Jasper Alexander Thirlby Conran (born 12 December 1959) is an English designer. He has worked on collections of womenswear and for the home, as well as productions for the stage in ballet, opera and theatre.

Early life

He is the second son of

Sir Terence Conran Sir Terence Orby Conran (4 October 1931 – 12 September 2020) was an English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. He founded the Design Museum in Shad Thames, London in 1989 The British designer Thomas Heatherwick said that Conran ...

, a designer, and Shirley Pearce, an author; his parents divorced when he was two years of age. He was educated at Port Regis School and

Bryanston School Bryanston School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the town of Blandford Forum, in Dorset in South West England. It was founded in 1928. ...

in the 1970s; he also studied at the Parsons School of Art and Design in New York, United States (US).

Career

Conran's first collection was for

Henri Bendel Henri Bendel, Inc. (pronounced BEN-del), established in 1895, was a women's department store based in New York City which in its later history sold women's handbags, jewelry, luxury fashion accessories, home fragrances and gifts. Its New York Ci ...

in New York City. In 1978, aged 19, Conran designed his first womenswear collection under his own name. The following year he was elected to be part of the London Designer collections. Conran designed his first menswear collection in 1985. Conran designed the wedding dress of Princess Margaret's daughter,

Lady Sarah Chatto Lady Sarah Frances Elizabeth Chatto (née Armstrong-Jones; born 1 May 1964) is the only daughter of Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon. She and her brother, David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon, are the only ...

(formerly Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones) in 1994. He also designed clothes for Diana, Princess of Wales. In 1989 Conran collaborated with Land Rover Ltd on the interior of the then new Land Rover Discovery. In 1999, he began designing a signature range of

stemware Stemware is drinkware that stands on stems above a base. It is usually made from glass, but may be made from ceramics or metals. The stem allows the drinker to hold the glass without affecting the temperature of the drink. Stemware includes: * ...

for Stuart Crystal and later for

Waterford Crystal Waterford Crystal is a manufacturer of lead glass or "crystal", especially in cut glass, named after the city of Waterford, Ireland. In January 2009, the main Waterford Crystal manufacturing base on the edge of Waterford was closed due to the ...

. In 2001, he launched a fine bone china tableware collection for

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...

. In 1996, Conran launched a womenswear range for the

Debenhams Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish ...

chain of department stores in the UK. He has subsequently designed women's accessories, lingerie, hosiery, menswear, men's accessories, childrenswear, and homeware for the company. Conran has released furnishing, fabric and wallpaper collections for

Designers Guild Designers Guild is an international home and lifestyle company with a flagship store and showrooms on Kings Road and Marylebone High Street in London, as well as offices in London, Paris, and Munich. Designers Guild designs and wholesales furni ...

, as well as a range of signature fragrances and luggage. In 2004, Conran designed and launched a three-range fireplace collection for Chesney's. He launched the Jasper Conran Optical in 2008. Conran was a Governor at

from 2007-2009 and a trustee of

The Architecture Foundation Founded in 1991, The Architecture Foundation is Britain's oldest independent architecture centre. It examines contemporary issues in architectural theory and practice, through a public programme that has involved exhibitions, competitions publicatio ...

(2010 - 2012) and the

Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wallace, who built the extensive collection, along ...

(2007 - 2015). Conran is the chairman and chief executive of Jasper Conran Holdings Ltd. Conran was appointed Creative Director of The Conran Shop in 2011, and, in 2012, Conran was appointed as the chairman where he spent three years conceiving and implementing a strategy to reinvigorate and reposition the business. In March 2014, Conran was appointed Chairman of Conran Holdings Ltd, stepping down in 2015. Conran published his first book, ''Jasper Conran Country'' in 2010. The 300-page photographic essay was completed during a year of exploration around the English countryside. In 2016 Conran opened his first hotel in the heart of the Medina in Marrakesh, L'Hotel Marrakech. In 2017 L'Hôtel Marrakech was listed as 1 of 75 in the Hot List 2017: Best New Hotels in the World, Condé Nast Traveler USA and 1 of 55 'Best New Hotels in the World by Conde Nast Traveller UK. In 2018 L'Hôtel Marrakech was included on the Condé Nast Traveler USA Gold List 2018. Condé Nast Traveler USA and Condé Nast Traveler UK both listed L'Hôtel Marrakech as one of their editors all-time favourite hotels on their respective 2019 Gold Lists. Conran has served several times on the British Fashion Council, and is a Visiting Professor at the University of the Arts London.

Performing arts

Throughout his career, Conran has pursued his passion for the performing arts—he has designed costumes and sets for fourteen ballet, opera and theatre productions. Conran collaborated with

David Bintley Sir David Julian Bintley (born 17 September 1957) is an English former ballet dancer, the artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, and co-artistic director of the New National Theatre Tokyo ballet company. Early life Bintley was born ...

on the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

's production of ''Tombeaux'', held at Covent Garden, and a series of productions by the Birmingham Royal Ballet, including ''The Nutcracker Sweeties'', ''Brahms/Handel Variations'', ''The Shakespeare Suite'' and ''Arthur Part I & II''. He also designed the set and costumes for Bintley's ''The Compleat Consort'', produced for the Bayerisches Staatsballett in Munich, Germany. Other works include the production of ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...

