I’m continuing here a series of interviews with makers who are redefining fantasy sex toys — not as simple objects, but as a gesture, a vision, a stance.
With Darque Path, I wanted to highlight a unique Australian brand. Independent, steeped in a dark aesthetic, and committed to inclusive, accessible craftsmanship, it offers toys that are both expressive and intentional. Behind the sculpted forms and esoteric references lies a clear goal: to create for all bodies, without compromising on style or quality.
In this interview, Darque Path’s founder reflects on how the brand was born, her creative process, her approach to bespoke design, and the everyday realities of working as a small creator in a sector still shaped by censorship, stigma, and logistical constraints.
Darque Path: Silicone, Spells, and Singular Vision
Founded in Australia by Manda, Darque Path stands out as a distinctive voice in the world of fantasy toys. Its signature: handcrafted creations with a dark, witchy aesthetic — inspired by symbolism, ritual, and gothic visual culture, all brought to life with a strong focus on inclusivity and quality.
Darque Path doesn’t try to please everyone. The brand embraces its aesthetic, values radical independence, and speaks directly to those looking for toys that are both personal and empowering.
What makes Darque Path stand out
- A strong visual identity: evocative names, sculptural silhouettes, bold textures — every creation expresses a distinct voice within a clearly claimed esoteric universe.
- Handcrafted and customizable production: every piece is hand-poured, with fully customizable color options — including palette ideas, inspiration images, and hex codes.
- Concrete attention to accessibility: some toys are specifically designed for people who struggle to hold objects, with adapted shapes and easier grip.
- Direct connection with the maker: no middlemen, no polished marketing — every order is handled by Manda herself, with careful attention to the full customer experience.
With its deeply personal approach, Darque Path follows its own path — one of expressive, ethical, and unapologetically independent craftsmanship, from the edge of the world.
Australia, Land of Sex Toys and Spells
From the start, Darque Path was built on a strong personal vision: to offer sex toys that never sacrifice aesthetics, safety, or inclusivity. Manda infuses the project with her visual codes, her values, and a sharp attention to the needs often left aside by mainstream brands. More than a creative project, Darque Path is a space where design becomes a tool for expression, empowerment, and accessibility — especially in the Australian context, where the indie toy scene is still emerging.
A visual language rooted in identity
The visual world of Darque Path — from witchcraft to shadow creatures and evocative naming — directly reflects Manda’s inner framework. “The aesthetic direction of Darque Path is born from my own aesthetic and spiritual framework.”
This was also a strategic decision. “The ‘gothic witchy twist’ is also quite a popular genre. So it made sense to work within a style that I enjoyed AND have it be its own niche that (from a business and diversity standpoint) wasn’t already flooded into the market.”
Aesthetic consistency has become essential to the brand’s creative process: “90% of DP’s designs are created by me; therefore creating to my aesthetics allows the ideas to flow during the design process.” It also reinforces Darque Path’s identity in a crowded market: “Maintaining a brand identity helps customers to know who you are, creates positive social proof and ensures your products, marketing, social media are all easily identifiable as you; the business.”
An early commitment to accessibility in Australia
Darque Path was born from a concrete need: to offer safe, inclusive, and accessible sex toys in the Australian market. In the beginning, Manda saw a clear lack of local options. Today, she sees real progress: “I definitely think the situation in Australia (and surrounds such as NZ) has gotten a lot better!”
This evolution is largely due to the emergence of other small makers: “There are 4 or 5 other makers in Australia currently. Which is AMAZING. Enabling access to good quality, body safe options from within our area, without having to pay exorbitant amount for postage can only be a good thing!”
While Darque Path remains firmly rooted in a personal and independent vision, its presence contributes to expanding the local offering, improving affordability, and giving more visibility to the still-growing Australian artisan toy scene.
When intuition shapes the material
At Darque Path, design is about sensation, attention, and listening. Manda doesn’t follow a production calendar or seasonal launches — she creates in response to real needs, aesthetic impulses, or ideas she wants to bring to life. Each toy, each color, each texture reflects a deep attention to detail, to bodies, and to what a sex toy can become: a tool for pleasure, expression, and transformation.
Imagining shapes for every body
At Darque Path, design is inseparable from questions of use, accessibility, and personal experience. Manda doesn’t just create based on her aesthetic instincts — she also aims to fill gaps in what’s available. “When I am designing, whilst I have aesthetic direction in mind, I also have a plan/purpose of what I want to create. What doesn’t exist, what could be better, what is going to help people, what there isn’t a lot of within the toy world and what gaps are there that I could possibly help fill.”
