonialist country and we were a colony of Russia for a number of years. It’s not good to have neighbours who are a permanent threat to your existence – but I don’t see it being any other way.

Politics
Cash for questions
USA

Sasha Issenberg on a longstanding US democratic scheme that’s increasingly being abused by big spenders.

Any American already bored by their presidential choices might want to consider moving to California, where the same primary ballot that invited voters to ratify two of the same frontrunners as last time included a question over which they certainly had not been stewing over for years: “Do you support an overhaul of the state’s mental-health system that will require borrowing $6.4bn [€5.9bn] to build new treatment beds?” Proposition 1 is part of a distinctively American form of democracy known as the citizen-led initiative, through which voters can place a question on the ballot or call for a referendum on a law signed by the governor. This direct democracy has its roots in an 1888 trip to Europe by journalist and labour leader JW Sullivan, who returned smitten by the cantonal Landsgemeinde he observed in Switzerland, where every adult male citizen had the opportunity to introduce a law for consideration.

Sullivan toured the US to persuade fellow populists and progressive reformers that a “peaceful revolution” of direct democracy could be a useful counterweight that corporations, especially the nascent railroad industry, wielded through lobbyists in state capitals. South Dakota adopted the initiative in 1898 and other states – both liberal and conservative – followed. Nowhere, however, has the initiative become as central to policy-making as in California, where this autumn, alongside the presidential ballot, voters are likely to rule on matters as varied as zoning for new oil drilling and whether to establish a state institute for pandemic preparedness.

These races stand to be unusually costly. In 2020 rideshare and delivery apps Uber, Doordash and Lyft together spent $205m (€189m) to pass Proposition 22, which classifies their drivers as independent contractors under state law. The only campaigns in US history that have spent more on an election belong to presidential candidates. The need to educate citizens on matters that would otherwise be left to professional lawmakers has also produced an oddly paper-intensive corner of an increasingly digital political sphere. To qualify for the California ballot, one must collect 546,651 signatures, on petitions typically delivered to the secretary of state’s office by the truckload. Once approved, the full text of the proposals appears in a newsprint guide mailed to voters; Proposition 1 filled 68 pages of dense type. The ballot itself, which includes terse (and aggressively negotiated) summaries of the initiatives, presents its own reading assignment: in November 2022, Los Angeles voters had to navigate five pages of choices.

Republican politicians in conservative states, where in recent years voters have enacted left-leaning policies to raise the minimum wage and protect abortion rights, are pushing reforms that would make it harder to change state law via direct vote. Liberal critics see the converse happening in Democrat-controlled states, where corporations often have their best shot to change policy by outspending at the ballot. “A tool that was created to give citizens power is becoming a way to pass unpopular things,” says Chris Melody Fields Figueredo of the leftist Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. Both sides are forced to grapple with an irony that would have staggered Sullivan as he promoted the “Swiss model”. The mechanism is increasingly off-limits to all but the most well-funded interests: it can cost up to $10m (€9.2m), paid largely to lawyers and signature collectors, just to place a measure on the California ballot.

Issenberg is author of ‘The Lie Detectives: In Search of a Playbook for Winning Elections in the Disinformation Age’, published by Columbia Global Reports.

In the basket
All systems go

In the basket: 10 KM-SAM Block II surface-to-air missile systems
Who’s buying: Saudi Arabia
Who’s selling: South Korea
Price: €2.95bn
Delivery date: TBC

South Korea’s defence industry is continuing its bull run. This deal alone is worth more than the country’s entire annual arms exports as recently as 2020 – and it follows a similarly hefty order for the same system from the United Arab Emirates in 2022.

The KM-SAM, also known as the Cheongung, is a medium-range missile pretty obviously seen by the Saudis principally as a counter to further aerial incursions from Iran’s Houthi proxies in Yemen.

The boon in South Korean arms exports is partly a consequence of the war in Ukraine. With many of the more established manufacturers now overstretched, South Korean kit has become valued not merely for its quality but also for the relative speed with which it can be delivered (Poland in particular has been a prodigious customer, ordering South Korean tanks, artillery and aircraft).

Ironically – indeed, outrageously – South Korea refused an earlier request for the KM-SAM from Ukraine, a country that could surely put it to good use. 

New US legislation aimed at reducing social media addiction

Utah isn’t always seen as a beacon for progressivism but on 1 March the US state introduced a law that could provide a benchmark for combating what many believe is a public health emergency. The Social Media Regulation Act aims to restrict social media use among under-18s by requiring them to obtain parental permission to open an account, imposing a curfew between 22.30 and 06.30, and compelling technology companies to remove “addictive” features from their platforms. Whether or not internet use is addictive is debatable; it does not feature in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Indeed, the fact that laws restricting internet use on the basis of addiction are being passed without scientific support lends credence to those who argue that they are nothing more than the product of a moral panic.

But when you hear professionals discuss “real” addiction, the parallels are chilling. Anna Lembke, a Stanford University psychiatrist, says that addiction “begins with intermittent use, then progresses into daily use, and then progresses into consequential use”. There is now widespread belief that social media and internet use is inhibiting children’s development – socially, emotionally and even physically. “Kids who are heavily into video games and social media fall behind socially due to a lack of face-to-face interaction,” says Mike Bishop, a clinical psychologist who runs Summerland Camps, an organisation in the US that offers practical treatment for technology addiction in young people.

Summerland Camps runs retreats for 12- to 21-year-olds at which all devices are prohibited. “There’s no minimum amount of screen activity that you need to live,” Bishop tells Monocle. But unlike with other addictions, it is understood that technology “addicts” will go back to using as soon as they leave. “We treat it more like someone who has a problem with overeating.” Bishop’s advice for concerned parents is to ask their children to track their screen time themselves. “We asked kids to convert the time they spend on their devices each week into the US minimum wage and then look at how much money they would save over a typical working lifetime for their retirement fund,” he says. “For most of them it was in the millions of dollars.

Abstinence is also the antidote favoured by Hector Hughes, co-founder of Unplugged, a company that operates 20 digital-detox rental properties in the UK (a number that it plans to double this summer). When guests arrive at one of the stylishly minimal huts, they place their devices in a box with a padlock, the key for which stays in a sealed envelope. Hughes says that some families renting the properties are keen to use the novelty of a phone-free holiday to spark a behavioural change in their children.

Laws like the one passed in Utah aim to spark that change from on high. Whether or not they succeed, public opinion seems to be turning away from a belief that unfettered access to the internet is an inevitability of modern life, towards one where its use, especially among young people, is legislatively proscribed. “When the car came out, it took us 50 years to come up with a seatbelt,” says Hughes. Bishop puts it in starker terms: “We’re going to look back at this time and compare it to how we saw smoking in the 1920s.”

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Monocle’s three-day roadtrip along South Africa’s Atlantic coast

South Africa’s west coast stretches more than 1,000km from Cape Town to the mouth of the Orange river and neighbouring Namibia. Despite the cool sea temperatures, people shoal here for the white-washed fishing towns skirting cerulean bays, as well as the blankets of wildflowers that bloom in spring. Inland, Swartland is known for its olive groves and vineyards. Here, independent winemakers are winning over critics and drinkers alike with citrussy chenins and spicy syrahs.

In recent years, new residents have joined the road-trippers in search of a more idyllic life – not to mention fresh retailers, makers and entrepreneurs ready to cater to them. Monocle takes the wheel for a trip across the rugged region from Cape Town North to Paternoster, then inland and back south past Malmesbury, Wellington to Simondium and back. Ready? Let’s hit the road.

Day one
Cape Town — Yzerfontein — Paternoster

Monocle is passing the seaside apartment blocks and windswept beaches visible from the R27 highway as Cape Town recedes in the rear-view mirror. By Melkbosstrand, the clutter of buildings and stop-start traffic lights has fallen away to reveal seemingly endless sand dunes and wildlife reserves that stretch out along the coast. Our first stop is Rosemead Artisan in Yzerfontein. Its founders, chefs Brett and Anli Nortier, escaped the hustle and bustle – and higher rents – of Stellenbosch to open, as Brett puts it, “a small community bakery”.

