Women in Australia are redefining what design looks like across disciplines. From architecture and interior design to ceramics and lighting, these innovators are bringing bold ideas, considered craftsmanship and distinct perspectives to how we live.
What connects these women designers is that they’re not following a template. Each has carved her own path, solved problems nobody else was asking about, and built something that matters. Their work reminds us that design isn’t singular. It lives in the spaces we inhabit, the objects we choose and the choices we make early, before anyone sees the pretty finishes.
Meet the women shaping Australia’s design industry right now.
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Interior architects
Interior architects bring strategic thinking to the spaces we live in. They understand how architecture, design and daily life intersect. And some of the most remarkable ones are, of course, women.
Anne Hindley: Hindley & Co
Anne Hindley is the founder and creative director of Hindley & Co, an architecture and interior design practice. She is a registered architect and accredited interior designer with more than 35 years of experience. She brings strategic thinking, intuition and technical expertise to complex design decisions.
Hindley & Co provides strategic early advice as well as integrated architecture and interior design, helping clients understand property potential before committing significant time and money.
Why she started
Anne saw two significant gaps in the market. The first was the separation between architecture and interior design. People experience a house as a whole, not as separate professional disciplines.
When architecture and interiors are considered together from the outset, the result is more cohesive. Every decision reinforces the next.
The second gap was the lack of rigorous design advice at the very beginning of a project. Clients often make their most consequential decisions before appointing an architect. Buying a property, setting a budget, defining a brief or deciding whether to renovate, extend or rebuild. By the time design begins, they may already be committed to the wrong path.
Her point of difference
To Anne, a great outcome begins with the client knowing they’ve made the right fundamental decisions, not simply receiving an attractive design. The project should respond intelligently to the site, budget and the way the client wants to live.
The completed house should function beautifully, feel deeply personal and continue to reveal moments of delight over time.
Her strategic early advice helps clients understand what’s possible, what it will involve and where the real value lies before significant time and money are committed.
Get in touch: hindleyco.com.au | @hindleyandco
Jenn Sinclair: Comma Projects
Jenn Sinclair is a designer and property developer with a background in architecture. Comma Projects grew out of designing and developing her own home on the Gold Coast. Over the years, Jenn has sat across pretty much every side of the table. Designer, client, developer, working with builders and trades, making selections and solving things on site.
These days she also shares what she’s learned through an advisory and education role, helping women learn to read their own drawings rather than learning it all the expensive way.
Why she started
After stepping away from high-end residential design for a number of years, Jenn returned to the industry as a client and developer on her own projects. That’s when everything changed.
She saw an enormous gap between designing a beautiful house and actually getting that house built the way it was intended. There are so many decisions happening during construction. Tiny things that seem insignificant at the time but have a huge impact on the finished result. That space between the drawings and the finished house became what she’s most interested in solving.
Her point of difference
Jenn is obsessed with what makes homes actually work during construction and feel good once they’re built. She’s spent years learning to read plans properly, then years watching what happens on site when nobody else in the room understands the construction side.
Her work bridges the gap that most designers ignore. She’s now sharing this expertise through advisory and plan reviews, helping women read their own drawings, ask the right questions at the right stage and understand enough terminology that nobody can talk over them.
Get in touch: commaprojects.com.au | @comma_projects
Interior stylists and designers
These designers work directly with clients to make spaces feel like home. They understand that design isn’t about following rules. It’s about creating spaces that work for the people that live in them. Meet some of the women shaping Australia’s design industry in the interior styling and design space.
Christal Fysentzou: Zou Home
Christal Fysentzou is the founder and interior stylist behind Zou Home. Her love of interiors developed over many years with Zou Build, where she helped shape warm, practical homes and gained valuable understanding of the building and renovation process.
Zou Home offers approachable styling and decorating services tailored to each client’s lifestyle, existing home and budget.
Why she started
Christal often walks into someone’s home and offers very simple advice. Changing a wall colour, repositioning a piece of furniture to improve the flow or removing a few cushions.
These small changes make an enormous difference to how a space looks and functions. Zou Home was created for people who want approachable, practical guidance without feeling they need a full-scale interior design service.
Her point of difference
Christal believes a home can feel modern and thoughtfully styled without being defined by short-lived trends. Her approach prioritises timeless choices that will be loved for years, not seasons.
When designing her own home (you can take the tour here) she asked herself whether every choice would extend beyond the current trend cycle. Whether she would still love it in five or 10 years, and whether it would grow with her family.