'' directed by

Simon Callow Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English film, television and voice actor, director, narrator and writer. He was twice nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his roles in ''A Room with a View'' (19 ...

, Donzetti's opera ''

Maria Stuarda ''Maria Stuarda'' (Mary Stuart) is a tragic opera (''tragedia lirica''), in two acts, by Gaetano Donizetti, to a libretto by Giuseppe Bardari, based on Andrea Maffei's translation of Friedrich Schiller's 1800 play '' Maria Stuart''. The ope ...

'' for ENO and

Galina Samsova Galina Samsova (born Galina Martynovna Samtsova, 14 March 1937 – 11 December 2021) was a Russian ballet dancer and company director. Early life and training Samsova was born as Galina Martynovna Samtsova (she later simplified the spelling of ...

's productions of '' Swan Lake'' and '' The Sleeping Beauty'' for the

Scottish Ballet Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1969, ...

. In 1991, Conran won the Laurence Olivier Award for Costume Design for

Jean Anouilh Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh (; 23 June 1910 – 3 October 1987) was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 play ''Antigone'', an a ...

's ''The Rehearsal'' at the Almeida Theatre in London, UK. Full list of productions *The Rehearsal, Jean Anouilh, 1991 (Laurence Olivier Award, 1991) *My Fair Lady, Simon Callow, 1992 *Tombeaux, David Bintley, 1993,

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

*Sleeping Beauty, Galina Samsova, 1994, Scottish Ballet *Brahms/Handel Variations, David Bintley, 1994, Birmingham Royal Ballet *Stravinsky Symphony in C, 1994,

Bavarian State Opera The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...

, Munich *The Complete Consort, David Bintley, 1994,

Bayerisches Staatsballett The Bavarian State Ballet (german: Bayerisches Staatsballett) is a professional ballet company in Munich, Germany. It was founded in 1988 by Konstanze Vernon as an independent company. The ballet had previously been part of the ''Bayerische Sta ...

, Munich *Swan Lake, Galina Samsova, 1995, Scottish Ballet *Edward II, David Bintley, 1995, Birmingham Royal Ballet *The Nutcracker Sweeties, David Bintley, 1996, Birmingham Royal Ballet *Maria Stuarda, Donizetti, 1998,

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

*The Shakespeare Suite, David Bintley, 1999, Birmingham Royal Ballet *Arthur Part I, David Bintley, 2000, Birmingham Royal Ballet *Arthur Part II, David Bintley, 2001, Birmingham Royal Ballet *''

Within the Golden Hour ''Within the Golden Hour'' is a one-act contemporary ballet choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, composed by Ezio Bosso and featured music by Antonio Vivaldi. The ballet premiered in 2008 at the War Memorial Opera House, danced by the San F ...

'', Christopher Wheeldon, 2019,

Private life

Conran is openly gay. In 2009, he was ranked number 66 in the annual Pink List of 100 influential gay and lesbian people in Britain, published by ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published ...

''. In 2010, this list described him as a "National Treasure". In December 2015, he married Irish artist and performer Oisin Byrne. For a time Conran lived at Flemings Hall in

Bedingfield Bedingfield is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. Rishangles and Southolt were included in the population at the 2011 Census. Notable residents * Thomas Bedingfield (c.1554–1635/36), lawyer and pol ...

, Suffolk. In 2017 Conran sold New Wardour Castle for more than £4,000,000 and bought Bettiscombe Manor at

Bettiscombe Bettiscombe is a small village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, situated in the Marshwood Vale west of Beaminster. Dorset County Council's 2013 mid-year estimate of the population of the civil parish is 50. History The parish church, ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, an intact early 17th-century brick house in . The house was previously owned by his stepmother, Caroline Conran, a food writer who was married to his father from 1963 until 1996, and purchased the house as a weekend refuge for herself in 1986.

Awards

*1982: Fil d'Or International Linen Award *1983: Fil d'Or International Linen Award *1986: Designer of the Year by the

British Fashion Council The British Fashion Council (BFC) is a non-profit organization that aims to enable sustainable growth of British fashion in the global fashion economy. Founded in 1983, the BFC organizes biannual womenswear and menswear showcases, London Fashi ...

*1987: Fashion Group of America Award *1991: The Laurence Olivier Award for 'Costume Designer of the Year' –

's "The Rehearsal" *1991: The

's British Collections Award *2003: 'The Prince's Medal', Homes and Gardens Classic Design Award *2004: Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University *2005: The Design and Decoration 'Objects of Desire' Award *2006: Honorary Doctor of Civil Law at the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

. *2006: Homes and Gardens 'Classic Design' Award *2008: Appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours for services to retail industry. *2011:

Condé Nast Traveller ''Condé Nast Traveller'' is published by Condé Nast Publications Ltd, from Vogue House in Hanover Square, Mayfair, London. It is a luxury travel magazine aimed at the upmarket, independent traveller. It can be differentiated from the America ...

:Innovation & Design Award for 'Style on the Move' with Tripp Luggage"Innovation & Design Awards 2011: the winners"
''

Bibliography

* ''Country''. Conran Octopus, 2010.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conran, Jasper 1959 births Living people English fashion designers People educated at Bryanston School Parsons School of Design alumni LGBT people from England Officers of the Order of the British Empire

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

High fashion brands British brands Clothing brands of the United Kingdom People educated at Port Regis School LGBT fashion designers