Culinary Christmas

With everything becoming so wonderfully tasteful, Ladurée macaroons are only one example, we are craving a little bit of the old Christmas magic. Although possibly not the most delicious to eat, these 70's recipe cards are certainly a feast for the eyes. Why not treat yourself to desiccated coconut delights, Advocaat lemonade cocktails and cheese puffs, holiday magic! 

MON About Town

MON has travelled to Shoreditch to create it's first installation! CAFEAND in Redchurch Street is an amazing space full of interesting pieces including original furniture design and beautiful home-ware. It is here that we will call home until Christmas and we definitely recommend popping in to see the show and enjoy a cup of green tea and some amazing Greek pastries.

CAFEAND, 77 Redchurch Street, London, E2 7DJ www.cafeand.co.uk

opening hours:

wed-sat: 11am-7pm

sunday:  11am-6pm

Designers Favourite

We are continuing our exploration of all thing 'ART' after the excitement we had at Frieze the other week. Our designer Monica has always loved Picasso's ceramics and comes back to them time and time again when researching. He started making pieces whilst on his holidays in Vallauris in the South of France, we just wish all our holiday activities turned out so well! As well as looking at amazing picture books (our favourite type of book) she also recommends 'Life with Picasso' by Francoise Gilot, an amazing insight into his life, work and family.

All The Fun Of The Fair

Whether you come to find the next big thing, to recharge your culture batteries or just to sweat out the alcohol from last nights party, Frieze Art Fair is still very much the place to be. This year, as ever, the exhibits range from the sublime to the ridiculous with tonnes in-between that we would love to have hanging in our living rooms. We definitely recommend a visit this weekend. www.friezeartfair.com

MON at the London Design Festival

Since our last post Ron Arad the great Tel Aviv-born designer has been awarded the London Design Medal, our congratulations to him. When accepting the award he said, "Thank you London - I couldn't imagine doing whatever I'm doing anywhere else in the world". However we were paying more attention to the fact that he chose to wear his MON scarf to accept the award, as always he looked great.

Check Mate

Last week a whole host of super cool bicycles went up for auction to raise money for the Elton John Aids Foundation. We were delighted to see one of our favourite designers Ron Arad reinventing the wheel, whilst wearing his MON scarf as part of a fantastic check on check ensemble.
www.ronarad.co.uk

Time Traveling

With so little time for travelling these days, we think there is a lot to be said for doing it in some style. We love these images of men travelling through the ages with their Globe-Trotter suitcases, the ceremony of it all seams like a great anecdote to our modern lives. Not only a stylish addition to the discerning mans accessory collection, but something that allows the journey to begin as soon as you start packing!

www.globetrotter1897.com

Perfect Prints

                                                

We love these illustrations by Jean-Phillippe Delhomme as well as tonnes of other prints that you can buy on our new favourite internet find. The Fashion Illustration Gallery (FIG) has brilliant original artworks as well as prints and vintage magazines featuring cover artwork by Andy Worhol. www.figprints.com 

We Assouline Love The Literary Lounge

The new Assouline boutique at Liberty is one of the most exciting bookshops to open in London for years. With selected vintage out of print editions and stacks of Assouline classics this is a great place to hibernate while the weather has it's rainy summer tantrum. It really is 1,000 square feet of seductive coffee table book heaven. www.liberty.co.uk

Anyone Fancy Dinner?

Fancy fast food like no other! Although this Cool Hunter concept is not a new one it is still very dear to our hearts, so when we came across these images in our piles of research we thought they were too good not to share. www.thecoolhunter.net

ART....Balloons?

We are mesmerised by New York artist Jason Hackenwerth and his giant sized balloon sculptures. Each alien looking piece is made of thousands of small latex balloons and is only temporary, eventually they will shrivel up or burst. We suppose that in a world of fast fashion, it is only right that there is 'Fast art' too, there's always something new for next season surly? On a lighter note, they are just good fun and we like that.

www.jasonhackenwerth.com

Palm Spring/Summer 2011

This season the MON colour pallet was largely inspired by Palm Springs styling and the rich photography of Slim Aarons. With the collection launching any day now we wanted to share some of the imagery that got us excited.

Download Overload

The new MON collection is due to be launched in the next few weeks and we are busy perfecting the final details in the studio. With our ipods working overtime we thought we'd share our favourites, from the brilliant Pulp and The Darjeeling Limited, the to the weird and wonderful new Dylan Mania album by the hugely talented Parisian artist Biatrice Ardisson. 
1.Dylan Mania, Biatrice Ardisson  2. Different Class, Pulp 3.The Darjeeling Limited Original Soundtrack

All Hail The Style King

We are hugely excited to report that on the 7th April MON was introduced to the readers of The Style King. The article takes a look at our new collection and inspirations for SS11, to read it in full please visit www.thestyleking.com  

A Slice Of Boutique Heaven

We are delighted to be able to report that MON scarves are now on sale at The Cross boutique in Holland Park. As one of the first lifestyle boutiques in London The Cross has long been a favourite of ours. We love there eclectic mix of styles and of course their impeccable taste!  

www.thecrossshop.co.uk

Sculpture - St Tropez Style

With Winter dragging on, we are seeking warmth and sunny inspiration from books, magazines and old holiday photos. For us, nothing says Summer quite like the South of France and the artist Stefan Szczesny captures this perfectly in his paintings and sculptures. The light in this part of the world is unrivalled and his large stainless steel sculptures cast amazing shadows over the picturesque landscape. He is currently showing his Golden Sculptures at the Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris, the exhibition is open until March 31st.
www.szczesny-online.com

Curated Culture

                                    

Right now, if you are lucky enough to be in London you'd be mad to miss the amazing Susan Hiller exhibitions. Her work is currently being shown at the Tate Britain and the Timothy Taylor Gallery respectively and explores the process of collecting, cataloguing, and transforming cultural artefacts as a means of exploring the mind. Particularly interesting to us were the assembled postcard images made in the 1970s and the more recent and brilliantly surreal audio-sculpture, Witness.

www.timothytaylorgallery.com 

www.tate.org.uk

Market Research!

After the amazing success of our iD article we felt it was about time we conducted some market research. All these photographs are from our most recent and super inspiring research trip which included loads of visits to markets in the South of France.