Before you enter the corner café, just a few minutes’ drive from the beach, you’ll catch a buttery waft of croissant and the reassuring aroma of freshly baked loaves. Taste either and you’ll soon realise why this is the sort of neighbourhood joint that tempts day-trippers to make the 85km journey from Cape Town. During the high season (December and January), queues snake out the door for a seat. But things move quickly here. Brett tells us about a customer who stopped in recently and queued for carrot cake despite having a rather pressing flight to catch (he made it, cake in his hand luggage). Grab a seat in the stripped-back, concrete-floored space, order a pastel de nata and watch as the baker’s hands dart and glide across the floured surface at the open pastry counter.

Back on the R27, we spy giraffes’ heads poking through the canopy at Buffelsfontein, a wildlife reserve that skirts the highway. Off the main road, once we pass through the unlovely industrial area of Vredenburg, we’re back in a postcard-pretty coastal idyll. The white-washed fishermen’s cottages seem to shimmer like the silvery scales of the Cape’s abundant tuna: we’re in Paternoster, one of the oldest settlements on South Africa’s west coast.

Being here means that we can try Dispens, a farm shop and all-day restaurant from food-writer turned chef Kobus van der Merwe. Paternoster has grown in recent years but there’s still a slow rhythm to life here. “There has been a massive property boom,” says Van der Merwe. He has seen the town attract talent in increasing numbers since he moved here 13 years ago and opened Dispens in a small, tin-roofed former shark-liver-oil factory. Today things are rather different. Pull up a seat in the courtyard for rooibos tea and a scone freckled with deliciously salty seaweed or, if you have more time on your hands, try Wolfgat, Van der Merwe’s restaurant a few streets over.

Set in a cottage above a bay, Wolfgat is less a stopover and more a destination: bookings can fill up months in advance. Despite its top billing in “best restaurant” lists, the place is unpretentious and set around a simple dining room riven with wooden beams and flanked by a shady terrace. The menu is heavy on seafood, including succulent mussels, tender Cape bream and foraged delicacies such as dune spinach. “The menu is inspired by the history of this coastline,” says Van der Merwe, who we meet in the restaurant kitchen. After lunch, we recommend you roll down to the beach for an invigorating dip or walk. Want to stick around for longer? Stay overnight at the Strandloper, a glass-fronted hotel overlooking the sea.

Address book:

Breakfast: Rosemead Artisan Bakery
Corner of Park and Volstruis Street, Yzerfontein, 7351
Eat: Dispens
Corner of St Augustine Road and R45, 1 St Augustine Rd, Paternoster, 7381
Eat and drink: Wolfgat
wolfgat.co.za
Stay: Strandloper
strandloperocean.com

Day two
Hopefield — Malmesbury — Riebeek-Kasteel

In the morning, we head back onto the R27 and through Hopefield, stopping for breakfast at the Hopefield Market at the Foodie Hub, which comes to life with local producers on Saturdays. We’re heading inland to Riebeek-Kasteel, a neat town surrounded by mountains that mark the heart of Swartland. Here, we check in at Kokos Huis, a new lodge in a 200-year-old farm building with terracotta floors and old shutters. The structure has been overhauled by Andorran hotelier Prisca Llagostera.

“It has a lot of soul,” says Llagostera of the building she helped painstakingly restore. Inside, the cosy rooms have low ceilings decked out in muted linens and illuminated by dappled light from woven lampshades. In the rear courtyard, there’s an inky pool lined with tasselled umbrellas and palm trees. Llagostera moved to Riebeek-Kasteel after she fell in love with a winemaker (and the region). “The cellars are full of personality,” she says. Be sure to make appointments at some of them. Monocle’s favourites include The Sadie Family Wines, Swerwer Wines and AA Badenhorst. The latter lets out homely farm cottages with sweeping vineyard views, should you plan on lingering longer. If you’re in town on a Thursday or Friday, visit the farm for its famed pizza night. Not all of the cellars are open all of the time, and almost all of them are appointment-only. But if you’re simply looking for a selection of the very best bottles, you’ll find most of them at the Wine Kollective, a tiny hole-in-the-wall shop right on the edge of town. It’s stacked with the region’s best and hardest-to-find vintages. Grab a few before settling down for dinner and drinks under the stars at Kokos Huis.

Address book:

Breakfast: Hopefield Market
hopefield-market-pop-up.business.site
Eat and drink: AA Badenhorst, Malmesbury
aabadenhorst.com
Shop: The Wine Kollective, Riebeek-Kasteel
thewinekollective.co.za
Stay: Kokos Huis, Riebeek-Kasteel
kokoshuis.com

Day three
Wellington — Simondium — Cape Town

Our final morning drive takes us to Wellington and FiftyFive Croissants for a breakfast coffee and pan au chocolat. Set in a white gabled building with a sunny terrace, the café makes seeded sourdough and croissants loaded with cheese and bacon. It also stocks essentials, including coffee and eggs. Be sure to leave ample room for lunch at Vygie though. The restaurant is set on lush grounds wedged deep in the mountains and down a bumpy road. Partners Rose and AJ Williams, who previously worked in art and fashion (and now catering), opened the restaurant on Rose’s father’s farm when they moved to Wellington in 2021. Occupying a large, open-air brick building that was once a foaling barn, the space is also home to multiple artist studios, one of which belongs to Rose.

The best seat at Vygie is on the lawn or down by the babbling stream. The menu is served family style, with dishes such as marmalade roast chicken and pasta stuffed with roasted butternut squash and spinach. For dessert there’s seasonal fruit tart or ice cream. “We love making cakes,” says Rose, who has seen an influx of people to the area. “There’s a lot of space for creativity [here] and a strong community who appreciate hard work and good taste.”

We head back to Kokos Huis for our effects before taking the N1 to our final stop, Babylonstoren, a farm outside Stellenbosch. Set up by former magazine editor Karen Roos, the property features several revamped farm cottages with green shutters, thick walls, white Scandi-style furniture and floor-to-ceiling glass windows that overlook the garden. There’s plenty to do, from baking courses to wine tasting and a shop stuffed with local linens and crockery. You can hike to the top of the koppie (a small hill) or splash around in the farm pool. Have dinner at Babel, the farm’s restaurant, which serves seasonal plates and salads so pretty it almost seems a shame to eat them. But it’s in the evenings, once the day visitors leave, that Babylonstoren really shines. Grab a glass and take an evening stroll around the gardens, through rows of citrus trees and past the shimmering fronds of the cycads in the shadow of Swartland’s rolling hills. You won’t want to head home.

Address book:

Breakfast: FiftyFive Croissants
36 Bain Steet, Wellington, 7654
Eat and drink: Vygie
Bovlei Road, Wellington, 7654
Stay: Babylonstoren, Simondium
babylonstoren.com

Monocle’s itinerary

Our journey by car takes us north from Cape Town, along South Africa’s Atlantic coast. We travel 150km, past Yzerfontein to pretty Paternoster, where we spend the first night. Then we head inland to hilly Swartland to the small settlements and farm-dotted foothills of Hopefield, then on to Malmesbury and Riebeek-Kasteel for the night. The next day, we go south to complete the loop, taking in Wellington and Simondium, 60km east of Cape Town for a clear run back to the airport. We recommend a minimum of three days for the trip.

Dadaocheng: One of the Taiwanese capital’s oldest and most atmospheric corners

Dadaocheng is the oldest part of Taipei and one of its best-preserved areas. Its illustrious past as a rice-trading centre during the late Qing Dynasty in the 19th century left a grand architectural legacy. This district on the eastern banks of the Tamsui river has an unexpectedly baroque feel, with architecture and streetscapes dating back to Taipei’s time as a Japanese colony. 

