Work on paper - Women's Opening/Closing Ceremony Uniform Design Drawings, Wendy Powitt, c. 1992

Historical information

A set of laminated A3 sketchbook pages depicting designs for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Women's Opening/Closing Ceremony Uniform designed by Wendy Powitt.

On the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games donor Doug Pleasance wrote-

The 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games saw an evolutionary change in designer selection. A Declaration of Interest Form was communicated to over forty potential designers. The task and especially tight timelines that were involved deterred many aspirants, however, there remained eight designers with the potential we were seeking. These eight designers were paid $3,000 per submission and the winning designer, Wendy Powitt, was paid $15,000. For the first time the judging panel included two athletes, one male swimmer and one female basketballer, their influence was pivotal.

Opening Ceremony Uniform included a lightweight wool fabric printed with floral designs that had been inspired by the work of Australian artist Margaret Preston. This included: Lightweight W/PE shorts by Fletcher Jones in Foster Valley Fabric, socks by Holeproof and footwear by Hush Puppy.

Physical description

8120.1 - A laminated A3 sketchbook page depicting a design for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Women's Opening/Closing Ceremony Uniform. The main drawing shows the design for a dark green skirt, a yellow printed sleeveless button up shirt, a matching headband and scarf, yellow gloves and brown leather shoes. To the right of the main image are five detail drawings of the skirt, gloves, shoes and scarf as well as a depiction of a brown leather bag.

8120.2 - unnumbered- mounted on green card this sketchbook page depicts a design for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Women's Opening/Closing Ceremony Uniform. The main drawing shows the design for a dark green skirt, a yellow printed sleeveless button up shirt and yellow gloves.

8120.3 - unnumbered- A laminated A3 sketchbook page depicting a design for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Women's Opening/Closing Ceremony Uniform. The main drawing shows the design for a dark green skirt, a yellow printed sleeveless button up shirt, a matching headband and scarf, yellow gloves and brown leather shoes. To the right of the main image are five detail drawings of the skirt, gloves, shoes and scarf as well as a depiction of a brown leather bag.

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