you know, he was one of the least ostentatious
people I’ve ever known. I think he recognised
that I was a workaholic too and he had this
appreciation of craft or anyone involved with
it. That’s not to say he was an easy man to
work for, because he absolutely wasn’t.”
Willcock thinks Conran’s biggest legacy
was an insatiable appetite for making things
happen, not just talking about it. In 1992,
Conran invited Willcock to the launch of his
Mayfair restaurant Quaglino’s. “He took me by
the hand to the bar and told he was going to
introduce me to the girl I was going to marry.
And there was Sophie, wearing the most
breathtaking Jasper Conran dress.”
“Three months later, she came to Australia.
Then the letters began. When was I going to
move back? When was I going to help run his
business? I was having the time of my life and
we had just had Felix. I wrote back saying if
I worked for him, I was going to be known as
Terence Conran’s son-in-law, and that’s why I’d
got the job. He told me not to be ridiculous.
The point is,” he says, “that I gave in.”
Willcock put together a team including
Russell Pinch and, within 18 months, they
had developed 200 products. As group
creative director, his team worked across
Conran restaurants but also worked for
BA and Michelin. “One of the most fun
projects was designing the interior of Concorde
[for its relaunch].”
The idea for his Maker & Son sofa was
in part inspired by the Conran Winslow sofa.
“I don’t mean aesthetically, but its business
model. It was a phenomenal success and
I thought, what if I could come up with
something that captured the spirt of now. A
sofa that was made from natural materials (no
plastics), where physical comfort hadn’t caused
problems for the people who made it or the
planet, that was going to last a lifetime, and
made locally to where it was going to be sold.”
It is in the kitchen where you see most of
Willcock’s handiwork. Next to the butcher’s
block, which he picked up for £15 near his
Essex childhood home, is a dining table
he made a decade ago. Wood remains his
favourite material. “We needed storage for
glasses,” he says, gesturing towards a set
of cupboards that were put together from
reclamation-yard shutters.
What is he most proud of from his time
at Conran? He shows me some cutlery where
the knife blade and handle are as one: “It’s a
perfect tool that creates a seamless connection
between your hand, the food you are cutting
and your mouth that is about to eat it.” nmakerandson.comHome!
Felix Conran’s studio,
with another bentwood
pendant shade