Today these streets are a backdrop to some of the best under-the-radar independents in the city, including bookshops, restaurants and tearooms, as well as the many street-food delights to be found along the revived wharf. It’s a neighbourhood with more than its fair share of diversions. Here are a few of our Dadaocheng favourites.

1.
Read
Seek, an English-language travel and culture magazine from Taipei journalist Sheena Lee. Pick up the latest copy – and a coffee too – at Kuo’s Astral Bookshop.

2.
Stay 
Originn Space is a petite inn in a century-old mansion with just a handful of rooms. The third-floor suite has a six-metre vaulted ceiling riven with cypress beams. 

3.
See 
The AS Watson Building from 1917 was the first Western-style pharmacy on the island. The stone-cut façade now houses a bookshop and tea house.

4.
Try 
A pancake hot from the griddle at the Yongle Scallion Pancake stall. Enjoy it coated with sweet soy sauce and topped with egg and a dash of white pepper. Then have a doughnut for afters.

5.
Shop 
Monsoon Books – an independent tucked into the second floor of an unassuming shoe shop – specialises in the work of Asian authors. It’s great for a guidebook, illustrated postcard or tasteful bookmark.

6.
Order 
The roast chicken, soup and freshly milled Tainong No 71 rice at Rice and Shine is not to be missed. Drizzle soy and hot lard over the rice and order the iced black tea flavoured with maqaw (mountain pepper).

7.
Visit 
The riverside Dadaocheng Wharf Pier 5 Container Market has plenty to recommend it. Hire a bike to explore, or board a boat to see the city from the river. For a snack, try a Hong Kong waffle at the smartly branded I Love Bow concession.

8.
Drink 
Tea, of course. You’re in Taiwan. Preferably at the South Street Delight Tea House. The “oriental beauty” is a fermented oolong with a honeyed taste, served with dried fruit and sweet-bean petit fours.

9.
Take home 
Wooden tchotchkes, bamboo spice baskets or a rattan granny basket (all the rage here) from the Gao Jian Bucket Shop.

10.
Don’t miss 
The Love God, a 40cm statue – one of 600 deities represented in the Xia Hai City God Temple – is known for his matchmaking skills. People flock from all over Taiwan to seek his supernatural guidance and spiritual approval.

Illustrations: Hao-Yan

What’s on our itinerary: Shops and hotels to add to your list

Warren Street Hotel
New York

British-born hotel company Firmdale Hotels has opened its 11th property, an oasis of blue steel and sunny yellow on a red-brick block in Tribeca. “We love Crittall windows; it’s such a classic look,” says co-founder and creative director, Kit Kemp, who used the same windows at the firm’s fêted Manhattan hotels, Crosby Street and the Whitby. “It looks as good in Paris as it does downtown.”

The interior is unmistakably Kemp too: a mishmash of patterns and wallpapers in a range of colours and textures. It’s a cacophonous clash that shouldn’t work but does. “All the pieces speak to one another,” says Kemp of the collage she created with her daughters, Willow and Minnie, who work in graphic design and architecture, respectively. The property is a breath of fresh air in a neighbourhood that has welcomed an influx of galleries but long lacked any decent independent hotels. “It still has a village feel about it,” says Kemp, who looked to the area’s textile trade for inspiration.

The 69 guest rooms are decorated with brightly-hued curtains and carpets, and wallpapers. You’ll find almost 1,000 artworks throughout the hotel, from creatives such as Argentinian designer Cristián Mohaded and Ugandan artist Sanaa Gateja. The downstairs drawing room is open only to guests and there are snug sofas and a fireplace by which to hunker down. The brasserie serves wild mushroom risotto, scallops and strip steak au poivre, as well as a decadent afternoon tea with macarons, scones, clotted cream and champagne. “I remember going with my mother or family for afternoon tea,” says Kemp. “It was always very special and spoiling. It’s lovely to bring that in.”
firmdalehotels.com

Q&A
New York

Kit Kemp
Firmdale’s co-founder and creative director on her latest New York hotel opening.

Why downtown?
We have the Whitby in Midtown and Crosby Street in Soho, and Tribeca just felt exciting. Over the past 10 years, we’ve seen it change, with lots of people living there rather than in massive sky-rise buildings. It has a good buzz. Other than the Greenwich, there wasn’t a hotel that had character, so there was room for a hotel, brasserie and bar like ours.

What about the building?
It was a gap between two buildings. We brought in the blue with the yellow at the top, so it always looks like summer. We wanted something cheerful.

Each of the 69 rooms is different from the last. Why?
Some of the rooms have a similar scheme vertically but everything else is quite different. If you’re travelling and you go into a white-painted room, it can feel terribly cold. As soon as you have linen on the walls, it suddenly feels fabulous; you are tucked up and safe.

Kopria Florist
Athens

Plant shop and flower studio Kopria opened in the heart of the lively Exarchia neighbourhood in 2018 is growing a budding fan club of locals and regulars from further afield. Alongside the usual line-up of hard-to-kill houseplants and outdoor varieties, its small team has a penchant for the unusual; Kopria stocks an array of oddly shaped cacti and other curiosities that would be difficult to find at your average city garden centre. The business is growing in other senses too: its flower arrangements can be spotted adorning some of the Greek capital’s most high-profile hotels and restaurants. The shop, which boasts an appropriately inviting tropical interior, also sells a small range of international design magazines, plus ceramics by Athenian makers and handmade Japanese garden tools. A snip, if you ask us.
30 Eresou, 106 80

Retail safari
Seoul

Start by walking around serene Seochon – one of Seoul’s oldest neighbourhoods – the streets of which are lined with hanok houses and quaint alleyways. Near Gyeongbokgung Palace, you’ll find Parlour, which has a great selection of men’s shoes, plus clothing from Seoul and abroad. Head to the Arumjigi Culture Keepers Foundation if you’re a fan of contemporary handicraft – the shop stocks everything from silver chopsticks to lacquerware jewellery boxes inspired by traditional designs. Pay a visit to antique art dealer The Store from Tong-In, which celebrates its centenary this year and is just a 15-minute walk away, in the historical Insa-dong district. Chapter 1 sells furniture and homeware, while earthenware maker Soilbaker is known for its clay bowls and ttukbaegi crockery. In need of a little pampering? Visit Tamburins, the cosmetics label owned by Gentle Monster, which has its flagship shop in Seongsu. Next, head to Hannam-dong, where the city’s best-dressed gather for people-watching and coffee. Drop in at menswear brand Pottery to pick up a few shirts, which are cut to allow for ease of movement. Finally, near the Hannam post office is Handle With Care, a winsome arts and crafts shop so small you might miss it. Don’t.

Nobis Hotel
Palma

Swedish hotel group Nobis has opened a second outpost in Palma de Mallorca. In 2021 it unveiled its popular Concepció by Nobis project. Its latest space, though, pitches a little higher and has the advantage of being housed in a 12th-century palace, with a large courtyard and roof terraces that offer elevated spots for drinks, sunbathing and escape. The building’s Moorish roots inspired Swedish interior designer Wingårdhs, plus architecture firms Jordi Herrero Arquitectos and Eduardo Garcia Acuña Arquitecto, to employ a riad vibe, with water elements at play on the ground floor. Restaurant, Noi, is already pulling in locals keen to enjoy Mallorcan chef Xema Álvarez’s smart menu. But our favourite space is the high-ceilinged Mirall Bar. Its in-house creations include the Pruna, made with Trigo Limpio vodka, plum spirit, plum, fino (Spanish sherry) and lavender.
nobishotel.es

The Fashion Top 25

When Monocle stops by, the conversation turns to the intricacies of a suit, from the benefits of half-linings and single darts on jackets to top-stitched seams. “We both feel that in Florence they are making the sort of suits that we like to wear,” says Marsh. “And I like my suits to be properly worn, not left hanging in a cupboard.”

