History of Pendragon year by year – 1997

 Powerhouse Stepping Out

In 1997, the powerhouse museum in Sydney, acquired several creations from Australian shoemakers including us and our dear friend and fellow shoemaker Grant Hunter (RIP) from Far out Footwear. We were fortunate to get a tour of the archives of the museum where we were overwhelmed by centuries of shoes in their collection. I remember being close to tears, wearing white gloves and handling shoes from the 1600s and earlier.

The pair of Pendragon shoes they acquired was the Prince of Autumn Leaves from our 1994 exhibition “Metamorphosis”. Made from individual leather leaf panels, embossed and hand-dyed, they were a men’s boot style, inspired by Oberon from Midsummer Night’s Dream.

There was a fabulous launch party at the museum and a publication to boot called “Stepping Out – Three Centuries of Shoes”.