Furniture and homewares guru Sir Terence Conran and former Selfridges supremo Vittorio Radice are to work together on a project to develop a new department store concept.

Radice, who worked with Conran at furniture store chain Habitat - which fell into administration last week - has become a non-executive director at Conran Holdings, the umbrella company for the design Svengali’s businesses, which range from architectural firms to restaurants.

The 79-year-old Conran declined to disclose further details of the venture beyond saying it would represent “a new way of looking at [department stores] that takes them away from the traditional,” according to The Sunday Times.

Radice is largely credited with returning department store Selfridges to a force majeure in UK retail during his time at the helm of the business but his subsequent, brief stint running the homewares division of Marks & Spencer was far less successful and the retailer’s pilot standalone store in Gateshead closed after just a year.

Of Habitat’s demise, Conran reflected: “I’m sad that my love child, Habitat, appears to be dying but I am more interested in the future of my own projects.”