Conran jnr caught in a saga of substance misuse

Sebastian Conran’s smart black Cinquecento driving machine has a strong link with scruffy, boozy Withnail of the famed film. Both are addicted to lighter fuel.

Withnail, deprived of alcohol, turns to the said substance, ignoring warnings of mixing drinks.

Conran, meanwhile, feeds the stuff to his treasured car. “We were in Soho and were late for a meeting in Kensington when we ran out of petrol,” says Selina Fellows, managing director of Sebastian Conran Product Identity Design.

Soho has no garages, so Seb nipped into The Wheatsheaf pub and purchased four cans of lighter fuel. Fellows and Conran just about made it to Kensington – “the car just drank up the stuff” – and presented a sober united front to their client.

Let’s hope Conran pere doesn’t start thinking laterally if the booze runs out at Mezzo.