As the arts and style epicenter of the British capital, Mayfair isn't for the faint-hearted. Galleries and flagships sprout like trees in spring, seemingly overnight. And so, keeping up with their pace, let alone surviving in London's hyper-competitive creative landscape, requires a distinctive vision — and the right place to bring it to fruition. Pavel Klimczak, the founder and managing director of contemporary design store Monologue London, is up for the challenge, as demonstrated by the recent unveiling of his second outpost in the city, located at 4 Portman Square.
Monologue London launched in the early 2010s in London Fields, but "with more international clients and larger projects, we realized we needed to be more central, somewhere iconic and easier to reach," he tells me over email as he struts about town during Milan Design Week. The new opening also responds to what Klimczak describes as "a real shift back toward physical spaces": "people want to experience design in person again," he explains. "I wanted the space to feel unique and immersive, and Mayfair gives us the opportunity to do that on a bigger, more ambitious scale."
