Age, Biography and Wiki

Sara Penn was born on 1927 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., is an American designer (1927–2020). Discover Sara Penn's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is she in this year and how she spends money? Also learn how she earned most of networth at the age of 93 years old?

Popular As N/A
Occupation N/A
Age 93 years old
Zodiac Sign
Born 1927
Birthday 1927
Birthplace Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Date of death 2020
Died Place New York, New York, U.S.
Nationality United States

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 1927. She is a member of famous designer with the age 93 years old group.

Sara Penn Height, Weight & Measurements

At 93 years old, Sara Penn height not available right now. We will update Sara Penn's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

Physical Status
Height Not Available
Weight Not Available
Body Measurements Not Available
Eye Color Not Available
Hair Color Not Available

Dating & Relationship status

She is currently single. She is not dating anyone. We don't have much information about She's past relationship and any previous engaged. According to our Database, She has no children.

Family
Parents Not Available
Husband Not Available
Sibling Not Available
Children Not Available

Sara Penn Net Worth

Her net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is Sara Penn worth at the age of 93 years old? Sara Penn’s income source is mostly from being a successful designer. She is from United States. We have estimated Sara Penn's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income designer

Sara Penn Social Network

Instagram
Linkedin
Twitter
Facebook
Wikipedia
Imdb

Timeline

1927

Sara Penn (1927–2020) was the owner of Knobkerry, a clothing and antiques store, gallery, cultural center, and arts space in Downtown Manhattan from the 1960s to the 1990s.

Penn designed clothes that utilized global and historical textiles.

Many of her clothing display strong African, East and Southeast Asian, and Indigenous American influences.

She also maintained and displayed an inventory of art objects from across the globe.

Sara Penn was born in Pittsburgh to an affluent African American family in 1927.

Her great aunt followed Booker T. Washington's urge to provide skilled training for newly freed slaves, teaching quilting and sewing.

She opened a training school that grew to have over 200 students.

Penn recognizes a closeness with this relative that she attributes her own career to.

After attending Spelman College, Penn earned a social work degree from Atlanta University, where she would take a religion class with Martin Luther King Jr. She maintained her career as a social worker part-time even years into Knobkerry's success.

1932

Her store Knobkerry, was a reference to "The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God", a 1932 short story by George Bernard Shaw.

In the allegorical satire the South African protagonist flees a mission with only her knobkerrie, a Zulu fighting stick.

She sets out for God, and anytime she comes across someone who tries to tell her who God is, she simply hits them with her knobkerrie and continues her search.

The store changed locations numerous times, and other than a short stint in California, remained generally in Manhattan's Lower East Side.

The store dealt in both ready to wear garments and custom designs.

The clothing were created onsite in the backroom of the shop.

Alix Grès was cited as an inspiration for their custom gowns.

The garments were noted for their utilization of cultural assemblage as well as their ability to be worn by either sex.

Knobkerry was the site of several early exhibitions by American artist David Hammons.

Roberta Smith reviewed an exhibition of Hammons work at Knobkerry's TriBeCa location – describing how Hammons combined the inventory of Knobkerry and some of his own work to create a constantly shifting sculptural installation.

Many works created by Hammons for this exhibition only existed for the duration of the exhibition.

One piece, titled Carpet Beater, was an adorned Kilim rug with two dozen drumsticks.

Another was a deflated basketball filled with rice, placed atop a tiny lounge chair with chewing gum on its underside, all placed within a glass case with shelves holding Japanese dolls, Indian bronzes, and wood or iron African figurines.

Moving water was connected to the orifices of African masks to become small scale, functioning fountains.

Also featured was a group portrait of a Black family, partially obscured by a hanging kimono.

A small Shinto shrine was encircled with black-eyed peas.

This was the first time Hammons staged his Freudian Slip, a piece of lacy lingerie draped over a Yoruban Gẹlẹdẹ mask.

The show's existence was spread exclusively by word-of-mouth.

This exhibition was a perfect fit for Penn's store, whose trademark clothing had always been a patchwork of culturally specific textiles.

1950

She traveled throughout Europe in the 1950s, living briefly in Paris and Amsterdam.

Eventually moving back to New York, she took a job as a social worker and began a romantic relationship with the painter Wolf Kahn.

Kahn and Penn were regulars at the Cedar Bar where she met artists like Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline and Joan Mitchell.

She began to apprentice at Phyllis Jewelry, a silver store on East 7th Street.

Here she would meet not only her future business partners—Fumi Schmidt, a dancer and seamstress who sewed most of the creations and Olive Wong, a theatrical designer who procured textiles for Penn, but also friend and contemporary Art Smith, a jeweler, and Barbara Shaum, a sandal maker whose shop adjoined McSorley's Bar and would eventually become Penn's first shopfront.

1967

It has been speculated (though never confirmed) that Yves Saint Laurent, a frequent customer of Knobkerry, was influenced by Penn's designs for his Spring/Summer 1967 collection.

1969

Designs from Knobkerry utilizing Pakistani textiles were sold in the museum shop to accompany a 1969 exhibition of Pakistani craftwork at the Smithsonian Institution Arts and Industries Building.

1977

Among numerous other publications, her designs were notably featured on the covers of Esquire and The Saturday Evening Post, as well as several Virginia Slims ad campaigns featuring Beverly Johnson for Essence in 1977, and for Jet in 1975.

1998

Knobkerry officially closed its doors in 1998.

Svetlana Kitto compiled an oral history of Sara Penn and Knobkerry after researching a catalogue for Ken Tisa's exhibition at Gordon Robichaux Gallery, where she repeatedly came across Penn's name and mentions of Knobkerry.

This oral history was ultimately compiled for a 2021 exhibition at SculptureCenter–curated by interim director Kyle Dancewicz and including sculptures by Niloufar Emamifar and SoiL Thornton.