terence conran, BORN 1931
designer, retailer and restauranteur
Terence Conran was a hugely successful designer, retailer and restauranteur. The was the son of Gerard Rupert Conran, a South African born owner of a rubber importingcompany in London. Terence Conran was educated at Bryanston School in Dorset, and at the Central School of Art and Design, now part of Central St.Martin’s, where he studied textiles. He started his career as a designer for the 1951 Festival of Britain. He started his own design practice in 1956. In 1964 he opened the first Habitat shop in Chelsea, focusing on housewares and furniture. His later retail ventures included the Conran Shop. He developed an expanding restaurant business, housed in many cases in buildings of architectural interest, such as the Michelin House in Fulham. He funded as a philanthropist the establishment of the Design Museum in Shad Thames. It later moved to the former Commenwealth Centre in Kensington.
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