Jasper Conran
Encyclopedia
Jasper Alexander Thirlby Conran OBE
(born 12 December 1959) is an English fashion designer. He is the son of the designer Sir Terence Conran
and the author Shirley Conran
.
in the 1970s. He also studied at the Parsons School of Art and Design
in New York, US
New York. In 1979, aged 19, he designed his first womenswear collection under his own name. The following year he was elected to the London Designer collections. Conran designed his first menswear collection in 1985.
In 1999, he began designing a signature range of stemware for Stuart Crystal and later for Waterford
. In 2001, he launched a fine bone china tableware collection for Wedgwood
.
In 1996, he launched his exclusive J line womenswear range for the Debenhams
chain of UK department stores. Today that association has grown to include women's accessories, lingerie, hosiery, menswear, men's accessories, childrenswear, homeware and Luggage.
In 1994, he designed Lady Sarah Chatto
's wedding and bridesmaid dresses. He also designed wedding dresses for Jasmine Guinness
and Paula Yates
. Conran launched his own made to measure bridal collection in 2007.
Jasper Conran released furnishing fabric and wallpaper collections for Designers Guild
as well as a range of signature fragrances in 2003. A year later, he designed and launched a three range fireplace collection for Chesney's. By 2005, he was designing a collection of luggage for Tripp
and in 2008 launched his Jasper Conran Optical range with Specsavers
.
He published his first book, Jasper Conran Country, in 2010. This 300 page photographic essay was captured during a year of exploration around the English countryside.
Conran is the chairman and chief executive of Jasper Conran Holdings Ltd. He is also a non executive director of Conran Holdings Ltd.
He collaborated closely with David Bintley
on the Royal Ballet's production of "Tombeaux" at Covent Garden and the Birmingham Royal Ballet
's "The Nutcracker Sweeties", "Brahms/Handel Variations", "The Shakespeare Suite" and "Arthur Part I & II" . He also designed the set and costumes for David Bintley's "The Compleat Consort" for the Bayerisches Staatsballett in Munich.
Other works include "My Fair Lady
" directed by Simon Callow
, Donzetti's opera "Maria Stuarda
" for ENO
and Galina Samsova
's "Swan Lake
" and "Sleeping Beauty
" for the Scottish Ballet
.
In 1991 Jasper Conran won a The Laurence Olivier Award
for Costume Design for Jean Anouilh
's "The Rehearsal" at the Almeida Theatre in London.
, and a Visiting Professor at the University of the Arts London
and an Honorary Doctor of Civil Law at the University of East Anglia
. He is also a Governor of Bryanston School
and has served several times on the British Fashion Council.
Conran is a Patron
of the Work-Life Balance Trust – of which his mother is President. He is also a Trustee of the Wallace Collection
and the Architecture Foundation.
He 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
. In 2010, this list described him as a 'National Treasure'.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 12 December 1959) is an English fashion designer. He is the son of the designer Sir Terence Conran
Terence Conran
Sir Terence Orby Conran, FCSD, is an English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer.-Early life and education:Terence Conran was born in Kingston upon Thames, the son of Christina Mabel and South African-born Gerard Rupert Conran, a businessman who owned a rubber importation company in East...
and the author Shirley Conran
Shirley Conran
-Background:Shirley Conran is a bestselling author, whose books include Lace, which was made into an 80s US miniseries and Superwoman. She has been a columnist for Vanity Fair, women's editor of The Daily Mail and a feature writer for The Observer newspaper.Conran was educated at the University...
.
Education
He was educated at Port Regis School and Bryanston SchoolBryanston School
Bryanston School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Blandford, north Dorset, England, near the village of Bryanston. It was founded in 1928...
in the 1970s. He also studied at the Parsons School of Art and Design
Parsons The New School for Design
Parsons The New School For Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is the art and design college of The New School university. It is located in New York City's Greenwich Village, and has produced artists and designers such as Marc Jacobs, Dean and Dan Caten, Norman Rockwell, Donna Karan, Jane...
in New York, US
Career
Jasper Conran's first collection was for Henri BendelHenri Bendel
Henri Bendel is an American upscale women's specialty store based in New York City that sells fashion accessories, cosmetics and fragrances, gifts and gourmet foods...
