Ritzwell

The Japanese brand Ritzwell was established in 1992 by Tashiaki Miyamoto in Japan. The brand designs and manufactures modern Japanese furniture in its own factory in Fukuoka, Japan. When Miyamoto established Ritzwell, the intention was to design modern Japanese-style furniture using a combination of high quality materials, craftsmanship, and research. Japanese design tradition is present in the product’s design idiom, and Japanese craftsmanship is used in the manufacturing process.

The design idiom is simple and organic. The vision is to create furniture that has a sense of organic modernism, where the shapes are simple, to allow the natural beauty of the material to take its place.

The relationship between people and furniture

Ritzwell has been awarded numerous prizes throughout the years, including the prestigious if Design Award in 2017 for the Light Field sofa. The MCM table and the Diana chair by Ritzwell received the 2017 Good Design Award. The founder encourages close collaboration between architects and furniture designers in the crafting process, as design elements can influence the atmosphere of a room. Interaction between the architecture and the furniture can create harmony and personality in a space. The design of a product should be close to the user’s heart, and the brand’s founders believe that this can only happen if the furniture is handmade using traditional craftsmanship. All the furniture in the range is made in their own factory in Kyushu, and the materials used in production are sourced primarily from Japan. The textiles in the range come from Italy and elsewhere in Europe.

For Ritzwell, the material is the starting point of the design. The material is of high quality, handled in such a way that it will retain its natural beauty for many years to come. Ritzwell designs with the science of the material adapting to us. A chair or table made of natural wood will have a patina that shows signs of use. The leather gets softer the more it is used, and wrinkles can appear in the material. Each product is developed and redesigned in ways that promote the relationship between furniture and people. Functionality and esthetics are also reassessed to ensure that the furniture is suitable for everyday life. Ritzwell manufactures furniture with a focus on how humans function, and is inspired by the active way that furniture can be used in a home.

Today, Ritzwell continues to design and manufacture Japanese-designed furniture in high-quality materials with the vision of creating a harmonious atmosphere in a home. The brand has showrooms in Fukuoka, Osaka, and Tokyo in Japan. In Europe, Ritzwell is located in Milan, where the brand also exhibited at the Salone del Mobile for several years, from 2015 to 2018.