Q&A-Syrian-Russian Vasily Kassab transforming Arabic script into artisanal designs

Photo: Syrian-Russian designer-entrepreneur Vasily Kassab with his Probably White line of ceramics tea cups / Courtesy Vasily Kassab

Vasily Kassab is sipping coffee in Moscow’s trendy Double B coffee shop. Sitting in deep red velvet trousers and a crisp white shirt, he looks like he’s just stepped out of the pages of Vogue.  

It has been five years since he returned to Moscow, the city of his birth. The 29-year-old grew up in the Syrian port city of Latakia, studied graphic design at the American University of Beirut, then went on to a Master’s degree in design research and art direction at Milan’s Instituto Marangoni, whose notable alumni include former Trussardi creative director Umit Benan and Julie de Libran, currently Artistic Director at Sonia Rykiel Paris.  

Since August 2012, Kassab has been head creative director of the Moscow office of international branding agency Mildberry whose clients include global giants Danone, Nestle, Pfizer, and Unilever. In the same year he co-founded the Arabic Calligraphy Center in Moscow with Tina Mintusova, and started teaching calligraphy.