On March 29, British Prime Minister Theresa May signed a six-page letter initiating Article 50, making the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union–aka Brexit–official. What follows is a two-year negotiation period during which the EU and U.K. will determine how the two entities will disentangle and what their future relationship will be.
When the U.K. decided to leave the EU in a June 2016 vote, the creative industry feared a slew of negative consequences. Some of the designers we interviewed worried about hiring talent and losing business, and feared London’s design scene would become less exciting–and even less desirable to buy into. While some prominent designers like James Dyson and Zaha Hadid Architects’ Patrik Schumacher supported Brexit all along, the majority of creatives were overwhelmingly pessimistic about leaving the EU. Now, there’s a more nuanced view.