Studio

Seitz is a New York-based design studio—driven by the past, refined for today. Along with our lineage of Swiss makers, the studio seeks to reinvigorate alpine tradition.

Craft, Impact & Soul

In many ways, furniture can highlight changing attitudes and cultural norms of the time it was made. Our studio has always been inspired by the alpine furniture we grew up with.

It reflects an honest living—showing what was possible with the limited resources people had around them. It’s this mentality that inspired us how to rethink, deconstruct and simplify—using less materials in unconventional ways. Giving ourselves these restrictions allow us to be more creative and ultimately bring modernity to traditional craft.

Creating things out of necessity is the lynchpin to our Collection. Unfussy and pared back, our designs are always shaped by purpose. We find great value in cultural objects that may be ubiquitous or often overlooked. Nevertheless, the minimal aesthetic belies deep consideration.

Co-founders Kevin Seitz & Rob van Wyen

Born in 1991, Kevin Seitz is a Swiss designer who received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial and Product Design from The Parsons School of Design at The New School in New York City.

After working five years as a product designer, he established his own studio, alongside his work and life partner Rob van Wyen, with the mission to regenerate declining specialist artisanal craft—in particular those he had first-hand knowledge of. Seitz, who is descended from generations of Swiss makers in Berneck (best known for its ceramics), has the desire to keep alive these very niche yet dying crafts, working with individual tradespeople through the preservation and modern interpretation of local Swiss techniques.

Seitz was exposed to craftsmanship at an early age. He specifically remembers growing up with locally-made furniture (some dating back to the 1800s) that work just as well now as when it was first made. That idea of heirloom-quality furniture, passed down through generations, is one that became the foundation for his studio’s design principles.

The Mätzler Joinery Company, founded in 1888, produces the Seitz Collection in Berneck

It’s important to create objects that can stand the test of time. As a result, the studio collaborates with the community of Swiss makers—some of which are the last of their kind. Most of the people we work with are family or friends. Those who are not blood relations have become family through the collaboration of their work—sharing techniques honed over generations. The biggest reward for us is to find a way to redefine how we may look at a seemingly mundane and sometimes dying tradition—reinvigorating its purpose and appreciation within Switzerland and abroad.

Since 2019, the studio is twice a winner of the German Design Award and nominated three times for a Dezeen Design Award. Seitz’s work has been exhibited during NYCxDesign and seen in publications such as Wallpaper*, Monocle, Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest, Surface, Dezeen, Wohnrevue, Espaces Contemporains and Hoch Parterre.