Melbourne Design Week returns in 2025 with a program that invites the design community to explore the theme ‘Design the World You Want.’ Among its anticipated highlights is a thoughtful, immersive collaboration between Aesop and Jessie French’s experimental materials studio, OTHER MATTER. Running from 15th to 25th May, this event offers a multi-site experience across Melbourne’s city centre, using design as a medium to reimagine our relationship with petrochemicals and sustainability.
Now in its second year, the partnership between Aesop and OTHER MATTER reflects a shared commitment to design innovation and environmental stewardship. At its core is a public exploration of post-petrochemical possibilities through a series of installations located at four Aesop stores: Flinders Lane, Collins Street, David Jones Bourke Street and QV Melbourne. Visitors are encouraged to embark on a self-guided tour through these locations, culminating in a takeaway gesture – a non-petrochemical, algae-based decal that can be applied to surfaces at home.
“What will be lovely is for people to take away an understanding of the breadth of [these issues] and an awareness of material,” says French. “From the public point of view, it’s that understanding of materials. From a design point of view, it’s [the idea that] there is a solution and how we can improve. It’s also about hope – that it’s within our realm to do something better.”
The installations bring attention to bioplastics as a viable and responsible alternative to traditional petroleum-based materials. French has created window decals for each location using biodegradable material; in contrast to PVC and other synthetic polymers, these decals are non-toxic, reusable and compostable, embodying a closed-loop system that aligns with the principles of circular economy. The aim is not only to reduce harm but to shift consumer expectations around materials and aesthetics in retail and product environments.
Inside the installations, the work ranges from transparent curtains made of algae to vials containing biomaterials in the process of decomposing, each element inviting reflection on life cycles, impermanence and renewal. These tactile, science-driven presentations are designed to resonate strongly with the overarching 2025 Melbourne Design Week theme: ‘Heal, Replenish and Enable Life.’
The decision to curate the Aesop collaboration in the form of multiple locations marks a significant evolution from 2024. For French, it means that the pieces are effectively activated as a walking tour, while her involvement with the decal innovation has progressed from prototype to product this year.
“We’re presenting a snapshot of all the things we’ve done in this partnership so far. We’ve achieved so much and Aesop has been such a wonderful partner – they’ve been our early industry partner, the first to trial new signage film globally, and the first ones to actually put it in a retail store. I think the way Aesop approaches it is to showcase what we can do differently in retail,” says French.
Indeed, French has an exceptionally busy Design Week on the cards. Alongside the Aesop collaboration, OTHER MATTER will be presenting a first piece of lighting design as part of ‘Present Matter(s),’ an exhibition curated by the Christopher Boots studio – “the show will be about more artistic works, as well as the lighting application,” notes French.
Then there is ‘Future Ambition’ by Craft, a showcase of innovative and ambitious works by seven artists and makers investing in new pathways forward. OTHER MATTER will present ‘Surface Tension,’ a work aimed at raising issues about PVC. French explains, alarmingly, that the amount produced each year is roughly equivalent to the whole of Victoria’s landmass. “We’re literally covering the whole of Victoria in this film that sits on walls and wraps our public spaces, but there isn’t enough awareness out there about how toxic this material is – it doesn’t go anywhere and it’s not recyclable.”
OTHER MATTER is also working with Sibling Architecture on their exhibition ‘Deep Calm,’ which explores how furniture can hug, hold and squeeze its users. French’s studio, meanwhile, is engaged more widely across Design Week by providing a number of exhibitions and venues with their vinyls.
A particular program highlight is set for Saturday 17th May, when French will lead a guided tour of the Aesop installations. This event, available by registration, will provide deeper insight into the material research and design philosophy underpinning the collaboration.
