pendragon shoes Archives – Pendragon Shoes

October 27, 2021March 21, 2022

History of Pendragon year by year – 2003

2003 was a busy year! With lots of juggling of parenthood and running a business and finding time to make shoes thrown in there somewhere! One of the highlights was a collection we made for the Brisbane Exhibition (Ekka) wool parade. I’d grown up going to the Ekka with my family and we would always make our way to the Wool Pavilion to see the annual Wool Parade – a fashion parade featuring local designers. This particular year we were invited to make our own designer footwear from leather given to us from the DPI (Dept of Primary Industries) They included feral goat, ostrich and crocodile. We also included some of our own designs in other leathers and wool. Here is a taste of some of those creations. We continue the skew toe and heel shape theme here and experimented with some Japanese inspired heel shapes.

2003 Wool Parade Brisbane EKKA — 2003 Wool Parade Brisbane Ekka

Geisha girl in ostrich and feral goat leathers

Geisha Girl shoes — Geisha girl shoes in white and gun metal leathers. Insoles feature Chinese fabrics. Handmade heels.

handmade shoes — Geisha girl shoes in Patent leather with handmade heels

Also in 2003 we made a few pairs of shoes for the film Swimming Upstream to be worn by the iconic Australian actress Judy Davis. We visited her in her trailer on set to measure her up. Always an exciting (and nerve wracking) moment. The film, set in Brisbane in the fifties and early sixties, is a family drama centring on the life of Tony Fingleton.

swimming upstream shoes — Shoes made for Judy Davis in Swimming Upstream

July 19, 2021

History of Pendragon year by year – 1998

1998 was a big year for us. We decided to close our workshop/studio above Elizabeth Arcade in Brisbane and move back to work from Adrian’s house. It was great for 5 years, but we were exhausted from pretty much just working to pay bills. The final straw came when we were commissioned to make a series of acrobat shoes for a troupe of European performers. They all went beautifully…no photos unfortunately. But even more memorable was the fact we got robbed the night they paid us. Someone managed to climb up a drainpipe several flights up, break in through a window and steal all of the money. Always suspected those acrobats! 😉

As the saying goes, as soon as one door closes another one opens. We were asked by a Brisbane Podiatrist to make an exhibition of art shoes for a visiting computer software company from Germany called Novel. They were coming to Brisbane for their international conference and he was in charge of finding some interesting entertainment while the delegates were in town. It was the beginning of a long friendship with our dear friend Brian. Our display was to be part of that. Novel make software that measures pressure and is applied in the shoe and podiatry industry.

We were commissioned to make a branded art shoe for them. Elke made the pictured resin shoe sculpture which showed the coloured pressure technology in art form.

We created a dragon shoe collection and the first owl shoes. They were displayed at the Ridges Hotel in South Bank, Brisbane.

May 7, 2021August 20, 2021

History of Pendragon year by year – 1996

In 1996 as its name suggests, “Visions of the Absurd in the Age of Reason” was a whimsical and rather eccentric exhibition. It included about 15 largely unwearable shoes and boots that fitted into the theme “the Age of Reason”…that period in the 1800s known for its discoveries and inventions. Some of the featured exhibits were prototypes of a fictional failed serial inventor Arthur Crump (wheel boot and “one size fits all” and a series of shoe animal specimens from Charles Darwin’s personal collection. These were later to influence his theory in “On the Origin of Footwear”. There were also nods to Lewis Carroll (teapot boot sole inscribed with the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party prose about the dormouse), and Salvador Dali (boot with drawers).

We staged a full costume arts ball with live acts from a string of performing artists, an absurd orchestra and a kissing booth! This was held at the Zoo nightclub in the Valley in Brisbane. A truly wonderful evening!

Christine Johnstone performing at the Visions Art Ball

April 8, 2021

The History of Pendragon year by year – 1994

This year saw us making our very first exhibition! Metamorphosis. The nature themed pieces we created this year very much set the tone for our future work. At the centre of this exhibition were the 5 sculptural shoes representing the stages of the life of the shoe. The first three were inspired by the life cycle of a caterpillar: pupa, chrysalis, adult butterfly, then, slightly straying from caterpillars, the rather grim demise was fashioned after the appearance of Cicadas on tree trunks. This was the death of the shoe. Then, by absolute happenstance, Adrian stumbled upon a phoenix theme, so rather than succumb to mortality, we bookended the series with the arisen phoenix

Bankrolled by an Arts Queensland Grant, we had the luxury of being able to toy and experiment with the shoe as an art form, drawing out and focusing on organic shapes and forms. That playfulness of form and shape wasn’t purely aesthetic, we made technical breakthroughs with leather dying, embossing and moulding- as showcased by our “Prince of Autumn Leaves”, “metamorphosis 4, Drought and “Shoes of the Gods”. We experimented with wood carving heels and draped them in exotic skins.