The tailoring studio in the back of the shop is where jackets and trousers are cut, shaped and altered for customers who often come to invest in their first made-to-measure suit. Ready-to-wear is also on offer, with shirts made in Naples, jeans cut in north London, knitwear from Wales and ties from Florence. “We source the very best when it comes to materials,” says Marsh. “Pure cashmere jumpers, pure cotton socks; even if that means stocking fewer items.”
speciale324.com

1.
Feet first
Socks & shoes, Global

Socks offer the quickest way to introduce a flash of colour to any look. To do it right, pick a shade that complements the palette of your base garments. A pair of blue-toned socks by Marian will bring cohesion to crisp white trousers and a blue shirt. If you’re bolder, opt for a striped Paul Smith pair featuring similar shades of blue. On sunnier days, a pink T-shirt with floral pink-and-green socks. It shows consideration from head to toe.
paulsmith.com; marimekko.com

2.
Solar flair
La Paz 3 Lunettes Alf, Portugal & France

Portuguese brand La Paz and France’s Lunettes Alf have teamed up for a line of sunglasses to mark the start of spring. The line was inspired by vintage snow-explorer glasses, according to La Paz co-founder José Miguel de Abreu. “We were amazed by the high quality of Alf’s materials,” says de Abreu. “The frames are made in France with Japanese acetate, riveted hinges and mineral lenses that darken when exposed to sunlight. It’s classic with a contemporary twist.”
lapaz.pt; lunettes-alf.com

3.
Physical space
Ciele Athletics, Canada

A decade ago, designers Mike Giles and Jeremy Bresnen launched Montréal-based cycling and sports apparel brand Ciele, known for its colourful technical headwear favoured by the city’s cyclists and runners. Now Ciele has opened its first flagship in the Griffintown neighbourhood. The vast space was designed by MRDK and serves several functions: there’s a warm-up area and locker rooms for members of its in-house running club, office and design studios, and a retail space stocking Ciele’s first clothing line. Giles and Bresnen tell Monocle more.

What did the opening of Ciele’s first shop add to the business?
Jeremy Bresnen: The idea of creating a physical space, where people can roll into, meet up and find out what races are happening, felt essential to us.

Mike Giles: It has created a real sense of community. We probably have between 200 and 300 runners in the space on a weekly basis. We host events, movie screenings, product launches.

How did you approach its design?
JB: We wanted this to feel luxurious, warm and inviting. We chose a mosaic entrance that was based on a pattern by one of our artists – a beautiful thing that can’t be replicated.

Is it important that every part of the brand is now under one roof?
MG: You come in in the morning, see everyone and get a better sense of the part that you play in the company.
cieleathletics.com

4.
Formal approval
Dior Homme, France

Dior Homme is doubling down on tailoring, with a new capsule collection that will become part of the label’s permanent line-up. The range celebrates the return of formality, with eveningwear pieces rendered in dandy-esque velvet and silk, as well as looser blazers and chinos in signature Dior colours, such as pewter grey and sky blue, which are more suitable for wearing in the day.

Kim Jones, creative director of Dior Homme, looked to the label’s founder, Christian Dior, for inspiration. Dior was known for always wearing an elegant, slim suit to work and he constructed the famous Bar Jacket (a tailored, hourglass style for women) after the Second World War. Jones has often looked to the Dior archives to inform his menswear designs and he launched this capsule to further highlight the house’s rich heritage in tailoring.

Look out for intricate details in the collection, from the subtle curves on the sleeves of double-breasted jackets to the buttons that resemble the ones on the original Bar Jacket.
dior.com

5.
Labour of love
La Blouse de Lyon, France

La Blouse de Lyon’s Prussian-blue shopfront on Rue Gérando in Paris’s 9th arrondissement offers a subtle clue as to what you will find inside. The deep pigment has long been a symbol of workwear, the type of clothing that this small boutique has specialised in for decades. Ever since it opened in 1937, city carpenters, mechanics and gardeners have been coming here to stock up on hard-wearing overalls, aprons, berets and worker’s jackets.

Though the shop has changed hands over the years, its dedication to offering the best in workwear remains undiminished. Gwendoline van Opstal and her partner, Nicolas le Jeune, are the current owners, having taken over the boutique in 2019. While preserving the soul of the place, they have expanded its range by sourcing from manufacturers globally. A well-stocked inventory includes shirts by German brand FHB, pruning shears by Japanese gardening specialist Niwaki and clogs by Sweden’s Troëntorp. “We have identified a new category of clients that I would call ‘new artisans’: natural-winegrowers, farmers who work in sustainable agriculture, cheesemakers or chefs searching for meaning in what they do,” says Van Opstal. “They are the people we dress.”
lablousedelyon.com

6.
Great lengths
Man on the Boon, South Korea

South Korean clothier Man on the Boon has been helping men upgrade their wardrobes since 2011. Today the retailer has refined its strategy to reflect shifting tastes, stocking relaxed yet handsome pieces that work both on and off duty. “Customers want to know how long a piece will last,” says Rick Hwang, general merchandising manager at Shinsegae International, the fashion house in charge of the franchise. “Impulsive purchasing is out.” The retailer is working with Italian manufacturer Maglificio Gran Sasso to create high-quality pullovers, polo shirts and turtlenecks, suitable for easy layering. Further investment in bricks-and-mortar retail is also on the agenda, with a new flagship set to open in Cheongdam soon.
boontheshop.com

7.
Unity of purpose
Labrum, UK

London-based designer Foday Dumbuya stands out in the world of menswear for his ability to merge traditional British tailoring and West African design, instilled in him during his early childhood in Sierra Leone. Here, he talks to Monocle about the power of purposeful clothing.

How have you been utilising fashion’s soft power?
When you bring two cultures together, it ignites a conversation and helps to empower communities. We collaborate with artisans and designers from West Africa as well as British tailors. By mixing their skill sets, there is opportunity for exchange. I brought designers from Sierra Leone over to London to look at how the designers work here, how we create patterns. This cross-cultural conversation is crucial today because it promotes diversity and innovation.

Tell us about exploring the issue of migration through your work.
Migration has been the theme of the brand for a decade. How do people accept each other? We’re not talking about fantasy, these are people’s real life stories. How do people move 5,000 miles away from home to start a new life and embed a new culture within their own heritage? We look at what is currently happening in the world and what needs to be highlighted. I want to push this in a mainstream [context] because when I was growing up, it was difficult to be African and proud of it.

How has London influenced you and your designs?
Every day I walk out of my studio and I am inspired by the people and their dress codes. My aesthetic is rooted in time-honoured techniques and stories that people connect with here.
labrumlondon.com

8.
Reinventing the feel
Loro Piana, Italy

This spring, Loro Piana is launching a new fabric, denim silk, to create the world’s most luxurious jeans. The innovation is part of a collaboration between Loro Piana’s in-house artisans, based in Piedmont, and denim-manufacturing experts from Japan. The result is a featherlight material, made up of 59 per cent cotton and 41 per cent silk, that was used to create five-pocket straight-cut jeans and collarless, double-breasted jackets.

According to Varianini, the launch of denim silk reflects Loro Piana’s determination to invest in textile innovation. “We’re committed to research, excellence and innovation in textile craft,” she says.
loropiana.com

9.
Pump up the volume
Bottega Veneta, Italy

Bottega Veneta’s creative director, Matthieu Blazy, has quite literally been expanding the Italian house’s range of accessories for spring 2024. Inspired by travel, he has created oversized shoulder bags and vast duffles that travellers can carry anything in, from souvenirs to newspapers and a change of clothes. We recommend this extra large tote, rendered in the brand’s signature “Intrecciato” leather, woven by a single artisan over the course of two days. The laidback, slouchy shape of the bag will fit all of your essentials while on the road. bottegaveneta.com

10.
Time honoured
Watches, Global

Ties between the fashion and watch industries are becoming tighter, with luxury fashion houses making ambitious investments in the sector. Watch brands too have been opening their doors to fashion designers to renew signature models and create limited-edition items. But the beauty of a timepiece lies in its longevity and you can’t go wrong with a classic design. We have rounded up some of our favourites.

