Trained at ENSAAMA in Paris, Nicole Aptel designs with an idea of home in mind: not just how a room looks, but how it feels to live in. She has built her career on seating, sofas and upholstered furniture for European homeware brands, with collaborations reaching as far as Singapore.

Often described as having an alchemist's touch, she turns familiar materials like fabric, foam and metal into pieces that genuinely move people. She treats comfort as a creative goal rather than a constraint.

Her Brecio armchair pairs fabric upholstery with a graphic black metal frame, a study in contrast.