Urban chic - the creators
So who are the people who create modern styles - who 'invented' urban chic? "From the beginning of my design life, my ambition has been to offer intelligently designed products to as large an audience as possible at a price they can afford."
Terence Conran, the found of Habitat, the creator of the British version of urban chic and the progenitor of everything that made London cool in the sixties. The first Habitat store opened in 1964, and had a deliberate philosophy of allowing people to create an entire look and structure their lifestyle through their household items - in fact you can date the concept of 'lifestyle' to the decade after Habitat was launched. Through his stores, Conran introduced Britain to a range of French cookware, all displayed in a simple environment of white walls and quarry-tiled floors, lamps and vases, tables and cutlery, all designed to be functional and beautiful and to work together.
Mary Quant designed the Conran store uniforms, style on style, you might say! And the name of the store 'Habitat' echoed his ideas - this was furniture and accessories to live with. Since then, Sir Terence, as he is now, has become a guru of style, including his wonderful London restaurants like Bibendum. Recently the Conran Foundation set up the Boilerhouse Project, a gallery and resource for students, designers and the public to stimulate design awareness and discussion, at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Everything we call urban chic in the UK springs from that moment in 1964 when Habitat opened its doors for the first time ...
Posted by The Allotment Blogger on Sunday, August 5, 2007
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