Terence Conran

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Sir Terence Orby Conran (born in Esher Surrey on October 4, 1931) is an English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer.

1 Early life and Education
2 Work
- 2.1 Representation and Awards
3 Family
4 External links

[edit] Early life and Education

Terence Conran's father was a business man who owned a rubber importation company in East London.

Conran was educated at Bryanston School in Dorset and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design where he studied textiles. As a student Conran worked on the Festival of Britain on the main South Bank site.

[edit] Work

Conran started his own design practice in 1956 with the Summa furniture range and designing a shop for Mary Quant. In 1964 he opened the first Habitat shop in Chelsea with his third wife Caroline Herbert, which grew into a large chain selling household goods and furniture in contemporary designs. In the mid-1980s Conran expanded Habitat into the Storehouse group of companies that included Mothercare and Heals but in 1990 he lost control of the company. His later retail companies include the Conran Shop.

He has also been involved in architecture and interior design, including London's Michelin House (which he turned into the restaurant Bibendum) and the Bluebird Garage both in Chelsea. Conran had a major role in the regeneration in the early 1990s of the Shad Thames area of London next to Tower Bridge that includes the Design Museum which is managed by the Conran Foundation.

Conran has also created various other London restaurants including the Soup Kitchen, Orrery, Quaglino's, Mezzo (restaurant), Pont de la Tour, Blueprint Cafe, Butler's Wharf Chop House, together with restaurants in various other countries. In 2005 he was named as the most influential restaurateur in the UK by CatererSearch, the website of Caterer and Hotelkeeper magazine.

He has written and published various books, particularly on interior design.

[edit] Representation and Awards

Conran was knighted in 1983.

Conran is a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers, and winner of the Minerva Medal, the Society's highest award.

Since 2003, he has been provost of the Royal College of Art. That was also the year he received the Prince Phillip Designers Prize, in recognition of his lifetime achievements in design.

[edit] Family

The fashion designer Jasper Conran is his son with his second wife, the writer Shirley Conran. Other outstanding members of the family include Sebastian Conran (designer), Tim Conran (restaurateur), and Sophie Conran (pies, and design).

Conran and Caroline Herbert divorced in 1996; she settled for £6.2 million out of his £80 million assets. Although the court had acknowledged that she had more than 30 years made an outstanding contribution to the Habitat and restaurant businesses, the trial judge thought it "absurd" to suggest that she had played an equal role in the generation of wealth.

They have a daughter, Sophie Conran.

Conran's sister Priscilla is the wife of leading chef Antonio Carluccio who once worked for Conran.