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 Terence Conran, Sir Terence Conran, a designer, and Shirley Conran, Shirley Pearce, an author; his parents divorced when he was two years of age. He was educated at Port Regis School and Bryanston School in the 1970s; he also studied at the Parsons The New School for Design, Parsons School of Art and Design in New York, United States (US).

Career

Conran's first collection was for Henri Bendel 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 (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 for Stuart Crystal and later for Waterford Crystal. In 2001, he launched a fine bone china tableware collection for Wedgwood. In 1996, Conran launched a womenswear range for the Debenhams 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, 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 Bryanston School from 2007-2009 and a trustee of The Architecture Foundation (2010 - 2012) and the Wallace Collection (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 on the Royal Ballet'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'' directed by Simon Callow, Donzetti's opera ''Maria Stuarda'' for English National Opera, ENO and Galina Samsova's productions of ''Swan Lake'' and ''The Sleeping Beauty (ballet), The Sleeping Beauty'' for the Scottish Ballet. In 1991, Conran won the Laurence Olivier Awards, Laurence Olivier Award for Costume Design for Jean Anouilh'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 *Sleeping Beauty, Galina Samsova, 1994, Scottish Ballet *Brahms/Handel Variations, David Bintley, 1994, Birmingham Royal Ballet *Stravinsky Symphony in C, 1994, Bavarian State Opera, Munich *The Complete Consort, David Bintley, 1994, Bayerisches Staatsballett, 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 *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'', Christopher Wheeldon, 2019, Royal Opera House

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, The Independent on Sunday''. 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, Suffolk. In 2017 Conran sold New Wardour Castle for more than £4,000,000 and bought Bettiscombe Manor at Bettiscombe in Dorset, 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: British Fashion Awards, Designer of the Year by the British Fashion Council *1987: Fashion Group of America Award *1991: Laurence Olivier Awards, The Laurence Olivier Award for 'Costume Designer of the Year' – Jean Anouilh's "The Rehearsal" *1991: The British Fashion Council'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. *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:Innovation & Design Award for 'Style on the Move' with Tripp Luggage"Innovation & Design Awards 2011: the winners"
''Condé Nast Traveller''

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