THE MONC BLOG

Over recent years East London has emerged to become a real creative hub. With business’ from start-ups, to artists and artisans all making this vibrant up and coming part of the capital their home. London Fields in particular was a source of inspiration for me when designing our most quirky frame (London Fields).

After eating and drinking our way around some of the top independent cafes and eateries London Fields has to offer for our last area guide, photographer and MONC ambassador Oliver Hoosen and I thought we should continue the theme. All in honour of MONC popping- up at the London Coffee Festival on the 12^th of April. 

This is supposed to be the time in the calendar where we prepare for British Summer and the weather is usually getting milder and sunnier. This year however, I am sitting inside while 'The Beast From the East' is apparently returning for a third time.

Hackney local and MONC ambassador Oli takes us on a guided tour of his favourite London Fields haunts.

Our mission at MONC is to create products that support true craftsmanship and quality, for people who appreciate the design process. In this Journey post we wanted to highlight the values that MONC was created upon.

For our latest accessory, the Eyewear Travel Case, we want to elaborate on what it means to be transparent. Our World is full of uncertainty, especially in the things we consume... and use daily, and at MONC we set out to reveal the journey that products go though before they eventually get to the user.

Beth approached us about the concept of Studio B in June; a curated selection of  brands which present high quality, ethically produced items collated on one platform. With first hand experience working with Mulberry, Matches Fashion and Anya Hindmarsh, Bethany has turned her focus to present a selection of brands to customer's looking for products of substance and longevity. Since launch in September, Studio B has been building a reputation for its playful yet curated selection of niche brands. We sat down with Bethany to find out more about her idea of the perfect marketplace.

Kreuzberg’s bohemian culture has been on the rise in the last 20 to 30 years, the underground music scene influencing nightlife and audio around the world, and the bohemian style of fashion has played a part in changing catwalks across the industry. More recently a renaissance of craft and young artisans has made Kreuzberg the centre for well made locally sourced goods in Berlin. By young artisans I don't mean young in age, but young in development. In this Journal post we explore a long standing resident of Kreuzberg, who has recently moved away from a commercial 2D discipline of design to a more hand on approach to ceramics, and influencing local residents to follow his journey.

To capture the vibrancy of each neighbourhood and further tell their stories we collaborated with artist Elsie Evans, to create a series of paintings which are captured on each micro-fibre cleaning cloth that accompanies every frame purchased. We talked to Elsie about what first inspired her as an artist, her daily paintings, and how she established The Elsie Evans Art Retreat which opened this year in her ex-pat home, Thai Land.

Helsinki is known for its hard-working residents, amazing design culture and variable weather patterns…I arrived in Helsinki in the evening to glorious sunshine and a bitter cold spell in the middle of April. In the morning I woke up to explore the city and opened my curtains to be greeted with a snow blizzard – not typical discovering weather. But the next two days were for exploring the 2012 ‘World Design Capital’

At MONC our core values are based on designing high quality items that last, whilst creating a personality within each product. I know – ‘a personality within a product?’ – it sounds like crazy talk. But when you buy something, how often do you know what it’s made of, where it’s come from, and who’s made it?...Exactly.

For our first collection for Spring Summer 2017, we took inspiration from creative districts from around Europe, where local designers and artisans are returning to the use of high quality materials, traditional techniques and unique processes to make products that last. We travelled from London to Stockholm to learn more about a neighbourhood that’s getting noticed for its flawless design culture – Södermalm.