“Like music or art, our goal is to make furniture that becomes a part of your daily life, surpassing artificial boundaries of culture and custom to bring peace and tranquillity to people everywhere.” This is the story of Japanese-Milanese furniture design house, Ritzwell.
November 26th, 2016
Since its inception in the early 1990s, the name Ritzwell has been associated with thoughtful design, careful craftsmanship and enduring style. Originating in Japan, the brand has followed a global path of growth, relocating its headquarters to Milan, Italy, where it blends its distinct Japanese sensibility with a fresh approach to furniture design.
Given its poetic ethos and culture of design – so beautifully articulated by Ritzwell’s sales and marketing director, Wataru Yano, it comes as no surprise to find its culture of design transcends geographic boundaries to speak to users universally. “Ritzwell breathes the essence of warmth into our furniture by combining quality materials with delicate craftsmanship,” explains Wataru. “This isn’t mass production: this is the creation of art to blend into your daily lives.
“Beautiful furniture: quiet, subtle, but undeniably an expressive presence in your room. Like music or art, our goal is to make furniture that becomes a part of your daily life, surpassing artificial boundaries of culture and custom to bring peace and tranquillity to people everywhere.”
A beautiful case in point is the recently launched BLACK&WHITE Collection which is defined by its simple, understated balance of form, function and visual appeal. “Black and white usually look cold and inorganic,” says Wataru, “but in the world of Ritzwell design they make a warm combination. The warmth of the colours gently draws out the beauty of the wood, giving new depth to the design,” he says.
Wataru highlights the MO table for its perfect balance of shapes and material. “The MO table is a discrete element, silent, but undeniably a significant presence in each room,” he says. Available as a dining, coffee or side table, its subtle black or white surface can easily be added to a lounge, living or dining room without upsetting the existing theme. Its solid wood construction speaks to tradition while simple lines embody a modern aesthetic.
The Marcel dining chair, too, is striking in its midnight black or white finish, complementing the MO dining table with modern woodwork that reveals the expertise of Ritzwell’s skilled designers and craftspeople. “The natural feel of the basic walnut is preserved, bringing out the warmth of the wood,” notes Wataru.
He encourages the user to lean in and embrace the Ritzwell ethos with the BLACK&WHITE Blava easy chair. “The more you use Blava the better it will feel,” says Wataru. “And as you get to know it you’ll appreciate its luxury: the feel when you sit, the organic fusion of leather belts and wooden frame that you’ll never tire of.”
From past to present Ritzwell pieces are designed to grow and age gracefully with the user, and to build a relationship that surpasses seasonal trends. It’s relationship of mutual discovery and shared provenance, founded in the idea that each Ritzwell piece becomes a part of your daily life and absorbs your habits… just as you do it!
Ritzwell is available exclusively through Stylecraft.
INDESIGN is on instagram
Follow @indesignlive
A searchable and comprehensive guide for specifying leading products and their suppliers
Keep up to date with the latest and greatest from our industry BFF's!
The newest brand to emerge from Cosentino’s creative crucible is Ēclos, a next-generation mineral surface that embodies the organic beauty and tactility of marble in a precision-mineral surface or material.
In the first instalment of our three-part series exploring what it means to sit your best, we pose the question to Gray Puksand’s Dale O’Brien, who discusses the importance of ease and majority rule when it comes to sitting and reveals why specifying a task chair is not unlike choosing a Volvo.
In the last instalment of our three-part performance seating series, Alex Bain from Architectus explains why sitting well shouldn’t feel like sitting at all and explores an unexpected success metric of the hybrid workplace: the grounding power of emotional support.
Natural stone shapes the interiors of Billyard Avenue, a luxury apartment development in Sydney’s Elizabeth Bay designed by architecture and design practice SJB. Here, a curated selection of stone from Anterior XL sets the backdrop for the project’s material language.
Joanne Odisho has been named the 2026 Australian Furniture Design Award winner for Mod-u, a modular lighting system made from eggshell composites and bio-filament.
Milan Design Week means more than lounging in luxury and the latest in bathroom beauty. We pull out a handful of exciting commercial furniture highlights.
The internet never sleeps! Here's the stuff you might have missed
Powerhouse Parramatta has commissioned more than 50 leading designers from across Australia to shape the spaces and experiences of the new museum, including public, exhibition, restaurant and retail spaces.
Returning to Melbourne this month, Australia’s official Passivhaus conference THRIVE turns its attention to the commercial case for high-performance building.