This series, COLLECTIBLE In-Depth, unveils the backstage of contemporary creation. Tackling various topics from personal designer processes to the position of collectible design on the global design market, COLLECTIBLE In-Depth offers different views to suit all tastes. Today we speak with Femme Brutale.

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COLLECTIBLE: Can you talk about a new piece or collection you are presenting at COLLECTIBLE this  year?

Femme Brutale: Femme Brutale presents Sensual Living Systems™ at Collectible, Brussels 2026. Sensual Living Systems™ unfolds in three parts: Sella — to sit; Tabula — to rest; and Volume — to interject.

Through a language of metaphor, volume, and material, Femme Brutale creates objects that balance utility with beauty, playfulness with precision, and starkness with warmth.

C: How did you get into collectible design? Why did you focus your practice on this type of  design rather than industrial design? 

FB: My practice is both Collectible and Industrial. Having been trained formally as an Industrial Designer under the Bauhaus model (in which all crafts and philosophies were highly interdisciplinary).  I would posit that many of the icons from this period (Eileen Gray, Leonora Carrington, Perriand) married these two sectors. Furthermore, when I recall my research and strategy focused training, it faithfully paved solutions for connection, storytelling and poetry. Or, one might also consider these as the two tenets that have grounded my process; providing rigour, rhyme, reason, and narrative in unison.  I believe the tension between Collectible and Industrial design channels connection, resonance, longevity and a type of unknown / raw beauty. It moves your soul!

C: How will collectible design influence spaces outside the home?

FB: When Collectible design is craft, narrative driven and ideally handmade, it yields rich possibility for public / communal spaces. Hospitality is an obvious realm, however spas, wellness, institutional and cultural arenas are also enriched by Collectible design.

In this rapidly changed world; human connection, inclusivity, the analogue, the handmade - IE “feeling” are all enriched through the lens of design. And this inherent desire to speak to, to touch the human condition, meaningfully are hugely in demand / needed in the immediate. Emotional response, is immeasurable and embodies abundant potential within the field of reclaiming culture, handcraft and collectible design, and the communities cultivated from them!

C: What does collectible design bring compared to more mass-produced objects?

FB: Emotional response on tap! Within a world brimming with waste and a plethora of “stuff”, desperate for authenticity, emotive driven design posit real power for creating objects and forms that are built for longevity, not disposability. 

Where the hand of the maker is present, a tactility, intimacy and connection is instantly born. It’s electric, synchronicity in analogue!  A symbiotic dialogue between maker and collector / user / guest.

C: How do you position your city within the global design market? What makes it unique? 

FB: Naarm / Melbourne, while adolescent in terms of its Western civilisation and colonial structures, is a city of potential with an extremely active and dynamic design community.  Having spent the last two decades in the USA, my appreciation for my hometown is one of abundance but also, now invariably seen through the lens of America. The ingenuity and range of solo practices, independent artist, and designers is quite astonishing!  A coalescing of socioeconomics and politics render founding an independent studio a less risky enterprise than other countries in many ways. It feels like a place of optimism and opportunity which is refreshing!

C: How do you question or challenge functionality in your design process? 

FB: Femme Brutale is considered functional sculpture, a series of Sensual Living Systems™.  By its very genesis, they are not mutually exclusive, one does not override the other. Laurie Anderson’s three principles to live by are good ones; is it freaky / weird? Is it smart? Is it beautiful? 

COLLECTIBLE: Can you talk about a new piece or collection you are presenting at COLLECTIBLE this  year?

Femme Brutale: Femme Brutale presents Sensual Living Systems™ at Collectible, Brussels 2026. Sensual Living Systems™ unfolds in three parts: Sella — to sit; Tabula — to rest; and Volume — to interject.

Through a language of metaphor, volume, and material, Femme Brutale creates objects that balance utility with beauty, playfulness with precision, and starkness with warmth.

C: How did you get into collectible design? Why did you focus your practice on this type of  design rather than industrial design? 

FB: My practice is both Collectible and Industrial. Having been trained formally as an Industrial Designer under the Bauhaus model (in which all crafts and philosophies were highly interdisciplinary).  I would posit that many of the icons from this period (Eileen Gray, Leonora Carrington, Perriand) married these two sectors. Furthermore, when I recall my research and strategy focused training, it faithfully paved solutions for connection, storytelling and poetry. Or, one might also consider these as the two tenets that have grounded my process; providing rigour, rhyme, reason, and narrative in unison.  I believe the tension between Collectible and Industrial design channels connection, resonance, longevity and a type of unknown / raw beauty. It moves your soul!

C: How will collectible design influence spaces outside the home?

FB: When Collectible design is craft, narrative driven and ideally handmade, it yields rich possibility for public / communal spaces. Hospitality is an obvious realm, however spas, wellness, institutional and cultural arenas are also enriched by Collectible design.

In this rapidly changed world; human connection, inclusivity, the analogue, the handmade - IE “feeling” are all enriched through the lens of design. And this inherent desire to speak to, to touch the human condition, meaningfully are hugely in demand / needed in the immediate. Emotional response, is immeasurable and embodies abundant potential within the field of reclaiming culture, handcraft and collectible design, and the communities cultivated from them!

C: What does collectible design bring compared to more mass-produced objects?

FB: Emotional response on tap! Within a world brimming with waste and a plethora of “stuff”, desperate for authenticity, emotive driven design posit real power for creating objects and forms that are built for longevity, not disposability. 

Where the hand of the maker is present, a tactility, intimacy and connection is instantly born. It’s electric, synchronicity in analogue!  A symbiotic dialogue between maker and collector / user / guest.

C: How do you position your city within the global design market? What makes it unique? 

FB: Naarm / Melbourne, while adolescent in terms of its Western civilisation and colonial structures, is a city of potential with an extremely active and dynamic design community.  Having spent the last two decades in the USA, my appreciation for my hometown is one of abundance but also, now invariably seen through the lens of America. The ingenuity and range of solo practices, independent artist, and designers is quite astonishing!  A coalescing of socioeconomics and politics render founding an independent studio a less risky enterprise than other countries in many ways. It feels like a place of optimism and opportunity which is refreshing!

C: How do you question or challenge functionality in your design process? 

FB: Femme Brutale is considered functional sculpture, a series of Sensual Living Systems™.  By its very genesis, they are not mutually exclusive, one does not override the other. Laurie Anderson’s three principles to live by are good ones; is it freaky / weird? Is it smart? Is it beautiful?