Stas Zhitsky is a product and graphic designer, author, blogger, columnist and modern artist from Russia. A prolific and endlessly charismatic character who’s anything but a wallflower, Stas founded one of his country’s leading design companies, OPEN!Design, alongside fellow artist Sergey Kuzhavsky in 1996.
The duo gained global attention with their cutting edge concepts and in 2008 launched OPENJART, an unorthodox brand that veered strategically away from traditional jewellery norms. The duo’s astounding collections have included their award-winning debut ‘Diamonds Inside,’ which controversially featured engagement rings with diamonds hidden on the inside instead of out; as well as the ‘As-Usuals’ collection that paid homage to everyday objects like pasta shapes and hardware.
Though simple in subject, all of his jewellery is created with the highest craftsmanship.
Indeed the designer hopes to create pieces that are as timeless as the architecture we appreciate around us. While fashion and tastes change with the times, buildings can stand for an eternity, and thus he relies heavily on practicality, functionality and originality.
Brimming with mismatched homewares, tools, tapestries and vintage signage collected throughout his lifetime, Stas works out of an elaborately decorated studio space in Moscow, Khitrovka, that’s as fanciful and free-spirited as the man himself. Now a well-known name amongst art-lovers, Stas rather charmingly refers to his designs as ‘Joywellery’, saying that he aims to preserve positive emotions within the precious metals and stones used.
Stas has also left his stamp on the world of interior design, dreaming up innovative quirks like a staircase that features railings comprised of anatomically accurate wooden legs, inside a country house with a cheerful façade that resembles a grinning visage.
A thinker, creator and true original, each and every one of Stas’ designs is meaningful, purposeful, beautiful and entirely thought-provoking all at once.
