Our story
Over the summer of 2023, photos like these kept on appearing on my Instagram feed. Photos of colourful beach parasols at the luxury hotels of the Amalfi Coast in Italy, and at the glamorous, pop-up beach clubs of the French Riviera.
I loved the images.
I realised what an impact parasols could have in transforming an outdoor space.
And so began my search for a parasol to grace my garden.
I seemed to only find two options.
Beach parasols, which while fun, wouldn’t look right in my outdoor space. My house is a brick-built family home in South London, not the Mediterranean.
The rest were plain, practical parasols, always in the same three colours: navy, green or cream.
I was uninspired.
I scoured the pages of house and garden magazines. I drunk up the images of homes with layers of beautiful fabrics; on curtains, cushions, upholstered sofas and lampshades. I wondered why the same levels of style, warmth and colour weren't applied to garden parasols.
And here we are.
I set my sights on finding fabrics that were worthy of the most lust-worthy interiors, but had the credentials to withstand all weathers and year-round outdoor living.
Low and behold, as I sourced luxury outdoor fabrics from Spain, America, Belgium and France, I realised that these couldn’t just sit on any old frames.
Luxury fabrics, that can also withstand the elements, don’t come cheap. We were going to have to partner these fabrics up with beautiful, strong, high-quality frames, that could last even longer than our fabrics.
Once again, the UK market for parasol frames disappointed. 95% of what we found were low-quality frames, made from cheap materials.
We spoke with factories in Portugal, Italy and Vietnam. All had been making parasols for decades. And yet I felt like Goldilocks. The parasol frames we looked at were either too chunky, too varnished, to wobbly, too plasticky, the arms were the wrong angle, the wood was too soft… I could continue.
Thankfully we managed to find a factory who would work with us to bespoke a product that finally, we loved.
They’ve been making parasols for over 25 years.
They had the expertise that we didn’t have. They knew how to ensure our parasols would be strong, even in winds harsher than you’d ever sunbathe in. They knew which wood options can last beautifully year after year, despite damp English winters.
They knew how to construct a frame where all parts can be replaced individually, should something break. Meaning these frames should never need to head to landfill.
And so, with the right frame, and an incredible selection of fabrics, we were nearly ready to go.
The final stage was finding the craftsmen and women who could sew our canopies, with the same care and attention as when they’re creating cushions, curtains and upholstery for beautiful homes.
Of course there was plenty of trial and error in making our designs work.
I knew what I wanted the final product to look like. The teams in the workshops made sure our parasols would also function in practice. They advised on strengthened corners, storm vents and double sewn seams. I learnt a lot on the job.
We now work with two workshops in England. They help us to create the pieces de resistance of our products.