That they understand each other intuitively is just as important for the design-process as the rich know-how and experience that they bring with them.
Both designers had long followed their own careers before they met in Peter Maly’s office, where they were first employees at different times and then together became partners of the Hamburg designer from 2009.
Birgit Hoffmann graduated as a ceramist, then studied industrial design at the Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts in Kiel and worked at Studio & Partners in Milan from 2000 as a senior designer at Peter Maly and went freelance in 2006. She has been art director of Freifrau Manufaktur since 2011.
Christoph Kahleyss studied industrial design in Kiel after a carpentry apprenticeship, worked at Berger Associates in New York and at Jürgen Lange Design in Stuttgart. In 1993 he founded his own office, he taught at the Muthesius Academy of Art, later at the JAK Fashion Academy in Hamburg.
In 2012, the two founded their office “Hoffmann Kahleyss Design” in Hamburg, focusing on furniture, interior and lighting design. Their design is functional and thoughtful and characterized by a soft, organic language of form.