MONC

MONC opened its second London store on Monmouth Street as a quiet counterpoint to the constant movement of Seven Dials, following its first shop on Chiltern Street in Marylebone. The London-based brand designs frames meant to last and evolve with their wearer, and the Monmouth Street space is where new materials are introduced and experimental processes are left visible, so the fit-out carries a story as much as the frames do.

That material story is the brand's calling card. Display surfaces and mirror stands are made from concrete rescued from a local building site, shelving and fixtures from recycled aluminium, plinths and packaging from mycelium that is composted after use, and surfaces from hardened hemp and upcycled plastic, with MONC's custom apricot Smile Plastic winning the Supreme Award at the 2023 Surface Design Awards. Even off-cuts of bio-acetate from frame production are reused as display elements.

Sustainable eyewear in Covent Garden with eyecare downstairs

Downstairs is MONC Eyecare, a complete assessment of vision and eye health described as unhurried, personal and precise. Prescription lenses come from ZEISS in single vision and progressive options, a full range of tinted lenses is on offer, and a bespoke service produces frames handmade in London to the customer's own measurements. Frame care and repairs are part of the promise: frames worn daily, repaired when needed and kept for life.

What to expect on a visit

Expect a calm, design-led shop where fittings and styling take time, with the eye examination booked downstairs. It opens seven days a week with shorter Sunday hours. MONC sits within a tight group of independent opticians in Covent Garden; Cubitts, on the same street, offers a very different heritage-led approach to British spectacles.