New York. In 1979, aged 19, he designed his first womenswear collection under his own name. The following year he was elected to the London Designer collections. Conran designed his first menswear collection in 1985.
In 1999, he began designing a signature range of stemware for Stuart Crystal and later for Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
. In 2001, he launched a fine bone china tableware collection for Wedgwood
Wedgwood
Wedgwood, strictly speaking Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a pottery firm owned by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity company based in New York City, USA. Wedgwood was founded on May 1, 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood and in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an...
.
In 1996, he launched his exclusive J line womenswear range for the Debenhams
Debenhams
Debenhams plc is a British retailer operating under a department store format in the UK, Ireland and Denmark, and franchise stores in other countries. The Company was founded in the eighteenth century as a single store in London and has now grown to around 160 shops...
chain of UK department stores. Today that association has grown to include women's accessories, lingerie, hosiery, menswear, men's accessories, childrenswear, homeware and Luggage.
In 1994, he designed Lady Sarah Chatto
Lady Sarah Chatto
The Lady Sarah Frances Elizabeth Chatto, née Armstrong-Jones , is the only daughter of the 1st Earl of Snowdon and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, the second daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. She is 17th in line of succession to the thrones of each of the Commonwealth Realms;...
's wedding and bridesmaid dresses. He also designed wedding dresses for Jasmine Guinness
Jasmine Guinness
Jasmine Leonora Guinness has been a designer and a fashion model since 1994. She is also an heiress to the Guinness brewing fortune.-Personal life:...
and Paula Yates
Paula Yates
Paula Elizabeth Yates was a British television presenter and writer, best known for her work on two television programmes, The Tube and The Big Breakfast.-Early life:...
. Conran launched his own made to measure bridal collection in 2007.
Jasper Conran released furnishing fabric and wallpaper collections for Designers Guild
Designers Guild
Designers Guild is an international home and lifestyle company with a flagship store and showrooms on the Kings Road and Marylebone High Street in London, and offices in London, Paris and Munich....
as well as a range of signature fragrances in 2003. A year later, he designed and launched a three range fireplace collection for Chesney's. By 2005, he was designing a collection of luggage for Tripp
Tripp
Tripp is a nickname for a man or boy who is the third in his male line of ancestors to bear the same name, and carries a "III" or "3rd" after his name....
and in 2008 launched his Jasper Conran Optical range with Specsavers
Specsavers
Specsavers Optical Group Ltd is the biggest optical retailer in the UK and Ireland. It is also the biggest of the four major opticians that control 70% of the British market for spectacles and contact lenses, with Specsavers having a 39% share of the market...
.
He published his first book, Jasper Conran Country, in 2010. This 300 page photographic essay was captured during a year of exploration around the English countryside.
Conran is the chairman and chief executive of Jasper Conran Holdings Ltd. He is also a non executive director of Conran Holdings Ltd.
Performing arts
Throughout his career, Jasper Conran has pursued his passion for the performing arts. He has designed costumes and sets for fourteen ballet, opera and theatre productions.He collaborated closely with David Bintley
David Bintley
David Bintley, CBE, is a former English ballet dancer, the current artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet and co-artistic director of the New National Theatre Tokyo ballet company.- About :...
on the Royal Ballet's production of "Tombeaux" at Covent Garden and the Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Birmingham Royal Ballet is one of the three major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet and the English National Ballet....
's "The Nutcracker Sweeties", "Brahms/Handel Variations", "The Shakespeare Suite" and "Arthur Part I & II" . He also designed the set and costumes for David Bintley's "The Compleat Consort" for the Bayerisches Staatsballett in Munich.
Other works include "My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
" directed by Simon Callow
Simon Callow
Simon Phillip Hugh Callow, CBE is an English actor, writer and theatre director. He is also currently a judge on Popstar to Operastar.-Early years:...
, Donzetti's opera "Maria Stuarda
Maria Stuarda
Maria Stuarda is a tragic opera, , in two acts, by Gaetano Donizetti, to a libretto by Giuseppe Bardari, based on Friedrich Schiller's 1800 play Maria Stuart....