11.
Connecting threads
Signal, USA

Signal is a new retail development in Los Angeles’s Arts District. It brings together several smart multi-brand shops. New York’s by-appointment showroom M5 has opened an outpost here; LA concept-shop stalwart Please Do Not Enter has also moved in, to be joined by multi-brand retailer Departamento. California bon vivants Flamingo Estate are open and there will soon be a café by Berlin’s Concierge.

Before the pandemic, this post-industrial area of LA was booming. Dover Street Market had set up shop and the presence of galleries such as Hauser & Wirth attracted a reliable, well-heeled footfall. Signal’s co-founders, Paolo Carini and Raan Parton, say that the project is tapping into the area’s potential for revival.

“There are pockets of LA with natural foot traffic,” says Parton. The site has now been reimagined by LA-based Klein Agency, with shopfronts evoking porticoes and stone lanes that run between the buildings. “Parts of LA have natural foot traffic,” says Carini. “But there hasn’t yet been a big idea to anchor many elements under one roof.”
signal-la.com

12.
Top of the form
Róhe, the Netherlands

Róhe was founded in 2021 by Marieke Meulendijks and Maickel Weyers, who set out to honour German-US architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his “less is more” design approach. To achieve that, they built a team of experts in fabric sourcing, draping and construction – quickly making the brand a go-to for seasonless, modern tailoring. “We deconstruct blazers and piece them back together to reinvent classic shapes,” says Meulendijks. Retailers quickly responded to the Dutch label’s timeless approach and started putting in orders. “We want to focus on the old way of making: we use vintage finds to create new lapels, collars and sleeves, where modern meets classic.”
roheframes.com

13.
Natural fit
Play Earth Park, Japan

Tokyo’s new Meiji Park opened to the public in January in the shadow of the National Stadium. The project aims to bring nature to an overlooked corner of the city by planting a “100-year forest” and making a park for the community. Among its retail tenants is Play Earth Park Wonder Store, an outdoor shop from sports-apparel company Goldwin. It’s stocked with clothes and accessories from Goldwin’s stable of outdoor labels, as well as original Play Earth Park products and a line of gardening gear from Garage Green Works.

Goldwin will focus on its environmental responsibilities by offering everything from children’s bike rental to a line of recycled garments; a large park and campsite are set to open in Toyama in 2026. “This shop is a trial but the idea is to be doing something good for the planet,” says Goldwin’s Naoki Sugi. “We want to create spaces where people can experience the outdoors.”
playearthpark.goldwin.co.jp

14.
Quality control
Isa Arfen, UK

In 2019, Italian-born designer Serafina Sama stepped back from the fashion industry’s relentless pace, reassessing how she wanted to run her womenswear label, Isa Arfen. “We’re a small operation but I was still conscious of too much fabric and samples being left over every season,” says Sama. She is now back on her own terms. The label’s launches are limited to individual items or small capsule collections. “It’s about pieces that can be added to your existing wardrobe, not new collections,” she says. Sama restarted her label with a range of striped, knitted capes, produced in small quantities in a factory near her west London studio.

The capes can be layered over a T-shirt and jeans, or styled for more formal occasions, in line with Sama’s conviction to only offer “realistic, relatable and useful” items. “There’s a decadence to the silhouette but it’s very comfortable. I wanted it to feel like something you turn to again and again. That’s what makes good clothing.”
isaarfen.com

15.
Heart on sleeve
ESC, Japan

Before he set up his lifestyle company Elephant Street & Co (ESC), Shinji Komine had been working in brand marketing for some of the world’s biggest corporations, including Apple, Nike and Dyson. “I knew that when I set up my own company, it would have to have a strong ethical dimension,” he says. Two years on, ESC has released its first capsule collection: an easy-to-wear line of T-shirts, hooded waterproof jackets, painter trousers and totes.

Komine works collaboratively with a small group that includes a fashion-loving doctor, a designer with experience at top brands, and small, Japanese producers. They make garments using natural materials and artisanal techniques. The brand’s core fabric is a traditional Takashima canvas made in Shiga prefecture using unbleached organic cotton, while the dyes come from natural herbs and minerals. Boxy cotton T-shirts are manufactured on shuttle looms in Shizuoka, while the Anthracite nylon collection uses a technical fabric (with a plant-derived coating), developed by Japanese fabric maker Seiren.

ESC’s ethical credentials are impeccable but Komine always keeps fashion central to the project, with streetwear-inspired silhouettes.
esc-tokyo.com

16.
Kick start
High Sport, USA

California-based womenswear label High Sport’s Kick trousers might not appear newsworthy at first glance: a classic, cropped silhouette that comes in an array of colours, from neutral black and navy to more playful gingham patterns. But the flattering silhouette, thick stretch-cotton fabric and absence of hardware – it took founder Alissa Zachary more than four years to perfect the fit – has captured the attention of shoppers who prioritise quality and elegance. Despite the $860 (€795) price tag, Zachary has proven that there’s little price resistance for this versatile design; the trousers tend to sell out as soon as they make their way into shops worldwide. “High Sport has created a pair of trousers that are the perfect luxury staple,” says Clemmie Harris, head of contemporary buying at Harrods, one of the brand’s stockists. “The fact that they come in multiple colours is even better, as customers tell us that one pair isn’t enough.”

As the brand grows, Zachary is staying committed to only adding items that are as useful as her original Kick design. Along the way, she is creating a business to be reckoned with.
high-sport.com

17.
Redefining luxury
Etro, Italy

Italian fashion house Etro is thinking beyond its bohemian paisley patterns and diving into the made-to-measure tailoring business, with a new space in its hometown, Milan. Discreetly located behind its flagship boutique on Via Montenapoleone, the shop is accessible only by appointment. “The men’s fashion world is changing,” says Etro’s CEO, Fabrizio Cardinali. “January’s menswear shows gave us a clear message about a return to formalwear. At Etro, our connection with tailoring has always been very strong, so we created this space to continue our dialogue with our customers through a personalised service.”

You can now work with Etro’s in-house team of tailors to create fully customised garments. You start by choosing a silhouette; you then adjust them to your tastes by picking from a wide range of fabric swatches, button types and linings. The tailors cut the clothes to a slim, regular or looser fit using materials manufactured by Etro’s partners, including cashmere from Piacenza 1733 and wool from Biella-based manufacturer Drago Lanificio.

“Etro was founded in 1968 as a textile company,” says Cardinali. “Many of our fabrics come from our archive, as well as from our important collaborations with these textile companies.” As the fashion industry continues in its efforts to redefine modern luxury, the return of made-to-measure services and in-person interactions between artisans and customers are steps in the right direction.
etro.com

18.
Delivering the goods
Louis Vuitton, France

As Louis Vuitton’s creative director of menswear, US singer and producer Pharrell has been adding humour, colour and plenty of whimsy to the French label’s collections. In his debut range, which has landed in shops just in time for spring, you’ll find playful touches, such as the way that this leather clutch references the shape of a humble paper lunch bag.

This might represent a new direction for the French luxury house but its commitment to craft remains unchanged. Every clutch is made from soft cowhide leather in a warm, tan shade and is finished with the label’s logo and an electric-blue fastening.
louisvuitton.com

19.
Reform and function
We the Knot, Portugal

Lisbon-based label We the Knot set up shop in the city’s Alfama district at the end of 2021. “The area has many souvenir shops and restaurants but a distinct lack of high-quality fashion ateliers,” says co-founder Filipe Cardigos. A former graphic designer, Cardigos launched the menswear brand more than a decade ago with fashion designer Sérgio Gameiro, after upcycling an umbrella and turning it into a pair of swim shorts. Since then the duo have worked with Portuguese manufacturers to create a capsule collection of cargo trousers, sweatshirts and chinos made with deadstock materials or organic cotton, recycled nylon and vegan leather sourced from Portugal and Italy.

