Jasper Conran

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Jasper Conran OBE

Conran in 2004
Born 12 December 1959 (1959-12-12) (age 52)
Nationality British
Occupation Fashion designer

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.

Contents

[edit] Education

He was educated at Port Regis School and Bryanston School in the 1970s. He also studied at the Parsons School of Art and Design[1] in New York, US

[edit] Career

Jasper Conran's first collection was for Henri Bendel 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[2] and later for Waterford. In 2001, he launched a fine bone china tableware collection for Wedgwood.[3]

In 1996, he launched his exclusive J line womenswear range for the Debenhams[4] 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[5] wedding and bridesmaid dresses. He also designed wedding dresses for Jasmine Guinness[6] and Paula Yates.[7] Conran launched his own made to measure bridal collection in 2007.

Jasper Conran released furnishing fabric and wallpaper collections for Designers Guild[8] as well as a range of signature fragrances[9] 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.[10]

He published his first book, Jasper Conran Country, in 2010.[11] 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.

[edit] 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 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.

[edit] Awards

[edit] Personal life

Jasper Conran is an Honorary Doctor of Letters at Heriot-Watt University, 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.[14]

He is openly gay.[15] 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.[16] In 2010, this list described him as a 'National Treasure'.[17]

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Jasper Conran: I would make Kate Middleton a very vision of English style"The Telegraph
  2. ^ "Jasper Conran designs Stuart Crystal" The Irish Independent
  3. ^ "Waterford Wedgwood adds Westwood" The Telegraph
  4. ^ "Debenhams get a brand new image"The Independent
  5. ^ "Another fine dress" The Guardian
  6. ^ "The Beautiful Bride" Vogue.com
  7. ^ "Unconventional celebrity weddings", The Sunday Times
  8. ^ "Jasper Conran: Designs for Life" The Independent
  9. ^ "The sweet smell of success" The Independent
  10. ^ "Jasper Conran has gone to Specsavers" Optician Online
  11. ^ "Jasper Conran" The Book Show
  12. ^ "The Place Catwalk" The Independent
  13. ^ "Innovation & Design Awards 2011: the winners" Condé Nast Traveller
  14. ^ "Jasper Conran Joins the Architecture Foundation Board". Architecturefoundation.org.uk. 29 April 2010. http://www.architecturefoundation.org.uk/news/2009/may/jasper-conran-joins-the-af-board. Retrieved 5 May 2011. 
  15. ^ Campbell, Denis; "Gays who shape our new Britain" The Guardian, accessed 28 December 2006
  16. ^ "The Pink List 2007: The IoS annual celebration of the great and the gay". The Independent on Sunday. 6 May 2007. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2516664.ece. 
  17. ^ "The Pink List 2010" The Independent on Sunday

[edit] External links

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