The parasol: could France pick up an old habit again?

A short story about shade, painting and the things we like to carry.

It's hot. Very hot.

You're walking down the street, the sun is everywhere, and a little portable shade would be welcome.

An umbrella could do the job. But why wait for rain to take out a beautiful object?

What if the parasol, an old French habit, still had something to teach us?

The parasol, an old friend

In the 19th century, the parasol was part of going out for a walk. In silk or lace, embroidered or coloured, it could finish an outfit while making a little shade.

Just look at Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son, painted by Claude Monet in 1875. Camille Monet stands on a hill, her green parasol open in the wind. Their son Jean is behind her.

The parasol is not a small detail. It holds the whole picture together: the shape, the colours, the movement.

See the painting at the National Gallery of Art

Over time, the parasol dropped out of everyday life. It stayed in paintings, old photographs and period costumes.

But the idea itself hasn't lost any of its charm.

A little shade to take with you

In Japan, it's called a higasa (日傘), literally a "sun umbrella". In summer you see them all the time in the street, as in other East Asian cities.

It's a simple idea that different cultures have made their own: carry your own little shade.

A parasol gives shade. How well it protects against UV, though, depends on the materials and how it is made.

At Ombrella, we won't claim UV protection before we've tested it. We explain the difference in A rain umbrella or a UV umbrella: what is the difference?

What if we simply wanted to open it?

We don't need to go back to corsets, crinolines or big lace parasols.

What interests us is the idea that a useful object can also be beautiful.

An umbrella light enough to go everywhere with us. A design we like looking at. Colours that make us want to open it, even when no rain is forecast.

Not something we only take out because we have to.

Something we choose, keep, and are glad to find again.

Why Ombrella?

The idea came on a very hot day, from a very simple wish: to take a little bit of shade with us.

That's where the question behind our work comes from: what if an umbrella became something you want to show?

We make umbrellas, not traditional parasols. They are made for rain, but once open, they can also give shade.

We are exploring illustrations, shapes and materials to make umbrellas that are beautiful, practical and easy to carry.

We are still looking for the right balance between lightness, strength, print quality and comfort. And we still have to check any performance we want to claim.

For now, we are working on the first models, and we share our choices, our tests and the open questions in this journal.

Maybe one day we'll see lots of parasols in French streets again.

Until then, we're trying to make umbrellas you'll want to open at the first ray of sun.