Henrietta Sophia Conran (born 28 October 1965)[1] is a British designer, retailer, cook and author. She is the founder and director of the Sophie Conran Shop.
Sophia Conran | |
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| Born | Henrietta Sophia Conran October 28, 1965 England |
| Occupation | Designer |
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| Children |
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| Father | Terence Conran |
| Relatives |
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Early life
editConran is the daughter of designer and restaurateur Terence Conran and food writer Caroline Herbert.[2] Her brothers Tom and Edmund are both restaurateurs. The fashion designer Jasper Conran[3] and the product designer Sebastian Conran are her half-brothers.[4]
Career
editAfter leaving school at 17, Conran worked as an apprentice for couture milliner Stephen Jones before joining the fashion team at the studio of her brother Jasper. Following this, Conran interior-designed apartments and show flats in the Butler's Wharf development and overhauled the Design Museum Shop's collections, where she also acted as a buyer. At the same time, she worked as a buyer for The Conran Shop and eventually launched her own store, 'Wong Singh Jones'.[citation needed] She began to receive private interior design commissions after buying a flat in Bayswater, reuniting the rooms which had been parcelled out as bed-sits, and renovating them.
In the early 1990s, Conran lived in Australia. On returning to the United Kingdom, she renovated a dilapidated farm in Devon, rearing pigs and growing vegetables.[5] After a few years she returned to work for her father as a Colour Director and then as a Product Manager in a variety of areas.[citation needed] She helped with Jasper's Sackville Street townhouse store before the 2005 opening.[citation needed]
In the food world, Conran created a supper club and then collaborated with her brother Tom on a catering company.[6] In 2004 she launched Sophie Conran Pies,[5][7][8] which won four Fine Food Awards.[9]
Her debut cookbook, Pies, was published in November 2006 by HarperCollins,[5][10] with a mini version entitled Easy Pies later released. Her second book, Soups and Stews, was published by Collins in October 2008. She has written food and entertaining stories for many UK titles including InStyle and Living, and has been a contributing editor to Junior magazine.[citation needed]
In March 2006, Conran's kitchen, glass and tableware range for Portmeirion was launched.[11] It received an Elle Deco Style Award for Best in Kitchens 2006 and the House Beautiful Award for Best in Tableware in 2008.[12] Conran then created a fine dining range, White Oak, launched in the USA.
In December 2007, Conran was a designer in Save the Children's Festival of Trees fundraising event.[13]
In 2009, with Harvey Jones Kitchens, Conran launched 'The Cook's Companion', a freestanding kitchen bench.[14] In 2010 she launched the first of two cutlery collections with Arthur Price.[citation needed] In 2011, she designed a range of garden tools with the Sheffield-based company Burgon & Ball. The range was shortlisted for Product of the Year at the Chelsea Flower Show 2011.[citation needed] She has also collaborated with Melt chocolates of Notting Hill to create a chocolate inspired by sweet pies from her first book and which uses flavours including Earl Grey tea, ginger and cranberry;[citation needed] with bathroom store Drummonds to redesign their Chelsea showroom and design a range of coloured baths;[citation needed] and with wallpaper company Arthouse to create collections for B&Q stores.[5]
The Sophie Conran Shop, sophieconran.com, is Conran's personal homeware company.[15][16]
Personal life
editWith her former husband Alex Willcock, Conran has two children, Felix Conran, in partnership with his father as a furniture designer,[17][18] and Coco Conran, a fashion designer.[15][19] She later married Nicholas Hofgren, a London-based financier.[20]
References
edit- ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ "Celebrity offspring: One degree of separation". The Independent. 14 January 2007. Archived from the original on 1 July 2008.
- ^ Carl Wilkinson (16 July 2006). "Pendennis – 7 Days". The Observer. Archived from the original on 25 August 2006.
- ^ "Sophie Conran: My family values". The Guardian. 15 August 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Profile on Sophie Conran". Design Network. 17 March 2009. Archived from the original on 1 September 2011.
- ^ Sudi Pigott (13 November 2004). "Just like daddy used to make". The Times. Features, Food & Drink. p. 102.
- ^ "We love...pies". Caterer & Hotelkeeper. 193 (4350): 22–23. 18 November 2004. ISSN 0008-7777.
- ^ Lydia Slater (12 May 2004). "Pie and mighty". The Sunday Times. p. 73.
- ^ Annabel Harrison (15 October 2018). "Sophie Conran: My Life in London". Luxury London (interview).
- ^ Sophie Conran (18 November 2007). "The knowledge: how to teach your children to cook". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 November 2007.
- ^ Mark Anstead (26 March 2006). "Live like a Conran". The Sunday Times.
- ^ "Currents: London". The New York Times (photograph). 8 March 2006.
- ^ "Save the Children's festival of trees fundraising event". politics.co.uk (press release). July 2008.
- ^ "The Cook's Companion by Sophie Conran". Harvey Jones. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
- ^ a b Madeleine Howell (21 March 2020). "How I work with my mother (without falling out, too often)". The Telegraph.
- ^ Madeleine Howell (27 May 2021). "How the pros plan the perfect garden party". The Daily Telegraph.
- ^ Ella Alexander (12 May 2021). "Inside the home of... the Maker&Son founders". Harper's Bazaar.
- ^ Sophie Bew (20 December 2021). "In the British Countryside, a Holiday Feast With Sofa-Shaped Butter". The New York Times Style Magazine.
- ^ Astrid Joss (23 December 2020). "Inside Coco Conran's chic Christmas wedding to Alex Vardaxoglou". Tatler.
- ^ Kate Finnigan (9 August 2020). "Sophie Conran's Georgian Manor House Is A Stately Ode To Colour". Vogue. UK.