The pieces were performed at a beautiful inner-city ball room in Elizabeth Street Brisbane, choreographed by our dear friend Alex. Each pair of our creations was worn onstage with costumes and props (one memorable prop was a fully grown carpet snake wrangled by the lovely Tonia). We then toured it to Cairns for a display at the iconic Crackerbox Palace store. (Which is still there!)

Metamorphosis has a twofold meaning for us: the embodiment of the nature theme, but also our evolution artistically and technically.

Other creations in this exhibition included the Harvest boots, Mermaid Shoes Redback Spider shoes and Temptation.

Caterpillar shoes — Metamorphosis of the shoe – stage one – caterpillar

Adult butterfly shoe — Metamorphosis stage 3 – adult shoe

Death of the shoe cicada shoe — Metamorphosis of the shoe-stage 4 – the death of the shoe

Phoenix sandals — Metamorphosis of the shoe – stage 5 – phoenix rising from the ashes

Prince of Autumn Leaves shoes — Prince of Autumn Leaves – now in the Powerhouse Museum

Redback spider shoes — Redback Spider Shoes

Drought boots — Drought Boots – embossed dyed leather

April 2, 2021

The History of Pendragon year by year – 1993

black and whitezigzag shoes and red and black jazz shoes

1993 was a huge year for Pendragon. It started with an enquiry for 1000 boots from a Japanese retailer who visited our stall at Cairns markets in North Queensland. This was way beyond our means….and still is! But it made us take it all a bit more seriously. We applied for government assistance and were accepted into the SEVS/NEIS scheme. Self Employment Venture Scheme( a loan to be paid back in 3 years) and the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (a year of support from the government like the unemployment benefit with a business course included).

Because of this financial incentive, we opened a shop above Elizabeth Arcade in Brisbane City. Initially sharing the huge studio with Two Blue Fish (Iconic Brisbane clothes brand). This sparked an amazing collaboration in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.

Dalliance was an outdoor fashion parade extravaganza in May 1993 , featuring an ensemble of designers: Two Blue fish, Talamasca leather and, yours truly, Pendragon Boot Company. The parade’s stage was at a freshly opened Ric’s, on the new Brunswick Street mall. We created a range of historically influenced shoes and boots to accompany Two Blue Fish’s luscious clothes and Talamasca’s edgy steampunk leather wear. It was an amazing night and attracted hundreds of people to Ric’s bar and the surrounding businesses.

The gorgeous artwork here is the poster for the event, designed by amazing poster designer Steven Lee.

Later that year we were successful in receiving an arts grant from Arts Qld to develop a range of art shoes. More on that next week….

Australasian post pendragon shoes — Australasian post article

courier mail 1993 pendragon shoes — SEVS/NEIS scheme article

1993 Dalliance poster — Dalliance poster

Two Blue Fish Karen and Vicki — Karen and Vicki from Two Blue Fish

Models Alex and Melissa Dalliance parade

From left: Melissa, Vicki (a blue fish), Kris (Talamasca leather), Elke (Pendragon), Adrian (Pendragon), Jackie (Pendragon), Michael (model), unknown model

Steven Lee designer of Dalliance poster in his Pendragon Pirate boots

Horrible article by Courier Mail — Horrible article by the Courier Mail about our arts grant.

March 19, 2021August 23, 2021

The History of Pendragon year by year – 1992

So, while still in the infancy of Pendragon, we had well and truly developed the aesthetic, and the techniques, that fashionably catered to the fantasy crowd. Crafting shoes and boots for local street performers (Adrian wearing Windy Wizard boots and one of Nat’s Hats pictured), musicians and members of the local alternative scene. We were still regulars at Riverside markets but we also saw clients at home in Windsor (Brisbane). We started a catalogue around this time with the amazing art work by our friend Stephen Lee in Brisbane. The prices reflect the year of course….they’re a bit more expensive now! These four designs in the catalogue pages, Jester boots, Spindle boots (named after a spindly tree in our backyard and also our black cat), wizard shoes and of course the Smaug shoes were just a taste of the wide range of fantasy footwear we were making then.

March 11, 2021August 23, 2021

The History of Pendragon year by year 1991

Jackie was in London, working and modelling Pendragon shoes and boots. She did weekly night classes at Cordwainers College in Hackney where she learnt traditional shoemaking techniques and got her first skiving knife….she still uses it today. Photos taken by Jackie’s landlord, photographer Feri Lukas.
Meanwhile, back in Australia, Elke and Adrian made their way back to Queensland and started Riverside markets again. Later that year, Jackie also came home. Pendragon was Brisbane based once again.

Tag: pendragon shoes

History of Pendragon year by year – 2003

History of Pendragon year by year – 1998

History of Pendragon year by year – 1996

The History of Pendragon year by year – 1994

The History of Pendragon year by year – 1993

The History of Pendragon year by year – 1992

The History of Pendragon year by year 1991

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