Etic is a design studio led by French born designer Emilie Delalande, driven by a long held curiosity about how people experience space. Emilie grew up in France surrounded by architecture, art and culture, where an instinctive relationship with design formed early. After studying in Paris, she moved to Australia in 2009, a shift that fundamentally changed the way she sees the world. Living between two cultures sharpened her design sensitivity. That tension sits at the core of Etic.

The name Etic comes from anthropology, from the concepts of emic and etic, two ways of understanding culture from within and from the outside. This idea underpins our approach. Each project starts with observation and listening. We take the time to understand the context and the people involved before design begins, allowing spaces to feel intuitive and genuinely resolved.

Etic works across hospitality, residential, workplace and retail, united by a strong focus on atmosphere, material integrity and experience. Emilie’s European sensibility for structure is balanced by the openness and experimentation she discovered in Australia. The work is functional yet expressive.

At Etic, good design is not defined by scale or style. It is defined by meaning, by how a space makes you feel, how light settles across a surface, and how every decision contributes quietly to comfort, pleasure and belonging.