Terence: The Man Who Invented Design

Description

'A terrific read, bubbling with anecdotes and insight' Daily Mail, 2021's best biographies 'Bayley, the author of books on style, design and taste, tells the Habitat story with his customary polycultural panache . . . [Mavity is] good at conveying the experience of being in a room with Conran' Sunday Times Terence Conran, a visionary and a myopic. A design entrepreneur and imaginative restaurateur, he was a democratising idealist who was also a selfish hedonist. His influence is everywhere in modern Britain from where we live to what we eat. Terence: The Man Who Invented Design is the most definitive, intimate and revelatory biography of this design legend, by two of his closest collaborators, Roger Mavity and Stephen Bayley. Frank, amusing, indiscreet, sharp, rude, respectful and knowing, it tells Terence's story as it evolved, from before Habitat's humble chicken brick to Bibendum's sophisticated poulet de Bresse, via personal successes and corporate calamities, culminating in that peculiar temple to the religion he invented: The Design Museum. It celebrates Terence's genius and immeasurable impact on British life - and ensures his rightful status as national treasure. Terence: The Man Who Invented Design is the most candid, up-close insight into the man and myth.

In the 1970s, Terence Conran plucked Stephen Bayley from the obscurity of provincial academe to do his good works. One result was The Boilerhouse Project, promoting design in London's V&A, which became the most successful gallery of the eighties. Another result was the influential Design Museum. Stephen has since become one of the world's best-known commentators on design and popular culture. Roger Mavity had been hired by Terence many times and fired nearly as often. First at the French Gold Abbott ad agency where Roger won the Habitat advertising account; then at two more agencies including Mavity Gilmore, his own business. In 2006 he became Chief Executive of Conran Holdings, Terence's business empire, where he stayed for seven years. Roger also ran his own ad agency for ten years and was Chief Executive of Granada Group's technology and leisure divisions for another ten years. He quit business to work as a writer and photographer.

Bayley, the author of books on style, design and taste, tells the Habitat story with his customary polycultural panache . . . [Mavity is] good at conveying the experience of being in a room with Conran -- John Walsh * Sunday Times * Juicy . . . interesting * Evening Standard * A close reading of one of the most influential men in design history by two of his closest allies and collaborators, Stephen Bayley and Roger Mavity. There is a brutal honesty about the way in which they have painted their late colleague and friend . . . * Independent * Compelling . . . gossipy and entertaining * Irish Independent * [A] fascinating personality, captured here - both affectionately and critically . . . A terrific read, bubbling with anecdotes and insight * Daily Mail * Irresistibly spiky . . . fun . . . rollicking * Spectator * A must-read * The Tablet * The contradictions in Terence Conran's character shine through in this profile by a former protege whose book is a mixture of scoresettling and affection * Observer *