Labels on the brand’s minimalist silhouettes are displayed on the outside of clothing, some printed with a map of the shop’s location; others featuring a Japanese haiku. “We don’t like slogans or branding, so we wanted to show our cultural influences through other means,” says Cardigos.
wetheknot.com

20.
National fabric
100 Hands, the Netherlands

Launched in 2014 in the Netherlands, 100 Hands is on a mission to showcase the finest Indian craftsmanship. Akshat and Varvara Jain, the husband-and-wife team behind the label, drew inspiration from Akshat’s family, who are involved in India’s textile industry.

Starting with a small team of 18 artisans in a manufacturing atelier in Amritsar, 100 Hands now works with more than 300 artisans. While expansion is in motion, the original dedication to craft and focus on the classic shirt remains unchanged; the label produces one of the widest ranging collections of shirts on the market, using materials such as linen, poplin and cashmere-cotton. Every shirt takes between 16 and 34 hours to make and is completed entirely by hand.

So far the Jains have focused on working with specialist boutiques globally, including Stockholm’s Lund & Lund, but the brand is now expanding its scope and beginning to partner with bigger department stores, such as Harrods. Monocle plans to replenish its wardrobe with the washed Japanese chambray style from the label’s new spring collection.
100hands.nl

21.
Pulse of the city
Uni Form, South Africa

Luke Radloff, Uni Form’s founder and designer, is endlessly inspired by Johannesburg. “The true style of Joburg is gritty workwear mixed with a lot of traditional clothing,” says Radloff. His studio overlooks a taxi rank where people offer a snapshot of the city’s style as they come and go. “It’s an industrial city and it’s built by the industrial workers,” says Radloff. For Uni Form, he creates workwear-inspired clothing for women: oversized stark white cotton shirts, draped trousers and slinky mohair dresses made using almost entirely natural fibres sourced and produced in South Africa. “I want to promote luxury production in Africa,” says Radloff, who worked for Italian label Marni before moving back to South Africa to launch his own brand in 2019. “I want to push the narrative of Joburg as a style capital.”

Though many people might not view Johannesburg as a fashion city or recognise the country’s potential in high-end manufacture, Radloff wants to shift that narrative by highlighting regional craft. The brand collaborates with craftsmen who work with everything from hand-woven cottons to mohair, silver and even textile waste, proving that South Africa has a lot to offer when it comes to top-end textile production.
uniformza.com

22.
Shirt stories
Chava Studio, Mexico

Villanti worked in magazines for years in New York before moving to Mexico City in 2019, where her in-laws run a business importing European fabrics from select mills, such as Alumo in Switzerland, to supply the best Mexican tailors. “They had amassed a lot of deadstock, including cashmere and silk, which I began to work with,” she says. To create her pieces, Villanti works with seasoned seamstresses at the family-run atelier, next door to the historic studio of Mexican modernist architect Luis Barragán. “There’s a balance in each of our pieces between very formal elements, such as a cocktail cuff or French cuff, mixed in with a cutaway collar,” says Villanti, pointing to her love of easy, draped silhouettes and lightweight poplin fabrics.

Chava Studio now has clients across the US and Villanti is starting to work on unisex pieces, with plans to turn its showroom in Mexico City into a retail space. “Having a shirt made for a man is a coming-of-age story,” she says. “I wanted to take this experience and feminise it but do it in a way that’s unfussy. That word embodies what we’re trying to do.”
chavastudio.com

23.
High flier
MKDT Studio, Denmark

Copenhagen-based label MKTD Studio, founded by Chinese-Danish designer Mark Kenly Domino Tan, is known by its admirers for its sharp tailoring and flair for classic designs. It has begun a new chapter under its creative director, Caroline Engelgaar, expanding into menswear and setting global ambitions. “We want to offer a long-lasting wardrobe for both men and women,” she tells Monocle. “Our customers collect our pieces in the same way that they collect furniture.” She took inspiration from legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart for her latest collection, which features classic aviator jackets, trench coats and loose tailoring. “The range has a retro feel,” she says, explaining how significant the 1920s were for women’s fashion. “It takes you back in time to when women were coming out of skirts, wearing trousers for the first time and developing a new identity.” We recommend one of the brand’s collarless, light-grey suits for a smart spring look.
mkdtstudio.com

24.
Men of the cloth
Speciale, UK

Menswear label Speciale, founded by George Marsh and Bert Hamilton Stubber (both pictured), has brought some Florentine tailoring nous to London’s Portobello Road, home to its studio and flagship shop. Hamilton Stubber leads the retail arm, while Marsh heads up the bespoke business, having trained as an apprentice in Milan and Florence under famed tailor Antonio Liverano.

When Monocle stops by, the conversation turns to the intricacies of a suit, from the benefits of half-linings and single darts on jackets to top-stitched seams. “We both feel that in Florence they are making the sort of suits that we like to wear,” says Marsh. “And I like my suits to be properly worn, not left hanging in a cupboard.”

The idea was to combine the comfort of traditional denim with the elegant draping of silk. “By introducing silk into denim, Loro Piana aims to redefine the boundaries of denim,” says Alessandra Varianini, the brand’s product development and collection merch director. “It is elevated beyond its casual image to a fabric of exquisite refinement and luxury.” She explains that it can take up to a day to produce a mere 50 metres of denim silk, given the complexities involved.

What is the essence of modern luxury today?

The Expert
Alexandra Carl
Stylist and creative consultant

While auction houses have long valued the importance of paintings, cars and watches, they’ve only turned their eye to fashion in recent years. “Collecting fashion is a relatively recent phenomenon,” says the Danish, London-based stylist and creative consultant Alexandra Carl. “But that is changing. Now, when you look at catalogues from Christie’s and Sotheby’s, clothes are almost on the same level as art and antiques.”

Carl’s new book, Collecting Fashion: Nostalgia, Passion, Obsession, surveys the wardrobes of the people who pioneered this practice, from French fashion designer Michèle Lamy’s extensive Comme des Garçons archive to Berlin showroom Endyma’s Helmut Lang collection. Carl, who has worked with photographers such as Viviane Sassen and Juergen Teller, spent three years travelling around the world to go inside the archives of the most prolific fashion collectors, including the late Azzedine Alaïa, Chanel sound director Michel Gaubert and Carla Sozzani, founder of Milanese retailer 10 Corso Como. Each collection is filled with stories of “the liaison between past and present, history and the moment, affection and consumption,” according to Italian writer Angelo Flaccavento, who contributed to the book, alongside professor and art advisor Dimitrios Tsivrikos, a specialist in consumer psychology. Together with Carl, they sought to shed light on why and how people buy and keep clothes, as well as our relationship with consumption. 

Ahead of the publication of her book, Carl sits down with Monocle to talk about her own interest in collecting, her visit to Zaha Hadid’s shoe archive and the process of researching her book and discovering what drives people to fall in love with clothing. 

When did you first become interested in collecting and in people who collect?
I grew up with a mum who was a collector. Though she wasn’t collecting fashion per se, she had an interest in clothes and liked buying to invest and keep. As a child, I got to wear her clothes and her influence – along with that of my grandmother, who taught me how to make clothes – is probably where this all comes from.

You are a stylist and creative consultant. Has your job shaped your understanding of collecting?
I do meet amazing people who collect and have archives that I use for research when I work with fashion brands. It’s fascinating seeing their relationships with the items they own because it’s so contrary to the ways in which younger generations [treat clothing]. Nowadays, people buy things for exposure and wait 90 minutes for delivery. Everything is so readily available so you miss out on that element of desire – brands don’t really inspire that in you any more. The people I met [for the book] are interested in building relationships with brands; they are more interested in the hunt. They could wait two years, maybe three, for something. They don’t have this sense of immediate urgency.

