Hugo Eccles replaces Sebastian Conran at Studio Conran

The creative director of New York-based industrial design group Special Projects Office replaces Sebastian Conran, who left Studio Conran in September to set up Sebastian Conran Associates.

Eccles, a British product designer who trained at the Royal College of Art in London, moved to the US in 2003 to head up Fitch’s global product development team, before joining the Arnell Group’s Innovation Lab in New York as design director.

He says, ‘There has been a tendency to assume that Studio Conran is primarily involved with designing accessories and furniture for the Conran Group, but this has always underestimated the studio’s reach and influence.’

Conran Group chairman Terence Conran says that while Eccles ‘may not be well known outside design circles, he soon will be’.

In addition, Studio Conran has appointed Emma Booty as its new head of branding. Booty was previously design director at Landor Associates.