Brahman Perera, a different kind of designer, gained valuable skills from his experience working with leading Australian designers Fiona Lynch and Hecker Guthrie. He has over ten years of experience in design, especially in architecture, fashion, custom lighting and interior design. At the same time, he honed his signature design aesthetics in residential, hotel, workplace, multi-residence and other fields.

Yinjispace：What sparked your passion for design?

Brahman：I’ve had a passion for design for as long as I can remember. After finishing school, I earned a Bachelor of Architectural Design and Masters in Architecture from RMIT. Upon graduating, I decided to side-step into fashion design and curation, opening a boutique in Hawthorn that bolstered emerging and international designers. I then honed my skills in interior design at some of Melbourne’s top firms before deciding it was time to spread my wings.

Yinjispace：How to capture design inspiration in fashion?

Brahman：Fashion is much like interiors – it’s structured, layered and embellished. I think there’s many parallels between my approach to curating fashion and my approach to curating interiors – treating each as a landscape of textures and an expression of the individual. Melbourne Fashion Week is one of my favourite times of the year. The colour pairings, silhouettes, staging and mood is ever inspiring. 

Yinjispace：In your design, which aesthetic spirit do you pursue?

Brahman：The expression always stems from the identities of my clients, but I maintain a consistent through-line in my approach. Regardless of brief or typology, my work always strives to balance sentimentality and intent, beauty and functionality. The results are personalised, layered, tactile and romantic.

Yinjispace：Soul is the eternal theme of designers, how to realize it?

Brahman：People are drawn to spaces with authenticity. For me, that means bringing colour, sculpted details, texture and unexpected colours into dialogue. It’s about inciting the senses, elevating the everyday and creating memorable spatial experiences.

Yinjispace：Which aesthetics is your color scheme based on?

Brahman：My use of colour is based more on feeling than aesthetics. Colour is subjective, expressive, and has the capacity to completely transform a space and reflect mood. The natural world offers tonal cues that are a constant source of inspiration to me.

Yinjispace：Your work is so unique, how did you pioneer your creative path before you started?

Brahman：I genuinely live what I preach. Inspiration is often derived from unlikely sources, like a costume I see at the ballet, because I intentionally immerse myself in design, art and culture. Experimentation has always been important to my creativity. I dabble in painting, sewing and lighting design, which enhances my appreciation of the collaborators I work with and allows me to understand the limitations and capabilities of different disciplines.