Almost five years later, she hasn’t had a single design regret. She brings that same philosophy to every project. Creating spaces that are beautiful, comfortable and practical without requiring endless refreshes or trend chasing.
Get in touch: zouhome.com.au | @zouhome_
Gina Beschorner: Style Curator
Gina Beschorner is an interior stylist, designer and the founder of our very own Style Curator.
Starting her career in communications and social media, Gina launched Style Curator in 2014 and grew it into a trusted destination for achievable styling ideas, practical renovation advice and stories about the makers, artists and designers shaping Australian homes.
Today, Style Curator is one of Australia’s leading independent interior design and styling publications, while Gina also lends her styling and design expertise to brands, creative projects and residential spaces.
Why she started
Gina launched Style Curator from a love of interiors and a desire to make good design feel more accessible. Rather than speaking only to high-end projects and picture-perfect homes, she wanted to share achievable ideas, discover emerging talent and help readers feel more confident creating homes they love.
That philosophy continues to shape Style Curator today, balancing inspiration with practical advice on everything from styling and DIY to renovating and bathroom design.
Her point of difference
Gina has built Style Curator around the idea that beautiful design and practical advice can coexist. Alongside architecturally designed home tours and interviews with leading Australian creatives, the site offers achievable styling ideas, renovation advice, DIY projects and accessible design education.
She has also consistently used the platform to champion Australian talent — from established interior designers and architects to emerging artists, makers and small design businesses.
More than a decade on, Gina continues to evolve Style Curator while staying true to the idea at its heart: helping people create a home they love, whatever their budget or level of design experience.
Get in touch: stylecurator.com.au | @stylecuratorau
Product designers
Product designers make the things we live with every day and make them practical yet beautiful. They ask what’s missing from the market, then create something that shouldn’t exist any other way. Check out some of the women shaping Australia’s design industry.
Lighting designers
Lighting shapes how we experience a space. These designers understand that the right light doesn’t just illuminate, it transforms.
Isabelle Bayly: FRANCA Studio
Isabelle Bayly is the Founder and Creative Director of FRANCA Studio, a Brisbane-based design studio specialising in contemporary, 3D-printed lighting and objects.
In 2023, while renovating an apartment in Noosa, she became frustrated by the lack of lighting options that felt both well-designed and accessible. She founded FRANCA Studio with her husband Tom, and today focuses on locally manufactured, made-to-order lighting using 3D printing as a sustainable production method.
Why she started
Isabelle saw a gap between affordable lighting and high-end designer pieces. Many beautiful lights were either incredibly expensive or mass-produced overseas with little transparency around how they were made.
During her apartment renovation, she couldn’t find wall lights that felt sculptural, contemporary and accessible, so she designed one herself. That first design, the Coral Wall Light, inspired by Noosa’s natural surroundings, became the foundation of FRANCA Studio. What began as a solution for their own home quickly grew into something bigger.
Her point of difference
Isabelle wanted to create lighting that feels considered and architectural while remaining accessible to more people. Manufacturing locally through 3D-printing allowed her to make products to order, eliminating excess inventory and significantly reducing waste compared with traditional manufacturing.
FRANCA Studio uses plant-based PLA and experimental materials like coffee grounds and oyster shells, transforming waste streams into beautiful, functional products. Her work proves that technology isn’t replacing craftsmanship, it’s enabling a new form of it.
She’s designed pieces that belong in boutique hospitality projects and family homes across Australia and overseas, each one proof that sustainable design and sculptural beauty aren’t mutually exclusive.
Get in touch: francastudio.com.au | @_francalighting_
Taylor McGuire Barber: DUNLIN
Taylor McGuire Barber is the Creative Director of DUNLIN, an Australian design house she leads with her husband Nicholas. Together, they’ve shaped DUNLIN into a considered destination for contemporary design, creating their own lighting collections alongside an exclusive Australian representation of some of the world’s most discerning designers and makers. Their approach is grounded in curation and longevity, bringing together pieces with strong character, material integrity and enduring appeal.
Her point of difference
Born in America, Taylor brings a distinctive, globally informed eye to DUNLIN. She curates pieces that have a strong sense of character and material integrity, selecting designs that feel enduring rather than trendy. She’s building a design house centred on the belief that great design has longevity, and that what matters is living with things that mean something to you.
Taylor resists design rules, trusting instead in what feels right rather than what’s expected. Light is central to how she thinks about space and understands that it can dramatically transform the mood and character of a room. Her curation at DUNLIN brings a sophisticated eye to contemporary design.
