ÆSTHETIC NOMADS
ÆSTHETIC NOMADS
Creative Directors for Heritage Brands and Iconic Destinations
A BOUTIQUE CREATIVE DIRECTION STUDIO
As a boutique studio, we craft aesthetic narratives that wrap around the soul of heritage brands, iconic destinations, and luxury hospitality. With the curiosity of a nomad, a storyteller’s heart, and a designer’s discipline, we explore the hidden threads of authenticity and weave them into vivid tales that celebrate supreme savoir-faire, creativity, and elegance.
We design brand stories of the extraordinary that resonate deeply with everyone who holds sophistication and authenticity dear.
Our Services
Creative Direction & Aesthetic Storytelling
There is beauty in almost everything. The magic is to draw it out.
We create unique brand stories about exceptional businesses, destinations, and homes. Through creative direction, design, photography, and writing, we make their beauty shine — technically precise, structured, and search-ready.
Aesthetic storytelling is our creative direction in action. We shape the concept and tone, define the visual language through styling, and bring it to life through photography, writing, and design. We then share these highly personal stories through our network of publishers and media organizations.
We work with heritage-led brands across hospitality, travel, media, and luxury lifestyle who want to use aesthetics to build stronger ties with their customers.
Deliverables include brand narratives, editorial photography, website copy, and print-ready layouts for heritage brands and luxury hospitality.
Our Book
ÆSTHETIC NOMADS
A Chronicle of Beauty Unveiled - Stories of Global Living
IMAGE & DESIGN: Reinhilde Gielen
WORDS: Hans Pauwels
LIMITED EDITION: 1/150 to 150/150
Each year, we leave our home to live and work abroad for months at a time. We become nomads in pursuit of beauty. This book, with more than 1100 photos and 46 short-form texts, is an intimate chronicle of our journeys to 95 one-of-a-kind places around the world, from megacities like Tokyo or New York to a fisherman's village in Kenya or a remote farmhouse hidden in the hills of Sicily. We lived in unique houses in each of these places. We took the time to discover, to photograph, and to write. This is our true story of the beauty, happiness, and timelessness that we experienced everywhere.
The limited edition of Aesthetic Nomads is offered exclusively on this website. The open edition of the book is available worldwide from your preferred bookstore or online platform.
Our Latest Stories
THE FEAR BENEATH THE SHINE
“Saint Roch preserve me—he's the patron saint of dogs and plague victims. In Los Angeles this is pretty much the same thing. I'm glad not to be human! At least not an American one. I could consider a life upright in the 8th arrondissement, or in Milan’s Quadrilatero, lowered gently into the fine leather upholstery of an automobile whose tan happens to…”
Los Angeles, 2026
TOPANGA: UNDER AN OAK, BEYOND THE CITY
“Every home deserves a tree. Not the scrawny, shop-bought thing chosen on impulse at a garden center somewhere out of town, then brought home at thirty kilometers per hour through the car's sunroof on a Sunday morning left too empty after the night’s dinner-table truths had begun to lose their conviction. Nocturnal wisdom rarely survives daylight.”
Los Angeles, 2026
About Us
Reinhilde Gielen
Reinhilde is a fashion designer with lifelong experience as creative director for luxury fashion, food, beauty, and lifestyle brands. She is also an accomplished photographer, known for her captivating portrayals of everyday beauty. Reinhilde spends several months each year immersed in different cultures, soaking up their influences and capturing intriguing images of subdued richness and sophistication.
Hans Pauwels
As a founder and CEO of multiple innovative companies in the food and technology sectors, Hans has traveled the world for business throughout his career. His newfound freedom allows him to join Reinhilde on her travels and pick up creative writing from where he left it at university. Along with well-versed business strategy papers, he writes vivid and anecdotal stories that blend travel, reflection, and exploration, always infused with humor and a dash of the absurd.
Let's Talk!
We would love to hear about you. Let us know if you have any questions. Talk to us about your ideas or your projects. We’re keen listeners who love to hear what goes on in your world. And we’re glad to share our views and help.
hans@aestheticnomads.com
+32 475 418 410
Brussels, Belgium
(or somewhere in the world)