This results in shapes tailored for different bodies and abilities. One example: a penetrable designed with a reinforced grip, for people with reduced hand strength. “Masterbation for a P owner could be restricted due to a disability or low grip strength; that is cutting a huge portion out of that persons life out with no real options to help. Hence why I loved the idea of creating a penetrable that wouldnt easily slip out of someone’s hand and had external texture to enable easier grip.”
This kind of approach embodies Darque Path’s philosophy: treating the toy as a tool of empowerment, usability, and expression — without compromising on comfort, inclusion, or aesthetics.
Color freedom for singular minds
At Darque Path, there’s no fixed color chart: customization is central to the process. “The fact of not limiting colours to a colour chart enables infinite options.” Manda welcomes all sorts of inspiration — visual references, artworks, or even hexadecimal codes: “I particularly enjoy HexCode references as it’s not only something I do quite well, but it’s also not something many other creators offer and it doesn’t limit the customer to MY colour palettes so they can truely have something that is them!”
This also connects to a more personal sensitivity: “If you have a neurospicy brain (like me) staring at colour charts doesnt invoke excitement, I want to connect with my colours if Im ordering something. I want it to be me!”
Still, some customers prefer clearer visual cues. For them, Manda offers “palettes, previous pours, and inspiration examples” — a balanced approach between structure and creative freedom.
Creating to explore, refine, evolve
Darque Path’s inspiration flows from both intuition and observation. “Sometimes I will have an idea and I want to do it just because I love it and it’s functional art (the Persephone and the updated Hades’ for example).” Other times, Manda spots a missing piece in the market: “For example, fantasy themed grinders, and fantasy themed cock rings. There wasnt any in the market and they werent popular. Now there is so many and I love that!”
Some ideas also come directly from customers, or are shaped through feedback from people with different needs and experiences. “People sometimes send suggestions… and usually I already have something in the works for it haha.” This ongoing dialogue helps refine designs and respond to real needs.
Less popular toys may be cycled out — as well as molds that begin to show wear: “I definitely cycle out older designs if they aren’t as popular as others. […] I will also cycle them out if the mold is beginning to become more matte than I am comfortable with.”
Two models embody Darque Path’s spirit in particular. First, Hallows, now iconic: “It’s iconic, recognisable and at the time of its release was something totally different to what was available on the market (non phallic and could lean towards being decor to the ‘untrained eye’). It is our aesthetic, it’s non phallic, it’s pretty, it’s diverse in shape, works in a harness, has a wide ‘cauldron’ for easy grip and it’s not as ‘scary’ as some other options within the fantasy toy world. It’s an easy entry to a new world, a small step instead of a leap.”
Then comes the Persephone Grind, which pushes the artistic element even further: “It’s truely functional art. It created a new step up for the amount of detail, hand painting and how much connectedness to the art itself is possible with silicone.”
Creating in the Shadows, Standing Strong in the Light
Behind the enchanting visuals and carefully hand-poured toys, Darque Path operates within a system often hostile to independent adult brands. Being based in Australia, working alone, and refusing to compromise on safety or customer experience — all of it demands constant attention, and deliberate choices.
Whether it’s institutional stigma, international logistics, or ethical constraints, Manda plays with the rules — or sidesteps them when needed — to protect what defines her project: accessibility, honesty, and care in every detail.
This section focuses on the challenges linked to production, sales and communication in a field still shaped by censorship, suspicion, and systemic barriers.
A market shaped by stigma
Working in the adult industry — even at a small scale — remains full of obstacles. Manda doesn’t sugarcoat it: “The world is built in a way to inhibit the growth of anything that is adult industry.” From opening a bank account to running a website or social media page, everything becomes a battle when you’re selling sex toys.
She points to the limitations imposed by payment processors, platforms and hosting services — but also to deeper social reflexes. “And then there is the social constructs that shape the way many people think and then interact on social media and even sometimes in person!”
Her response depends on the intent behind the reaction. “If it is a question, reaction etc coming from a place that is just uneducated/sheltered (not obviously hateful) then I will offer to educate. Explain why something is ok or not ok. Give reasons. Question their belief system with them.” But when it’s hate or discrimination, her position is clear: “If the question, response or reaction is purely hateful, irrational, nasty or sexist/ableist/homophobic ect I will call them out. There is no space for hate here and its something I won’t tolerate.”