Who in particular comes to mind?
Adrian Appiolaza, who is now the creative director of Moschino, was my first introduction to the phenomenon of owning many clothes and not necessarily needing to show them off. People like Appiolaza might only wear  the items they collect a few times but they’re happy to take a bank loan to acquire them or wait two years for a certain piece to be shipped in a special crate from Japan. I’m interested in individuals whose parents didn’t have access to collecting but who developed an emotional attachment to it. And it’s not about status – it’s not like they’re showing off items like Birkin bags. It’s more about dreaming of something [for a long time].

How did you go about researching the book? 
It was commissioned just before the pandemic so I spent most of lockdown researching, even though I was also pregnant at the time. It wasn’t exactly easy getting access to homes so I spent a lot of time reaching out to people. Then we spent eight months or so travelling around. It got easier at some point as we got to meet people who knew collectors and could help out.

Did any collections stick with you long after you finished researching the book?
Zaha Hadid’s shoe collection was probably the wildest. Apparently there were 5,000 pairs in there but because the archive has not yet been catalogued, that number could be higher. We couldn’t even figure out what brand some of them were: we sent them to Prada and they didn’t know either so I suspect that Miuccia [Prada] had designed some items especially for her. It was very emotional stepping into someone’s life and thinking about what people leave behind.

The Modernisers
Joël Sraer and François-Cyrille de Rendinger
CEO and president, APC

Did the experience shed any light on the psychology of why people collect? 
Nowadays a lot of clothes don’t make people feel anything because they don’t have a history. When people have an emotional connection to a piece of clothing and they pass it down, you feel something because [the previous owner] lived a life in it.

When Jean Touitou founded French ready-to-wear label Atelier de Production et de Création (APC) in the late 1980s, the irony was that its pragmatic, understated aesthetic was considered somewhat rebellious. In an age of excess, APC was – and continues to be – a simple offering. At the heart of the label are everyday items, free from excess decoration: Japanese selvedge denim, workwear jackets and perfect cotton sweaters. For the past 37 years, APC has never veered too far from these design classics. 

The Paris-based brand was family-owned until 2018 when outside investor Vesper Investissement bought a minority share, helping the business to send its annual revenues above the €100m mark. Now, Touitou is aiming even higher. It’s why, last year, he sold a majority stake in his business to L Catterton, the private equity firm backed by LVMH (it also has investments in global labels such as Birkenstock and Tod’s), while he and his wife, art director Judith Touitou, are staying on. 

The ambition is to triple the brand’s revenues with more concerted marketing efforts and new category launches, ranging as far as limited-edition Cornishware, sunglasses and a much-anticipated beauty line called Self-Care, which consists of what Touitou calls “the best possible” cologne, bath and body-care products. “Still, this isn’t going to be a revolution – it’s an evolution,” says François-Cyrille de Rendinger, APC’s president. 

De Rendinger is among a number of seasoned APC executives who are staying to steer the brand in its next phase of growth, alongside CEO Joël Sraer. In a joint conversation from their Paris offices, Sraer and De Rendinger tell Monocle about their ambitions to grow APC, which is currently sold in 70 countries, into a fully fledged lifestyle brand – and how they plan to do it all without compromising the brand’s distinctly Parisian DNA. 

Now that APC has a new external partner, what changes have you implemented?
François-Cyrille De Rendinger: People have been asking us, “What happened?” But it was a natural process after the pandemic. Jean [Touitou] is in his seventies and he wanted more time to himself. We started to meet private-equity funds and it was very important that whoever bought into APC would share the company’s values. L Catterton understood the three most important elements: the branding, the products and the team’s collective vision. It was quite an easy business plan because APC is a simple company – there’s no ego or politics. 

Joël Sraer: We plan to spearhead our expansion plans by cautiously finding the right balance between our wholesale and retail businesses. This year we will open four shops: one in London, one in Madrid and two in Stockholm. The company has tripled in size over the past 10 years but there’s still the spirit of the old days. 

APC’s public image has always been low-key. Have you had to rethink your communications?
JS: In the past, the word “marketing” was forbidden at APC. But as the company grows, we understand that there’s a need to adapt so we launched our first marketing department last year. As we get bigger, there needs to be a stronger message about our products and what we stand for as a company. 

FDR: There has always been a mystery surrounding APC but we do recognise that it’s necessary for people to better understand what the brand represents. The social media landscape is very crowded and when it’s so noisy, we have to ask ourselves, “How can the customer discover APC?” That’s one of our challenges for the coming year: to communicate the brand’s identity without being too explicit. 

APC has a history of unexpected creative partnerships. How do you pick your collaborators?
JS: We release four collections a year and maintain a permanent offering of items that are never discontinued, such as raw denim. On top of this, we generally have three or four “interactions” per year. They are the equivalent of a collaboration but with a more personal approach. They include partnerships with artists across the board, from musicians, designers, actors and photographers to stylists. It keeps things fresh. We’ve also been running a 14-year project with designer Jessica Ogden, who creates one-off patchwork quilts from excess fabric stock. Next, we’re collaborating with [former Chloé creative director] Natacha Ramsay-Levi.

Environmental and social impact has been a priority since the brand’s inception. What initiatives are you working on now?
FDR: The most challenging one is the reduction of carbon emissions. We’ve just concluded a partnership with Carbonfact, a French start-up that specialises in the fashion sector, which helped us hone our understanding of emissions at every stage of the production chain. Since 2020, APC has also provided financial sponsorship to a programme at Paris’s Sciences Po university that promotes the representation of students from underprivileged backgrounds. Members of the APC team, including myself, engage with students from the programme via a series of mentorships.

What is your approach to launching new categories?
JS: Last year we designed a Cornishware teapot with Jonathan Anderson [creative director at Loewe and JW Anderson] and we launched APC Self-Care with six core products. Everything is made in France and developed in-house. Next, we’re releasing a collection of sunglasses. That’s the fun part: APC has the capacity to be in almost every field; it’s becoming a lifestyle brand. We’ll never get bored of the possibilities.
apcshop.com

The Brand Reboot
Benjamin Comar
CEO, Piaget

Since becoming CEO of Piaget in 2021, all eyes have been on Benjamin Comar and his ambitious plans to restore the company to its former glory. Founded in the small Swiss village of La Côte-aux-Fées, the company was primarily a movement-maker until a turning point in 1957 when Piaget developed the ultra-thin 9P hand-wound mechanical movement. The 2mm-thick calibre revolutionised watchmaking and Piaget started setting its slim movements into daring watches and jewellery, becoming the go-to maison for the jet set of the Swinging Sixties: Miles Davis, Ursula Andress, Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí were all fans.

In more recent times, however, Piaget has notably underperformed its fellow Richemont-owned watch brands, such as Vacheron Constantin and A Lange & Söhne. According to latest report by Morgan Stanley and consultancy LuxeConsult, Piaget’s turnover is 2023 was CHF278m (€290m), which represented 3.8 per cent of sales at the group (and an implied market share of 0.7 per cent). 

A seasoned luxury executive, Comar is well-placed to revive the brand. The native Parisian started his career at Cartier Japan and Paris in the early 1990s, eventually rising to head of product marketing. After two years in London as deputy CEO of Dunhill, another Richemont-owned brand, he left the group for Chanel. A 12-year tenure as head of watches and jewellery saw Comar build the fashion brand’s presence in the watch and jewellery space, earning watchmaking legitimacy with successful new launches, such as the Monsieur, Chanel’s first timepiece for men. 

