I lose things. A lot. But I am delighted to say that these misplaced items usually find their way back to me. A wallet dropped in the park, a jacket left hanging in a hotel wardrobe, a suitcase forgotten on a train – all have been returned to my possession. I have also been reunited with several laptops left to fend for themselves in the seat-back pockets of aeroplanes. This is such a trait of mine that when my colleague Tom recently made the same error on a flight to Zürich, he rather ungraciously shouted , “Oh no, I’ve done an Andrew!” I’ve never liked the man.

So while a little panic-inducing, it wasn’t a huge surprise on Sunday evening when I could not find my wedding ring anywhere in the house, just as we were about to head out for dinner. Some people boast of never having removed theirs since the day that it was popped on their finger; I remove mine at night and before I go to the gym. And I don’t like typing with a ring or watch on. This all means that the little band of metal has numerous opportunities to go astray – and it does.

I once dropped it in Geneva Airport – someone kindly handed it in to the lost and found. On another occasion, when I was playing with it in a restaurant and left it on the table, the waiter called an hour later to see if perhaps I was missing an important finger accessory. I have assured the other half that this is not a sign – well, of my forgetfulness, maybe.
 
As we got home, a few glasses of champagne down (toasting the dog’s departure has seen an uptick in alcohol consumption), the other half reminded me of the search-and-rescue mission that we would need to undertake in the morning and – at that exact moment – I looked down and saw, in the middle of the street, glistening brightly in the lamp light, my ring.
 
Our road is a popular route for pedestrians. Did 100 people step over the ring without even seeing it? And how did it even fall off my finger and land there?
 
Luck is a funny concept, hard to explain with reason or statistics but it should not be discounted. And I am not talking about family privilege masquerading as luck but rather those coincidences, fleeting encounters, that can reorientate not just your day but your life.

When you hear people’s stories of success or of missions accomplished, we tend to focus on the quantifiable – on how hard they must have worked, on the time they invested in training. We like to believe that it’s hard work, ambition and intelligence that deliver results. And while these are key, luck can play a blinder. In some moments fate simply intervenes.
 
I see this in my career. I did everything I could to get into journalism but it has all been stitched together with pure luck – from a publisher who took time to speak to an over-keen intern to a Canadian journalist who came in for a meeting and got stuck talking to me.

Of course this is not really career or personal advice that you can hand out without sounding like the sort of person who has their cards read (tarot, not credit). But to get where you want to be, or just to keep hold of what you have, you are going to need luck to show up every now and then. Oh and notice when it does, glinting there at your feet.

To read more columns by Andrew Tuck, click here.

Further reading:

- Not everything has to be perfect – luxury is seeing the hand behind the artistry

- Mind the age gap: 20 polite reminders that the doors are closing on your youth 

The time has come to dispense with big winter coats and don some new brands that put a spring in your step. Here’s three to get you started.

Mackintosh x CP Company
Italy & UK
Italy’s CP Company, which is known for its military-inspired outerwear, is shifting its focus to a British stalwart: the Mackintosh coat. Made in Scotland by the company that invented the world’s first waterproof fabric, the design features tortoiseshell buttons, a waxed sheen and a detachable hood fitted with CP Company’s signature specs. It’s a case of Italian idiosyncrasy meeting Scottish rigour.
mackintosh.com; cpcompany.com

This Is A(n) 
Japan
After Osaka-based bag maker Takakiyo Hiramatsu launched This Is A(n) in 2022, it quickly became well known for its sturdy canvas totes. “I don’t announce it as a selling point but I make everything by hand in my workshop,” says Hiramatsu. He avoids waste by holding pop-up events and making his wares to order. “I produce only what is requested for people who genuinely want it.” 

Hiramatsu’s ambition is to create simple products executed to perfection and his bags – which are crafted from paraffin-coated cotton canvas in a range of sizes and colours – reflect his utilitarian ethos. Hiramatsu is also open to collaborations. For a recent partnership, he worked with heritage UK company Brady to reimagine one of its leather-trimmed shoulder bags as a roomy tote.
thisisan.com

Camisas Manolo
Spain
Manolo Molina, founder of Spanish menswear brand Camisas Manolo, has always loved tugging at the conventions of fashion. “I was 12 or 13 when I first embroidered logos on my shirts,” he tells Monocle. “My mum wouldn’t buy me the originals so I stitched the Tommy Hilfiger logo by hand. You can imagine how that looked.” These experiments led him to study at the Istituto Europeo di Design and, in 2019, to start his own label.