For Darque Path, carving out space in this industry is both an act of resistance and a form of education.
International access and customer experience
Based in Australia, Darque Path has to deal with higher shipping costs for international orders. Instead of increasing prices, Manda does the opposite: “We keep toy costs quite low in comparison to the general market even including shipping.” And she adds: “We don’t charge for more than 2 colours, split colour pours, dual density, glow in the dark or UV reactive colours, suction cup or vaculock adaptions.”
She considered local resellers or hubs, but quickly ruled them out: “If it ships straight from me to the customer I know how I packaged it, who touched it last, what the unboxing experience is going to be like.” That direct link matters: “The customer also know that when they email they are going to get a response directly from me. The person who makes the toy.”
For Darque Path, that kind of personal attention — from order to delivery — is part of what defines the brand.
Safety, Brand Image, and Second Life: A Clear Line
Product returns — especially for handmade toys — raise important questions about safety, ethics, and brand image. At Darque Path, the rule is clear: “Our policy to destroy the item is for a few reasons.” Even if unused, any opened toy must be destroyed to qualify for a refund or a repour.
First and foremost, it’s about safety: “If the item has flaws which make it unsafe it should not be sold second hand at all. […] the risk is too great that the item could be used despite only being sold as ‘decor’ or be sold on at a later date and cause harm to somebody if they decide to ‘just give it a go’ or because the flaws weren’t disclosed by the reseller.”
Brand integrity matters too. Manda draws a parallel with tattoo art: “Similar to tattoos, toy maker’s art is identifiable. Nobody wants their art, that is potentially hazardous out in the world portraying your small business’s work as of that quality.”
Then comes the financial and ethical aspect: “If the customer is receiving a repour or a refund without destroying the original item and then resells it, they are profiting off the loss from the small business. Which sadly we have heard this happens to quite a few of our fellow toy makers.”
That said, Manda doesn’t reject the idea of second-hand toys — quite the opposite: “I think the second hand market is amazing!” Darque Path already takes ecological concerns seriously: all packaging is recyclable, pour quantities are carefully measured, leftover silicone is turned into free mini squishies, and shipping is carbon offset — at no cost to the customer.
Still, she adds a nuance: “Whilst I know and teach that the 2nd hand market can be amazing both environmentally and financially, should a person choose it as the wonderful option it is; for many the idea that their new toy has been used by someone else is a little too much for them.” The persistence of this taboo highlights how social norms still shape acceptance of reuse — especially outside the silicone toy community.
Sharing Knowledge and Supporting Other Makers
Without claiming any kind of expert status, Manda plays an active and generous role within the maker community. She supports other creators behind the scenes — without seeking visibility or credit: “I have helped with colours, mold designing, business plans and website building too.”
Most of this happens privately: “I don’t want to come off as being a ‘know it all’ so don’t participate hugely in group forums. But I do read them and if someone isnt getting help then I’ll jump in.”
This mentoring role emerged naturally over time: “As I got more comfortable with my own craft and abilities, to know what I was doing was safe and effective I allowed myself to offer help to others.”
And she insists that it’s a two-way street: “Most importantly I’m always learning too and bounce things off other experienced makers also! Anyone who says they know everything about everything is a liar haha.”
At Darque Path, sharing knowledge is done without ego — but with a strong belief in learning together, passing things on, and contributing to a stronger, more supportive scene.
Darque Path: Free Forms, Clear Intentions
Darque Path isn’t trying to soften its aesthetic or appeal to everyone. Manda embraces strong shapes, a dark visual world, and bold handmade choices — all aimed at people looking for uniqueness, expression, and safety. Every design is shaped with care: for pleasure, yes, but also for real bodies, needs, and possibilities.
This mindset runs through every aspect of the brand — from product design to color options, from the client experience to navigating a deeply regulated industry. Darque Path never tries to perform. The mission is simple: to offer sex toys that are open, powerful, and embodied, without ever compromising its values. An invitation to explore differently — in the shadows, and in the light.
Curious to know more?
If Darque Path’s dark and singular universe has caught your interest, you can explore the full range of models and custom creations on their official website.
Are you a brand looking to collaborate on a product review or interview?
I’m always open to new connections — feel free to reach out using the contact form.
More articles are coming soon, with new makers to discover and toys to explore. Stay tuned!
