Born and raised in England, Penelope Chilvers originally trained as a painter at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London, and was granted a scholarship from the Spanish Ministry of Culture, to complete an MA at Complutense University in Madrid.
While living in Barcelona, she enjoyed riding in her lunch break in the national park of Collserola in the hills above the city wearing traditional Spanish riding boots.She pursued the idea of bringing the Spanish riding boot to England and commissioned a small number of traditional artisans in the hills of Spain to make the perfect equestrian boot – our Long Tassel boot – to her own specifications. This boot remains a firm favourite in the collection, most famously worn back in 2004 by Prince William’s then girlfriend, Kate Middleton. Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge continues to wear her boots to this day, most recently on the Royal Tours of Canada and India.