" for ENO
English National Opera
English National Opera 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, Covent Garden...
and Galina Samsova
Galina Samsova
Galina Samsova is a retired Russian ballerina. She studied at the Kiev Ballet School and in 1956 graduated into the Kiev Ballet where she became a soloist. In 1960 she married the Canadian Alexander Ursuliak and moved to Canada where she joined the National Ballet of Canada in 1961...
's "Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
" and "Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...
" for the Scottish Ballet
Scottish Ballet
Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the four leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet...
.
In 1991 Jasper Conran won a The Laurence Olivier Award
Laurence Olivier Awards
The Laurence Olivier Award is presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre. Named after the renowned British actor Laurence Olivier, they are given for West End shows and other productions staged in London...
for Costume Design for Jean Anouilh
Jean Anouilh
Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh 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 1943 play Antigone, an adaptation of Sophocles' Classical drama, that was seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's...
's "The Rehearsal" at the Almeida Theatre in London.
Awards
- 1982: Fil d'Or International Linen Award
- 1983: Fil d'Or International Linen Award
- 1986: Designer of the YearBritish Fashion AwardsThe British Fashion Awards is a ceremony held annually in the United Kingdom to present awards to those who have made the most outstanding contributions to British clothing design during the year. The awards include that of British Designer of the Year, and Outstanding Contribution as well as...
by the British Fashion CouncilBritish Fashion CouncilThe British Fashion Council is a non-profit trade group for British fashion designers founded in 1983.Based in London and currently chaired by Harold Tillman, who took over from friend Sir Stuart Rose, its main goal is to promote British fashion design across the world.-Main activities:The main... - 1987: Fashion Group of America Award
- 1991: The Laurence Olivier AwardLaurence Olivier AwardsThe Laurence Olivier Award is presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre. Named after the renowned British actor Laurence Olivier, they are given for West End shows and other productions staged in London...
for 'Costume Designer of the Year' – Jean AnouilhJean AnouilhJean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh 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 1943 play Antigone, an adaptation of Sophocles' Classical drama, that was seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's...
's "The Rehearsal" - 1991: The British Fashion CouncilBritish Fashion CouncilThe British Fashion Council is a non-profit trade group for British fashion designers founded in 1983.Based in London and currently chaired by Harold Tillman, who took over from friend Sir Stuart Rose, its main goal is to promote British fashion design across the world.-Main activities:The main...
's British Collections Award - 2003: 'The Prince's Medal', Homes and Gardens Classic Design Award
- 2005: The Design and Decoration 'Objects of Desire' Award
- 2006: Homes and Gardens 'Classic Design' Award
- 2008: Appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
- 2011: Condé Nast TravellerCondé Nast TravellerCondé 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....
:Innovation & Design Award for 'Style on the Move' with Tripp Luggage
Personal life
Jasper Conran is an Honorary Doctor of Letters at Heriot-Watt UniversityHeriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University is a university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The name commemorates George Heriot, the 16th century financier to King James, and James Watt, the great 18th century inventor and engineer....
, and a Visiting Professor at the University of the Arts London
University of the Arts London
The University of the Arts London, formerly known as the London Institute, is a collegiate university comprising six internationally recognised art, design, fashion and media colleges in London, England...
and an Honorary Doctor of Civil Law at the University of East Anglia
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
. He is also a Governor of Bryanston School
Bryanston School
Bryanston School is a co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in Blandford, north Dorset, England, near the village of Bryanston. It was founded in 1928...
and has served several times on the British Fashion Council.
Conran is a Patron
Patrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
of the Work-Life Balance Trust – of which his mother is President. He is also a Trustee of the Wallace Collection
Wallace Collection
The Wallace Collection is a museum in London, with a world-famous range of fine and decorative arts from the 15th to the 19th centuries with large holdings of French 18th-century paintings, furniture, arms & armour, porcelain and Old Master paintings arranged into 25 galleries.It was established in...
and the Architecture Foundation.
He 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
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
. In 2010, this list described him as a 'National Treasure'.