Born in Buenos Aires, he grew up cradled by the thousand and one stories of his adventurous archaeologist dad, half-pirate, half-mercenary. He decides, at 18 years old, to discover the world, direction Senegal (in 1995), aboard a two horses passing by Mauritania. , confirms its aspirations . From now on he will work to travel.

In 2001 he was selling Provençal fabric in old Nice when he met Isabelle.

From 2003, Isabelle put painting aside and followed Léonel.

Together they discover Nepal, Burma, Laos and always Thailand, off the beaten track. The culture, the history, the cuisine, the landscapes, the people, the ethnic groups... Everything fascinates them.

They begin by selling clothes in cotton, linen and hemp, spun and woven by hand (in Issan, a rural province in the northeast of Thailand), in the markets of the South of France in the summer, where they live in caravans for a few years. . Increasingly fascinated by the crafts and culture of the ethnic groups of the North, a meeting tells them about pure silver jewelry, made by craftsmen of the Karen tribe, in a village 100 km from Chiang Mai. They then discover magnificent reproductions of traditional jewelry from the ethnic groups of the golden triangle. It's love at first sight .