Camisas Manolo’s shirts – made from Italian, Spanish and Portuguese cotton, silk, wool or linen – are known for their elegant collars, single-button cuffs and pleated sleeves, drawing inspiration from classic men’s tailoring. But Molina was equally influenced by Roc Neige puffers and Salomon zipper boots worn by youth subcultures in his native Madrid. “At the time, you were expected to belong to one group but I was absorbing everything and building a personal mix of styles that no one really understood,” says Molina. “By fusing these references with the tradition of shirtmaking, I created my own interpretation of a uniform.”

His work is rooted in Spain but the designer also has international ambitions. His first collaboration consists of a range of shirts with Japanese fashion designer Soshi Otsuki. “We admired each other’s work,” says Molina. “The idea of a partnership came about when a mutual friend introduced us. Five months later, a beautiful shirt collection was presented at Pitti Uomo in Florence.”
camisasmanolo.com

Want to see the rest of April’s top-25 fashion picks? Here are the best labels and in-store experiences this spring. 

From the labyrinthine alleys of Kowloon Walled City to the electric sprawl of Shinjuku at night, Canadian photographer Greg Girard’s images have helped to define how the world sees some of Asia’s most mythologised urban centres (writes Salomé Grouard). He’ll tell you that he was simply in the right place at the right time – but a career like his is rarely accidental. Monocle sat down with Girard at the opening of his latest exhibition, HKG-TYO 1974-2023, at WKM Gallery in Wong Chuk Hang to discuss his relationship with Hong Kong and Tokyo, and how seeing the world as an outsider became his greatest gift.

Your work often challenges pre-existing narratives. Where does that perspective come from?
Being an outsider allowed me to break the patterns of given places and get into less glamorous ones. Kowloon Walled City, for example, felt like a myth to many local Hong Kongers. It was thought of for crime, gangs and chaos, and it had only been [photographed] in black and white, perpetuating this notion of danger, poverty and otherness. But not growing up surrounded by these preconceptions, I allowed myself to get lost in it and discover its life and colours. That motivated me to set the record straight [for the people who lived there] but also not shy away from how completely insane it was.

More recently this mentality took me to sakura [a common name for snack bars] that are found all over Japan. They’re not the most fashionable and they’re not even on Google Maps because they’re not interested in attracting new clientele. The project [Snack Sakura], which is now a published book, took me to places where there was no reason to go. That’s the gift of not belonging.

‘HKG-TYO 1974-2023’ runs at WKM Gallery in Hong Kong until May 23.  

Click here to read the full interview with Girard, where he explains how his work has developed, what keeps him grounded and why he chose Tokyo and Hong Kong for his show. 

Further reading: 
- A photographic tribute to Milan’s sciure: Icons of style, power, and cultural legacy

- How do you move the Dutch national photography collection? Frame by frame

- “The scenes with my kids were hardest to watch”: War photographer Lynsey Addario’s balancing act

Read
The Wonderful World That Almost Was: A Life of Peter Hujar and Paul Thek by Andrew Durbin 
Peter Hujar and Paul Thek were very different artists and people. Yet their lives crisscrossed – as lovers, friends and, at times, rivals. This dual biography explores their entanglements and enduring impact on the art world in a colourful portrait of an era when everything seemed possible. 
‘The Wonderful World That Almost Was’ is published on 23 April.

Watch 
The Testaments on Disney+
Has Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) changed for good? A primary antagonist in Margaret Atwood’s dystopian 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale, which was adapted for television over six seasons, Lydia ended the series questioning her role in the brutal subjugation of fertile women. The Testaments, based on Atwood’s 2019 follow-up, finds Lydia in charge of a preparatory school for future wives, including one played by One Battle After Another’s Chase Infiniti.
‘The Testaments’ is released on 8 April.

Listen 
Free Spirits by Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso 
The Grammy-winning Argentinian duo are one of Latin America’s most exciting acts. “Hasta Jesús Tuvo Un Mal Día”, this album’s lead single in collaboration with Sting, is one of the highlights on a lineup featuring everything from rock to techno.  
‘Free Spirits’ is out now.

For more April culture recommendations, click here.