Following a stint as CEO of the LVMH-owned Repossi, Comar returned to Richemont. He has been galvanising Piaget with a specific focus on creativity – bold designs that bring together the brand’s expertise in both jewellery and watchmaking – and craftsmanship. “Creativity without craft doesn’t mean anything for me in luxury,” says Comar, who has already started attracting the attention of collectors. A new range of jewellery and cuff watches inspired by archival 1969 designs, as well as the brand’s latest high jewellery collection, sold out last year. The industry is equally seduced: in November, Piaget picked up two wins at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève watchmaking awards – the only house to take home two gongs – in the ladies and artistic craft categories. Monocle caught up with Comar in Gstaad, where Piaget was launching the new Polo 79, a reissue of one of its most emblematic watches.

You’re no stranger to reviving heritage brands. How is Piaget different? 
I learnt a lot at Cartier and Chanel. When it came to Piaget, I was drawn to the brand’s trajectory. It started as a very traditional movement supplier, known for being very rigorous with craftsmanship. It [was expected] to focus on traditional watchmaking but went the other way – towards creativity. When I joined Piaget, I spoke to the family and asked, “What happened to you guys?” They said that they didn’t want to be another watch brand; they wanted to do things that had never been done before. Piaget had collaborations before [they became mainstream] with the likes of Salvador Dalí. I’m fascinated by how this family, from a small village, made something that was creative, bold and audacious. 

What does Piaget’s 150th anniversary represent?
It’s more of a kick-off, a starting point to show what Piaget is about. Not in a nostalgic way but in a forward-looking way. I always want to do more, go faster – but luxury is tradition, it takes time and we’re very happy about that. We’ve set the base for what we want to do and now we have to go and seduce our customers.

Why did you choose to launch the Polo 79 now?
Piaget is about paradoxes. The Polo 79 is a sports watch but very dressy at the same time; it’s a day watch but works well for evening; it’s a piece of jewellery but also a watch. It’s also a visible yet chic design – a result of our commitment to the traditions of watchmaking and the rigours of alpine culture. 

Rather than watchmaking’s technical features, there is a strong emphasis on image at Piaget. Why is image so important?
You invest a lot when you buy a luxury piece – both money but also spirit, whether that’s love, power or another emotion. It’s about an image you want to show the world or express to yourself. The product has to be exquisite but it is also about the spirit that it represents. You’re buying an experience, a dream, a reward. It’s an emotional purchase more than a technical one. The technique is at the service of the emotion.

The Polo 79 is an all-gold watch, reflecting Piaget’s broader focus on high-end, meticulously crafted designs. In a world of growing economic uncertainty, why do you think these pieces still resonate so profoundly?
Luxury is steeped in tradition and craftsmanship – it has long been about the same techniques, which is reassuring in a world that’s increasingly virtual. Luxury has its roots in tradition and can act as a go-between, balancing traditional craft and innovation. I recently saw the launch of the Apple Vision Pro glasses, which was great, but at the same time you still need a traditional watch. 

Do you see Piaget becoming a global brand?
We want to grow but we want to grow in our world. We are not a fashion brand and will never be. The values carried by Piaget are strong: this is a true connoisseur’s brand but there are more and more connoisseurs out there. People are getting more interested in luxury and what it represents: life, enjoyment, tradition. We can speak to all those needs.
piaget.com

MSC reimagines cruise travel with the launch of Explora I, a new luxury vessel

Explora I is a luxury cruise ship that can accommodate 922 passengers and 737 crew – and keeping all those people fed demands a hefty larder. On board are 550kg of Wagyu beef, three tonnes of lobster, €8,500 worth of saffron, 4,000 bottles of champagne (excluding the rare vintages) and 420,000 eggs for two weeks of sailing. That’s not forgetting the 139 cooks making 350 meals an hour during the peak dinner service.

The keeper of this long ledger is Alban Gjoka, the Italian vice-president of food and beverage at Geneva-based Explora Journeys. It is his job to ensure that there are fresh oysters at any latitude, from Norwegian fjords to Atlantic inlets, on a ship that sails all year. Gjoka meets Monocle over dinner in the Med Yacht Club, one of six restaurants onboard the Explora I. He leans back in his chair after polishing off a dessert of sweet caprese. It’s our second day at sea and we’re halfway from Miami to the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba. Our “sailaway moment” in Florida happened to the piped-in sounds of Andrea Bocelli. Last night, there was karaoke and a Whitney Houston tribute act, which almost led to a group of faintly inebriated travel agents rushing the stage. Some facets of life onboard resemble a traditional cruise but, in other ways, Explora Journeys is trying to chart a new course.

In January, Monocle spent a few days on Explora I, which started sailing in August 2023 (our sister company Winkreative previously helped to shape its branding). It is the latest venture by the Geneva-based MSC Group, a family firm with a fleet of 23 gargantuan cruise ships. With Explora, MSC is trying to attract a new generation to sea and, in doing so, reframe the cruise experience to feel like a high-end, all-inclusive hotel that can whisk you around the world. This is less a cruise, we’re told, more a journey; the staff are recast as hosts, not crew; we sleep in spacious suites and not cabins.

There is a lot of work to be done to change perceptions. Since the 1990s, cruise ships have swelled in size to resemble colossal floating resorts, with waterslides, nightly cabaret and thousands of cabins, all of which would inspire in many travellers – including your correspondent – a sense of dread. Explora I was not this. It’s a big ship, with 14 decks and a casino, yet the experience feels old-school, almost stately, despite the somewhat cruise-y crowd in Hawaiian shirts.

“Don’t talk to me about first seating, second seating for dinner; let me decide when I want to eat,” says Heike Berdos, the German-born general manager, referring to the regimen of dining on big cruise ships. There’s no sharing tables with strangers either. “We’re targeting people who travel well but never thought that cruising was for them.”

Over good coffee, we meet Emma Bengtsson, lauded Swedish chef at Aquavit in New York. She has taken over the kitchen of Explora I’s Anthologie restaurant, which invites different chefs to create a menu depending on the ship’s location. “My first thought was that it’s never going to happen,” says Bengtsson. “I’ve seen the big cruise ships and the food quality that comes with them.” Yet she has been able to serve the exact caviar dish she makes back in New York and admires the other onboard restaurants. “The hardest thing for me has been sourcing green tomatoes while at sea.”

MSC is throwing a lot at this venture. Champagne flows freely, day and night, and there’s an attention to detail, from the fine tableware in the restaurants to the well-fitted cabins (sorry, suites) with his and hers jewellery safes and terraces generous enough for a sunbed. On Monocle’s voyage, there are 1.25 crew members for every passenger. Many were hired new to cruising after working at hotels in the UAE. I Wayan, the Balinese “suite host” assigned to Monocle’s suite, is ever-ready to make bookings, replenish drinks cabinets and deliver sea-legs tablets. The bartenders here remember your preferred tipple.

Overnight, we chug into Oranjestad in Aruba, a once-quaint harbour that has become a tourist trap thanks to the cruise crowd. There is still a special joy in pulling back the curtains at dawn to find yourself arrived at a brightly coloured town in the tropics.

There are more than 300 cruise ships in operation globally but that doesn’t diminish the élan of sailing for those at the helm. “The bridge is like a church,” says first mate Luca Sanna, of the reverential silence of the control room. As well as technical instruments monitoring our position in port, there are religious icons on the walls and a bowl of salt, garlic and chilli to drive away bad spirits (a Neapolitan tradition). It’s still forbidden to whistle on the bridge because it supposedly calls up the winds.

“I always say to our crew that this is not a floating luxury hotel, it’s a ship,” says Captain Serena Melani, who sailed Explora I out of the shipyard. This means safety is the top priority but it’s also a maritime spirit that runs through the culture onboard. “In my experience, guests come back not because the ship they were on was beautiful but because of the crew,” she says. “There must be a human connection.”

What’s on the horizon?

Explora wants to catch the wind of what is currently the fastest-growing tourism sector. Cruising is expected to be worth €14.6bn in revenue this year and a luxury take has been late to the game. Ritz-Carlton debuted a small ship in 2022 and a Four Seasons yacht is currently being built in the shipyard. Explora II sets sail this summer and there’s a plan to have four more identical ships sailing by 2028.