What’s he famous for…
Picture this… You wake up in your Conran & Partners designed apartment, throw aside you Conran duvet cover and use your Conran towel to shower, with your Conran soap no less. You eat breakfast in your Conran Arc chair (£1399). At work, you put on your Conran specs and plan for a business lunch at Quaglino’s (Conran, of course). Back home, you’re stuck for a dinner recipe and pull out Classic Conran (£16.99, Conran Octopus Ltd) to find a recipe. You settle on something that looks fancy and you’ll probably use half the kitchen, but thanks to your bY Range (by Conran, for Sainsburys), you’ve got it covered. You serve up on crockery designed by Conran for Royal Doulton. Another day done, you get tucked in and switch off your Conran Stem lamp. Is this some freaky Conran parallel universe you ask? Hardly, dear friends. Welcome to the world of Sir Terence, where no stone is left unturned.
Keep a lookout for…
Conran’s design career began with a small restaurant called Soup Kitchen and later, he opened the first Habitat store on the Fulham Road in 1964. By 1973 there were 18 Habitats across the country and the first Conran Shop was opened. His style has been credited for shaping middle-class interiors of the 60s and 70s and he literally shaped contemporary ‘lifestyle’ as we know it. In 1974, Conran’s first House Book was published, and it has since become a trusty reference for anyone with an interest in design. His name is now attached to umpteen interiors products, restaurants, books and architectural designs. His Matador chair (£795.00), part of the Content for Conran collection, seeks to bring quality, affordable designs to the masses.
Insider fact
Entrepreneurial skills came early to Conran. As a boy, he cottoned on quick to the market of girls toys, selling dolls house furniture to his sister’s friends. Bless.
Sentence to drop in at a dinner party?
In the religion of solid British design, Sir Terence is certainly at the top of the holy ones. He says of his industry, ‘Perhaps believing in good design is like believing in God, it makes you an optimist.’
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