Design, News & Lifestyle Blog

Monocle Café is a perfect extension of the magazine - minimal, modern and international. Located on Chiltern Street, the 15-seater café opened yesterday under the wing of specialty coffee roasters Allpress Espresso. Following the success of the Monocle Café in Tokyo, London’s first café from the global affairs magazine is set to become a Marylebone landmark.

With David Bowie, it’s never just been about the music. This innovative man changed the face of rock with his clothes, his style, his creativity and his vision. The V&A have curated a retrospective exhibition of over 300 Bowie objects that include original costumes, handwritten lyrics, fashion, photography, film, music videos, set designs and Bowie's own instruments.

We talk to master chocolatiers the Mast Brothers about their bean to bar craft chocolate. From sailing boats to an old spice factory – the brothers introduce us to their Brooklyn bubble.

As the popularity of taxidermy increases as a form of art, British taxidermist Polly Morgan portrays the beauty in the corruption of nature and death. Whether or not it appeals to everyone, Polly Morgan is ensuring that taxidermy is not just a passing phase and it has strong longevity with her bold and sometimes gruesome art. As a London based Artist, Polly Morgan allows us to see our favourite City through her eyes.

We asked Hix’s bar aficionado Lee Potter Cavanagh for his Christmas drink suggestions. Expert in everything alcoholic, Lee’s set out the best Christmas tipples according to task – from sips for Santa through to royal toasts.

Ole Hansen runs a smokehouse in London’s Stoke Newington. With the knowledge of four generations behind him, Hansen stays true to tradition with his real wood smoked salmon. The fish is paper wrapped, hand-filleted, hand-salted and vertically cut. We’d recommend you take a trip to the smokehouse to see Hansen at work.

We search out design inspiration everywhere. Here’s one of our fashion focused collections; a scrapbook of patterns on patterns: patterns on paper, patterns on people, patterns on print, on walls, chairs, cups, saucers and shoes. It’s a collection of colour, clashes, contrast and camouflage.