Exit, South

Valencia, Spain, to be precise. So now we’re leaving London. It’s the second time actually, after moving to Mallorca in 2001. 

“In my head I’m wondering, how different is it this time? Or is it not different at all?” Christian Leyk is deliberating. “~There’s something about London. A love / hate relationship really. Like in 2001, I feel i didn’t make it. I didn’t conquer London. But then again, what does that mean? I love the city. It’s so much, it’s full of life, possibilities. It’s one of those places where you can say ‘if you’ll make it there, you’ll make it everywhere”. And in the end it kind of boils down to a simple formula. if you’re making money, London loves you back.”

The first move was quite an adventure. We started working with newcruise Yacht projects & Design, which was based in Hamburg. But one of their partners loved Mallorca and was dreaming of moving there one day. We don’t remember how it came up, but spontaneously we decided to go there, build up their studio and wait until he’s follow. In the end he didn’t, but at least he had an excuse to visit more often. And we were running their ‘secret think tank. It was all new, we didn’t know much about Spain and unlike other people we never even went on holidays there.

Fast forward almost 20 years. Our collaboration with Marc Newson Ltd. came to an end and we needed to figure out the next steps. The decision was made to fly our own flag, and we were looking for a place to start from. With Brexit threatening and the high costs of living in London in the back of our minds, we were looking for abroad. It could have been Germany or maybe Italy. In the end we decided for Valencia. Like before, we are moving to a place we haven’t been before. Trusting our gut feelings. 

And London? Well, we will probably feel a bit nostalgic about it. And we hope they won’t sink that funny island into the cold waters of the North Sea. It certainly looks as if they’re busy pulling the plug. It would make us quite sad, because somehow we’ve grown rather fond of it over the years…