Get in touch: dunlin.com.au | @dunlinhome
Furniture designers
Furniture designers think in decades, not seasons. They understand that a great chair, table or cabinet needs to feel right today and stand the test of time. These designers are rethinking what Australian furniture means and who gets to claim it. See the women shaping Australia’s design industry in the furniture arena.
Toni Briggs-Brown: TH Brown
Toni Briggs-Brown is the refounder and owner of TH Brown, the iconic Australian furniture brand established in South Australia in 1911. With more than 30 years working across marketing, e-commerce and brand strategy, Toni stepped into ownership of TH Brown and took full responsibility for its future.
She describes the brand as a 116-year-old brand wrapped up as a start-up. More than a century of provenance, extraordinary design archive and strong brand DNA, combined with the energy and agility of a young business.
Why she started
Toni didn’t found TH Brown, she refounded it. The turning point came when she discovered that original TH Brown pieces, decades after they were first made, were still being hunted down and collected. That raised a serious question: was there still a contemporary market for these designs, or was this just nostalgia?
She dipped a toe in the water with the Danish bar stool and waited. The response told her something crucial. People weren’t buying it because they remembered it, they were buying it because it was a good chair, a beautiful design and that iconic, classic style.
That’s when she understood the thing that now sits at the centre of her thinking: timeless design doesn’t have an expiry date.
Her point of difference
Toni approaches TH Brown as evolution, not reinvention. She protects what matters: the DNA, the craftsmanship, Australian design and manufacturing, the integrity of the original designs.
But respecting history doesn’t mean being constrained by it. She’s selective about what comes back into production. Not every piece in the archive is iconic, and not every piece needs to be. What matters is whether the design still has integrity today, whether it can stand on its own and make a statement while sitting comfortably in different homes and different generations.
She’s invested in keeping Australian design in production rather than celebrating it only in the past tense. Australia has never had a shortage of great designers, but as a country, we’ve been less good at keeping the work in production. Toni’s job is making sure that scale never puts distance between TH Brown and the people who treasure these pieces.
Get in touch: thbrown.com.au | @thbrownaustralia
Gallery curation and art direction
These women are building institutions that champion Australian artists and make original art accessible to everyone. They understand that supporting creatives means more than hanging work on walls. It means being a champion, a long-term advocate and a community builder.
Philippa Demase: Art to Art
Philippa Demase is the founder and director of Art to Art, a contemporary Australian art gallery in Melbourne. Art to Art showcases more than 80 artists at any given time and has become known for its commitment to supporting emerging and established talent while making original art more accessible to collectors at every stage of their journey.
Why she started
Philippa founded Art to Art because she wanted to create the gallery she always wished existed. At the time, buying art often felt intimidating and exclusive. There was a perception that galleries were only for serious collectors or people who already knew the rules.
She wanted to challenge those traditional perceptions of the art world and create a space that broke down barriers. Where anyone could discover and collect original art with confidence, regardless of their experience or budget. She believes life is too short for blank walls and that collecting art shouldn’t feel like a secret club.
Her point of difference
Philippa’s approach to gallery curation is defined by long-term commitment to artists. Six artists have been with Art to Art since it first opened, and 16 have been represented for five years or more. In an industry where artists are often expected to navigate their careers alone, those sustained relationships matter enormously. She’s built a gallery that doesn’t just exhibit work. It backs artists over time, helping them build sustainable creative careers.
The Secondary Art Market, her most distinctive offering, operates on the belief that great art deserves more than one life. By connecting collectors with carefully curated pre-owned artworks from recognised Australian artists, she’s created a more sustainable way to collect while giving artworks a chance to find new homes.
Get in touch: arttoart.com.au | @arttoart_
Space design and wellbeing
Some designers approach space as a whole system. Not just how it looks, but how it makes us feel and function. Let us introduce you to the women shaping Australia’s design industry in this less than common design space.
Jane Langof: Feng Shui Concepts
Jane Langof is an award-winning Feng Shui Master, author, speaker and founder of Feng Shui Concepts. Since 2008, she has worked across residential, commercial, hospitality and cultural projects, helping create spaces that support wellbeing, success and long-term value.
She’s a leading voice in contemporary Feng Shui, bringing authentic traditional practice into mainstream property and design conversations. She thrives on showing how it can work within modern homes and developments without compromising good design.
Why she started
For decades, much of what the western world understood about Feng Shui was a simplified or distorted version of the traditional practice. At the other end of the spectrum, Jane saw traditional Feng Shui applied so rigidly that strict formulas took priority over good architecture, form and function, resulting in poor design outcomes.
