Sebastian Orby Conran (born 5 April 1956) is a British

designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...

, entrepreneur and inventor.

Early life

Sebastian Conran was born in London, the son of British designer, restaurateur and retailer

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 " ...

and Superwoman author

Shirley Conran Shirley Conran OBE (née Pearce; born 21 September 1932) is a British novelist and journalist. Early life Born in 1932, she attended St. Paul's Girls School, London, and then a finishing school in Switzerland which later provided some inspir ...

née Pearce. He is the elder brother of fashion designer

Jasper Conran 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 ...

and half brother of Tom,

Sophie Conran Henrietta Sophia Conran, known as Sophie Conran (born October 1965) is a designer, retailer, cook and author. She is the founder and director of the Sophie Conran Shop. Early life Conran is the daughter of designer and restaurateur Sir Terence Co ...

and Ned. He was educated at

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 ...

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 (unitary authority), Dors ...

, in England, where he became a governor and trustee in 2011. He studied industrial design engineering at the

Central School of Art and Design The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cr ...

in London from 1974-77. From 1976-77 he worked as a general factotum and roadie with Punk band ''

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

'', designing clothes, posters, promotional material, record sleeves and stage sets.

Design career

On graduating in 1978, Conran joined corporate and brand identity consultancy

Wolff Olins Wolff Olins is a British advertising agency and corporate identity consultancy. It was started in 1965 and has offices in London, New York City and San Francisco. It now employs some 150 designers, strategists, technologists, programme managers ...

. Three years later he became head of product design at

Mothercare Mothercare plc is a British retailer which specialises in products for expectant mothers and in general merchandise for children up to eight years of age. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap In ...

. He established product and brand development consultancy Sebastian Conran Associates in 1985. From 1999, he headed product and branding design at Studio Conran under Conran & Partners, part of the Conran Group led by his father Sir

.Lynda Relph-Knight
Sebastian Conran leaves Conran & Partners
''

Design Week ''Design Week'' is a UK-based website, formerly a magazine for the design industry. It was first published in October 1986 by Centaur Communications. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations primary circulation for 2007 was 8,074. In 2011, ...

'', 23 September 2009. In 2009, he re-established the design company Sebastian Conran Associates as managing director, based in west London.Sebastian Conran: Managing Director, Studio Conran
,

Design Council The Design Council, formerly the Council of Industrial Design, is a United Kingdom charity incorporated by Royal Charter. Its stated mission is "to champion great design that improves lives and makes things better". It was instrumental in the prom ...

, UK. In 2009 Conran co-founded homewares brand Universal Expert for the design and international supply of homewares collections. He has separately collaborated with cooks like

Nigella Lawson Nigella Lucy Lawson (born 6 January 1960) is an English food writer and television cook. She attended Godolphin and Latymer School, London. After graduating from the University of Oxford, where she was a member of Lady Margaret Hall, Lawson ...

and

Ken Hom Ken Hom (, born May 3, 1949) is a Chinese-American chef, author and television-show presenter for the BBC, specialising in Asian Cuisine. Having already appointed an honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2009 for "service ...

to create their own homewares brands and designed products for department store chain

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

. Other clients have included home appliance company

Belling Belling is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Johann Georg von Belling (1642–1689), Prussian general * John Belling (1866–1933), English cytogenetist * Kylie Belling Australian actress * Mark Belling (born 1956), Radio talk ...

, retailers

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

and Sainsbury's,

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

and luxury goods company

Connolly Leather Connolly Leather Limited was a British company that supplied highly finished leather primarily to car manufacturers. Founded in 1878, it went out of business in that form in 2002. A successor firm, Connolly Brothers, UK, has resumed producing ...

, among others. In 2014 he co-founded and became Chief Executive Officer of Consequential Robotics with Professor Tony Prescott and Dr Ben Mitchinson of the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

, which brings Sheffield together with the universities of Bristol and Edinburgh. In 2015 he co-founded robotics wheelchair start-up Indusiviti and remains Design Director. Since the death of his father in 2020 Conran has been chairman of multidisciplinary design group Conran & Partners and the Conran Foundation, a charity set up in 1980 to promote public education in design aa a way of boosting quality of life.

Academic career

From 1995-98 Sebastian Conran was visiting lecture in the Furniture department of London's

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

. From 2008-12 he was Visiting Professor in the Innovation faculty of

University of the Arts London University of the Arts London is a collegiate university in London, England, specialising in arts, design, fashion and the performing arts. It is a federation of six arts colleges: Camberwell College of Arts, Central Saint Martins, Chelsea Coll ...

and from 2011-17 was Designer in Residence in the Engineering faculty of the

. In 2017 he was appointed Visiting Professor of Design and Innovation at Bristol Robotics Laboratory.

Academic awards

Sebastian Conran has been awarded the following academic honours: Fellow of the Institute of Minerals, Materials and Mining Fellow onof the Royal College of Art Fellow onof University of the Arts London Fellow onof Arts University Bournemouth PhD Engineering onfrom University of Sheffield PhD Technology onfrom University of Loughborough PhD Design onfrom UWE Bristol PhD Arts onfromHertfordshire University

Honorary roles

Sebastian Conran is a trustee of the

Design Museum The Design Museum in Kensington, London exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all funds generat ...

in London.Sebastian Conran is reappointed a Trustee of the Design Museum
Press release,

, London, UK, November 2008 and from 2005-9 was a Trustee of educational charity

Design and Art Direction Design and Art Direction (D&AD), formerly known as British Design and Art Direction, is a British educational organisation that was created in 1962 to promote excellence in design and advertising. Its main offices are in Spitalfields in London. I ...

. From 2008-11 he was a Trustee of the UK

. He chaired the Design & Technology Alliance, set up by the UK Government to tackle crime through design, from 2007–11 and

Innovate UK Innovate UK is the United Kingdom's innovation agency, which provides money and support to organisations to make new products and services. It is a non-departmental public body operating at arm's length from the Government as part of the United ...

's Technologies Innovation Network from 2008-2014. He also chaired Innovate UK's Design Special Interest Group from 2013-16. From 2012-16 he chaired the steering committee of Design in Action Scotland.

Professional organisations

Sebastian Conran is a Fellow of

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

and of the Chartered Society of Designers.

References

1956 births Living people People educated at Bryanston School Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design English designers People from Westminster Sebastian {{England-artist-stub