As the founders of highly successful cafes Morris and Heath and Miss Frank, the Moussi sisters saw an opportunity to expand their impressive portfolio on Bridge Road, Richmond. Their proposal was to create a new Melbourne cafe a simple mix of elements: innovative food, high quality coffee and excellent customer service. Named after the most seductive of Hollywood stars, Monroe was born. More than just a name, the brief for Monroe called for a design that captured her spirit: confident, seductive, sophisticated and intelligent. DKO’s café design is a timeless design with a dynamic palette of tones, textures and materials. Heavily grained natural stone, classic warm timber and polished concrete floors introduce the confident and intelligent, while blush salmon joinery, rose gold feature pendants and playful terrazzo tiling, answer the desire for seductive sophistication. The dining area features a perfectly polished concrete slab that stretches the depth of the space. The use of matte black, selectively makes elements overhead disappear, while adding elegance and simplicity to loose furniture. This is balanced by facetted panels of peach, soft grey and clear mirror, that bounce light deep into the interior. Eschewing the hipster aesthetic of subway tiles and industrial fixtures, Monroe’s design combines four inspirational personality traits into a singular solution, befitting such an iconic name. As Marylin once said ‘Give a girl the right pair of shoes and she’ll conquer the world.’ This is the Moussi sister’s perfect pair of shoes.