Celebrating his 80th birthday this year, jewellery designer Minas is one of Greece’s living treasures. Born in Athens in 1938, he began designing for Vourakis, then jeweller to the Greek royal court, and later on he spent nine years designing for Georg Jansen. In his thirties he lived in New York City for a decade before returning back to his home country, with which he is deeply enamoured. His love for music and free spirit have made him some really special friends, some of whom are legendary rock stars.

Functional in every detail and possessing a fluidity that respects the human body and its movements, Minas’s designs are so comfortable that “people can sleep wearing them”, as he says. The organic shapes and deep insight of human anatomy found in his creations give each ornament and functional object he designs an archetypal aura of beauty that draws inspiration from simplicity and purity. Whether designing an ornamental ring, a bottle-opener or a bench, Minas always has the human body as its reference and inspiration. A true Renaissance man, he has designed even larger projects on his favourite island of Mykonos, including his own hilltop summer house, a series of state-of-the-art lampposts at the Old Port, and the famous night club Astra.

To celebrate this unique anniversary, Minas Studio is organising an exhibition at the Benaki Museum in Athens, where the designer will present eight of his favourite creations inside special glass vitrines also designed by him. To accompany this symbolic showcase of a lifetime’s work, Minas has collaborated with Greek photographer Costas Coutayar, who took over forty portraits of friends, fans and models wearing Minas’s creations. The exhibition will be complemented by a 96-page catalogue that richly illustrates the designer’s work and philosophy, as well as a special video that will present an overview of his career.