The March 2008 issue of UK’s Monocle Magazine has hit the newsstands and features “On Target – United Arrow’s latest mens range”  (p138) which offers a preview of United Arrow’s first menswear collection to be sold globally, Camoshita.  Another view of Camoshita is available on The Sartorialist blog.

Monocle is available at all good newsstands worldwide (or subscribe)!

The Dover Street Market online store has been updated and next to the Comme des Garcons 8 88 scent, they also sell the candle now. Also the Monocle x Comme des Garcons scent, that we presented to you a while ago, is now available for purchase.

A little while ago we pointed out an article on how Comme des Garcons has build an underground luxury perfume empire. What is meant by that? Well, basically the Japanese brand started recently producing scents for other brands as well, but just like with their own brand, they only work with brands that are not too commercial, but that do an excellent job with their brands. One such brand is fellow Japanese brand Undercover by Jun Takashi. Comme des Garcons has for such a long time been successful with their own scents and perfumes, that this move only made sense.

Now Comme des Garcons also joined forces with one of our favorite “new” magazines, Monocle. Monocle has impressed from day one with its all-around knowledge on pretty much everything out there. After previously collaborating on bags with Porter Japan, a bike with Skepshult, they continue to only work with the very best and now did their own scent with Comme des Garcons – Hinoki.

“Produced for us by Comme des Garçons’ perfumer, Antoine Maisondieu, Hinoki is a cedary, woody scent inspired by Japanese hot-spring baths and Scandinavian forests.”

Hinoki is available at selected Comme des Garçons stores and monocle.com for deliveries in 2008.

After the jump some more pictures.

Several times we have already reported about Monocle Magazine, probably one of the best launches in the magazine world in recent years. In terms of the way they brand themselves, advertise and of course present content from all sorts of areas, they are a truly modern magazine. Another interesting aspect is their approach towards branding. One channel for them is to collaborate with brands, that they admire and offer special products together with these brands. Porter from Japan is one of them. Since the inception of the magazine the two have been working together and now the latest collection has been released.

The current Monocle x Porter collection consists of a weekend traveler, tote shopping bag and a laptop bag. Both the weekend traveler and the tote bag come with extra bags, specifically made to store your goods efficiently inside them. Thus for example the weekend traveler comes with a laundry bag and a cosmetics bag. In terms of colors they offer each piece in military green and in black.

The line is now available in the B-Yoshida online store. Check out the entire Monocle by Porter collection after the jump.

The International Herald Tribune has an interesting article up on Japanese brand Comme des Garcons building a niche perfume empire. Already for almost 15 years the brand is in the perfume business and just like large companies such as Procter & Gamble and Coty, they are now starting to take on other brands to produce perfume for them. But unlike these other companies, they concentrate on the niche high-end market. First brands that they signed include Undercover by Jun Takashi and Monocle Magazine. Read the article here

It will be interesting to watch the progress of this move. If the perfumes for the other brands are only half as good as the Comme des Garcons perfume line, we can expect good things to come!

Tyler Brulé is the founder of one of our favorite magazines, Monocle, and previously also founded Wallpaper Magazine as well as a creative agency. Japanese company Beams now sat down with the creative to talk about his latest venture Monocle. Also for those of you that read Monocle, you probably realized that they have created a series of bags with Porter Japan, the famous luggage company. The interview goes into detail on that collaboration. Read it here.