Who we are
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.
The studio works in English and French, and is well suited to clients moving between Australia and Europe.
What we do
Hospitality
We design restaurants, bars & hotels with operators who want a place that performs commercially and reads with intent. Recent work includes Island Radio with House Made Hospitality, Barangaroo House with Solotel and Matt Moran, Belroy, and Iron Gate Estate in the Hunter Valley. We work closely with builders and consultants from concept through to opening, and we stay involved long enough to see the venue trade.
Retail and brand
We translate retail brands into physical environments that hold their identity across multiple locations. Our work with Musson Jewellers includes the Chatswood and QVB flagships, the latter shortlisted for the 2026 AIDA Retail Design Award. Earlier work with Lee Mathews across Armadale and Double Bay built the same approach. We treat each store as part of a system, not a one off.
Residential
We design homes for clients who want a place that is genuinely theirs, built to be lived in rather than photographed. Projects range from inner city terraces to new build waterfront houses, currently including a residence on Pittwater & Middle Harbour. We take on a small number of residential projects each year and stay involved across the full arc of the project, from spatial planning and material strategy through to joinery detail, fixed finishes and furniture.