Milan, Amsterdam and now Harlem… those are the city where Linda Tol’s heart lives. After few years in Italy, in the heart of the meneghin city, and a comeback in Netherlands before the pandemic, where she founded her first eyewear label TOL EYEWEAR, Linda is now settled in Harlem, a city close to Amsterdam, with her Partner of almost 20 years and their beautiful family. But do not call her influencer, with a long and inspiring career in fashion working across publicity, buying, styling sectors and the design of her own brand, Linda’s work is carefully considered and her diverse career has allowed her to perfectly combine her creative skills.
You have lived in Milan for a long time, then you have you have moved back to Netherland (first in Amsterdam and now Harlem). How would you define the style of these two countries, Italy and Netherlands, and how have they influenced yours?
We moved to Haarlem 2 years ago. In the beginning we were a bit scared about the idea of moving out of Amsterdam. But we had 8 months to get used to the idea. After 6 months (2 months before we moved) we were overexcited. Haarlem is so close to Amsterdam. We still spend much time in the city. But after a long day it is so good to drive back home. The house is much bigger. We enjoy the space, the neighbourhood is so peaceful and relaxing. And we own a garden. We are both very happy. We love Italy and we loved living in Milan. It was a different life before kids. We got to change to travel a lot for work. And we experienced many beautiful places in Italy. Milan was a great base and we travelled to different cities in Italy during the weekends and holidays. We loved to explore the country, to get to know more about the culture, the food, the language, the history and the people. The big difference between The Netherlands and Italy is the Italian lifestyle. People are more relaxed. They don’t plan as much in advance. We have the best memories about those years in Italy.
What did push you and your partner Jules to come back to the Netherlands? And what do you miss the most about Milan?
Family. It’s important to us that our kids see their grandparents often…….
