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    Duvets at half mast

    Sir Terence Conran has died at 88.

    He seems like a figure from a more optimistic time now. There can't be many British people whose day to day lives haven't in some way been influenced by his career.

    #2
    RIP. I agree with all the above.

    I celebrated some event or other around 30 years ago by splashing out on dinner at Bibendum, and it didn't disappoint. Also I ate once at Lutyens, not far from the law firm offices I used to work at, not long after it opened in 2009. Quite a hit rate for me considering how little fashionable dining I've done in my life overall.

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      #3
      Yes, a hugely influential figure. RIP.

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        #4
        Conran's a weird one. He was clearly hugely influential, and fairly clearly had a design aesthetic that I still like. Without him Britain might be even more hideously awash with chintz and lace curtains and floral wallpaper. I remember my mum shopping at Habitat in Oxford back when there was one. I generally enjoyed dining at the Conran restaurants on the occasions when I did. Oxo Tower never had a great reputation, but I never had a bad experience there. The missus worked in the Michelin Bibendum building for a long time so I occasionally had coffees down there, and even more occasional meals.

        And yet... in my mind, and I'm not sure why this is, Conranism, Conran shops and Conran restaurants seem very tied in with the excesses of London yuppiedom. The people I picture eating at the River Cafe or Bluebird, or the ones who were in the Habitat next to Heals on Tottenham Court Road, were the very worst of pre-Russian-Gangster London capitalism.

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          #5

          Conran was one of the first, and most influential, successes of English post war art schools. A period before "Design" replaced "Crafts" in the phrase "Art & ......" He became lifelong friends of Eduard Paolozzi (sculptor), Michael Wickham (photographer) and his first — and only — job was as an architect. In the early fifties at twenty-one he started his own business. There was no money, materials were still rationed, and the market was bleak. But there was a huge sense of possibility as there was little established structure, hence no barriers either. He started restaurants at about the same time as his design business, with the idea that the former would finance the latter. Which sounds totally weird these days but it worked then. Fascinating guy. I recommend Terence Conran, A Sort of Autobiography if you can find a copy.
          Last edited by Amor de Cosmos; 13-09-2020, 19:19.

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            #6
            Me and the graffiti boyfriend once went shopping for duvet covers and bedsheets in the Tottenham Court Road Habitat sale. When we got home we discovered that half the pillow covers we'd bought were for square pillows, which I didn't even realise were a thing. We were too lazy to return them so just had misshapen pillows for ages.

            I don't think we were really part of yuppiedom given that we were renting a tiny attic flat.

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              #7
              Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View Post
              Oxo Tower never had a great reputation, but I never had a bad experience there.
              Neither did I. The restaurant, bistro and cocktail bar were all perfectly cromulent.

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                #8
                The first things we ever bought as a couple were a set of Habitat “Celia” breakfast cups and saucers, for what used to be called the “bottom drawer”. We still have them and use them, and by chance they’re kept in the bottom drawer. I use a Habitat mug most days which was a wedding present in 1985. In fact a lot of the wedding list was Habitat.

                Back then, his stuff was cool and a long way from naff, which counted for a lot.

                RIP
                Last edited by Sits; 13-09-2020, 22:18.

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                  #9
                  When I worked in the West End in the mid 90s my team went for lunch at Quaglinos and a colleague found a piece of wire in her soup. The staff were distraught, she was a lot less aggro about it than many might have been. Her compensation was a free dinner with her partner, and she was happy with the deal.

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                    #10
                    Habitat envy was definitely a thing in New York before they opened what was called Conran's here (and was somehow not as good as the original)

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                        #12

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                          #13
                          It would be great if his coffin was based upon this:



                          Our (smallish) kitchen table came from Habitat and was about 150 quid for a simple solid wood design a dozen or so years ago. It was still possible to drop more serious money there then. I was looking for a modern rocking chair around the same time and buying a vintage France & Son original and having it couriered from Germany came to half the price of buying a new equivalent from Habitat. It still exists in a much diminished form, now owned by Sainsburys who also own Argos, hence the fair degree of crossover between the three names in recent years.

                          TC's shops were always good for interesting knick-knacks so he may have fathered the entire sector of quirky gift shops too. Upper Street in Islington used to be festooned with them, although Flying Tiger must have stolen quite a lot of that market.

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                            #14
                            The chicken brick was the standard wedding present from our family in the eighties.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by Sits View Post
                              We still have an (almost) complete set of this. La Signora brought them from her first marriage. We stlll use the soup bowls, and occasionally the dinner and side-plates. Everytthing else is storage. Habitat stuff was almost always really well made in every aspect. Ikea could still learn a thing or two from them.

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                                #16
                                I had the Isis set, as shown here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/26481697493...CABEgI1QfD_BwE

                                It was down to one plate, when I moved a few months ago. I left it behind.

                                I have my foot on a Habitat footstool right now; the armchair is in storage along with a Conran sofa. I've had two Habitat sofas in the past, and have a Heal's coffee table. My disco light rope is from Habitat.

                                Over the years, loads of stuff, especially from the Tottenham Court Road branch as I worked around there. Bedding, blankets, etc. Rugs.

                                I agree the quality is good and stuff tends to last. The footstool is from 2001.

                                Dining / drinking wise: the cafes in the shops, a lot; Quaglinos, a fair few times, when I worked in Mayfair; The Pont de la Tour on Tower Bridge several times (I love the view), Blueprint Cafe nearby when money's been tighter. Albion in Shoreditch once, Sartoria in Savile Row a couple of times, hated the beige decor, Lutyens a couple of times working by Fleet St. I never went to Bibendum.



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                                  #17
                                  Just remembered we’ve also still got five wine glasses (from a set of eight) and a substantial rolling pin.

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                                    #18
                                    I lost my good Habitat plate in an accident recently. I still have two bowls. All three were bequeathed to me by a pal who was working at the Habitat warehouse when he was my flatmate and moved to New Zealand.

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                                      #19

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                                        #20
                                        I thought that you had taken an heirloom quality plate to the beach there and wondered whether you had joined a Jack Vettriano re-enactment society or something.

                                        All my childhood holidays were in Pembrokeshire where there's a lot of grey things on the coast.

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