As we put the last hand on our new Toronto flagship store, seeing everything come together in one beautiful space, the result of a neatly planned operation that started over 10 months ago – I’ve been thinking about what it means to ‘return to work’. For me, it means the transition from days wandering beautiful cities, enjoying sunny beaches, and floating unaware of the time and what day it is, into the tightly planned hours, days, and weeks of what we call our work. Whether this be in an office, a studio, an atelier, or outdoors, it is different from our time away.

Every time I ‘return to work’, I feel the need to keep a bit of that energy, that unintentional, accidental randomness – and cherish it. Keeping, or adding more space for exploration, for the unexpected. Enjoying when rain suddenly hits when I thought for sure it would be a sunny autumn day. Or when that meeting is pushed forward and you’re not in your power suit, but in something that sits really comfortably. I believe the beauty in building your personal style – your personal wardrobe – is knowing in those moments that your wardrobe will have your back. Knowing that you can do that presentation in what is maybe more Friday attire, or that the wool you’re wearing will dry fast after that short rain spell.

Back to work not only means adapting to cold and rain and those unexpected changes in plans. It means being able to easily change styles and fabrics to continually create new looks that still give you confidence in what you do so well: work. It is celebrating rigidity while staying open to the unknown.

In this third issue, we explore this flexibility, finding balance between being modern and classic with Scott at Mitchells in Westport. We discover this same balance in the Felix Meritis, an old Amsterdam landmark – originally built for a society of scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, and thinkers, now completely renovated into a collision of past and future, and featured in our FW22 campaign. We prepare for the festive season ahead and how to find your personality in those rigid etiquettes. We will also look a little closer at that feeling of ‘being away’ and how to hold it close with a guide to slowing down. And delve deeper into the unexpected with Arno Kantelberg in a collaboration Perfect Imperfection, inspired by a single tulip.

Last but not least, we will share the work  that inspired this issue: our just opened flagship store at 19 Hazelton Ave, Toronto, Canada. Where everything from the past months is coming together into something wonderful that we never expected, or even dreamed about.

Enjoy,

Joachim Baan
Creative Director Atelier Munro