She started Feng Shui Concepts to show that authentic Feng Shui can be practised in a way that is beautiful, functional and makes commercial sense. It shouldn’t require people to compromise good design. Feng Shui done properly should enhance good design.
Her point of difference
Jane brings analytical rigour to a practice often dismissed or misunderstood. Her design background helps her build trust with architects and designers who’ve seen Feng Shui recommendations compromise good architecture.
She always looks for ways to make Feng Shui work with good form, function and aesthetics rather than against them. Her work with major developments show that integrating Feng Shui early in the planning process creates better outcomes than treating it as an afterthought.
Website & Contact: fengshuiconcepts.com.au | @fengshuiconcepts
Textile and wallpaper designers
Wallpaper and textiles designers understand that pattern, colour and scale can transform a room, and that the best designs work across seasons, trends and years. They’re bringing boldness, restraint and storytelling into the fabrics and walls that define our spaces.
Here are just some of the women shaping Australia’s design industry in the textile and wallpaper space.
Brooke Taylor: Boho Art & Styling
Brooke Taylor is the Director of Boho Art & Styling, an online store offering affordable artwork and premium removable wallpaper for the home. Boho Art & Styling is a collection of Brooke’s own photography and designs alongside carefully curated pieces. She works as a photographer, digital artist and creative director, bringing coastal and nature-inspired works to Australian homes.
Read our feature on Boho Art & Styling
Patricia Braune
With a refined eye for detail and a deep appreciation for the natural world, Patricia Braune has carved out a distinctive place in the interiors space. Known for her intricate, hand-drawn wallpaper and textile designs, Patricia’s work bridges the gap between art and application. She transforms wallpaper and textiles into immersive visual experiences through thoughtfully balanced designs.
Read our full chat with Patricia here
Ceramic artists
Ceramicists create objects we hold, use and live with every day. These artists understand that a beautiful bowl or vase isn’t decoration, it’s a daily conversation between hand and home, between maker and the people who treasure what they’ve made.
Let us share a few of our fave women shaping Australia’s design industry in the world of ceramics.
Alice Bell: Alice Bell Ceramics
Alice Bell designs Australian-made ceramics and is known for her perfectly imperfect creations. Her vases and bowls have an earthy speckled finish inspired by natures raw beauty. She describes her ceramics as rugged in texture and completely unique.
Discover more about Alice Bell Ceramics
Michelle Morton
Michelle Morton is a Brisbane-based coastal ceramic artist who creates hand-built stoneware that channels the textures, movement and imperfections of the Australian coastline. Her pieces sit somewhere between function and sculpture, each one shaped by the same rocky bays and tidal pools she’s spent a lifetime exploring.
Read our one-on-one chat with Michelle here
Elena Strohfeldt: Elso Collective
Elena Strohfeldt creates raw, handmade ceramics that explore art as therapy and healing. Her work combines vulnerability with beauty, creating pieces that are both technically skilled and deeply personal.
Read more here.
Floral designers
Flowers are often the last piece of design, yet these designers approach florals with the same rigour as furniture makers.
Kellie Brown: Fig & Bloom
Kellie Brown is the founder and creative director of Fig & Bloom, a premium flower delivery service. She trained in fashion design at RMIT and spent a decade designing for various well known fashion labels. She then took to florals, studying at FlowerSchool New York under Shane Connolly, floral designer for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine.
Why she started
In 2015 you could buy beautiful flowers from a good florist if you walked into one. Online, however, was a different experience. The same mixed bunch, photographed under the same lighting, often with a gaudy teddy bear.
Kellie wanted flowers you could send across the country that still looked designed. She wanted them colour-led rather than variety-led, structured rather than gathered, and packaged like something you would want to be seen carrying. That was the whole idea when she started, and still is to this very day.
Her point of difference
Kellie came to flowers from fashion, so thinks in silhouette and palette before she thinks in stems. Most of the work is deciding what to leave out. She pioneered colour blocking in Australian floristry, building arrangements with blocks of a single tone rather than scattering colour through a composition, letting shape do the work instead of relying on a focal flower.
Her work treats flowers as the last piece of design, a privilege that demands the highest standard.
Get in touch: figandbloom.com | @fig_and_bloom
These are just some of the women shaping Australia’s design industry right now. It’s in the homes we’re building, the objects we’re choosing and the spaces we’re learning to live in more thoughtfully.
The Australian design industry is full of remarkable women asking important questions and creating things that matter. These women designers are proving that there’s no single path to design, no single way to work and no single definition of success. What matters is the work itself and the integrity with which it’s done.
More interviews with creatives here
