The Story.

It was the 8th of July 2016, the day my sister decided to cancel her wedding in the Ardennes, Belgium. The celebration was supposed to take place the following year at what I still believe is one of the most exquisite châteaux in the world. That same day, her “little” brother—me—walked out of the oncologist’s office with a smile stretched across his face, but the look on my parents’ faces said it all: the cancer had spread. It was a Friday. Treatment began on Tuesday.

The world never stops moving, time never waits. From that moment on, things unraveled quickly. I had always been fit—stronger and healthier than ever before—yet within three weeks I had lost sixteen kilograms. During my second round of chemotherapy, I was struck by a side effect that left me fully paralyzed. The strange blessing: I can’t remember much of this period. The curse: I wasn’t allowed to drive.

One of the very few things that gave me peace during those months—the only thing that could carry me to sleep—was Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar soundtrack. There was something in the way the organ swelled, wave after wave, that transported me far beyond hospital beds and IV drips. The track STAY resonated the most. At first, for its sheer beauty. Later, for its meaning. The word became a mantra, a plea, a whisper in my mind: stay.

If you asked me then—or today—what my life’s passions are, the first answer would be cars. The second, champagne. In the Netherlands, champagne is often seen only as a drink of celebration. But I believe it should be the other way around. Don’t wait for a reason to open the bottle. Create a reason. Every time the cork shoots into the air, realize that it is you who created that moment.

My greatest remedy through illness and recovery came from my greatest inspiration: my father. Together, with much help, we built a Porsche in a very short time. We drove that car to my sister’s wedding venue, the château in the Ardennes. That day became one of the most perfect of my life. And from it, a new dream was born: to share my love for life itself with others—through experiences, through objects, through stories of beauty and perseverance. Not just any products, but those that carry a legacy, a soul, a reason to exist. Like the Porsche we built.

A perfectly grown grape—with its balance of sugars and acids—loses its life without excuse, only to be transformed. After pressure, after patience, it turns into something radiant, something that sparkles. That is how I feel today.

From that crucible, I discovered my true path. What began as survival has become creation. Today, I channel my story into my work—as a marketing consultant evolving into a catalyst dedicated to the luxury industry. A world where craftsmanship, legacy, and storytelling converge. My mission is to connect brands and people through more than products: through meaning, emotion, and the art of living itself.

Good health is an assumption,

until the assumption is no longer healthy. 

Mitch Fontaine

Founder