Hilton
McConnico

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1943, Hilton McConnico began his career in fashion at an early age, designing his first collections before settling in Paris in 1965. He initially worked for Ted Lapidus and Yves Saint Laurent before turning to the world of cinema.

During the 1980s, Hilton McConnico designed the sets and costumes for several films, including The Moon in the Gutterby Jean-Jacques Beineix. Awarded the César for Best Production Design in 1984, he developed an approach in which objects, colour, and staging played a central role.

From the late 1980s onwards, Hilton McConnico expanded his practice to include design, furniture, interior architecture, and tableware. He collaborated with Daum, Hermès, Saint-Louis Crystal, and Formia, developing a visual language that was immediately recognisable. The Cactus series, created for Daum in 1987, remains among his most iconic achievements.

Although Hilton McConnico maintained an exceptionally wide-ranging practice, his furniture production remained relatively limited. Often conceived for specific commissions or produced in small quantities, his pieces rarely appear on the market today. Cactus motifs occupy a central place in his work, serving as a reminder of his native Tennessee.

Designer, decorator, scenographer, photographer, and painter, Hilton McConnico pursued a consistent artistic vision based on the unexpected juxtaposition of forms, objects, and images. As Clotilde Bacri observed, “He had an extraordinary gift for staging things, bringing them together, creating combinations that we would never have imagined.”