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An umbrella crafted in France
Are you looking for an umbrella crafted in France ?
At François, you'll find them for men, women and even children! In different diameters to cover one or two people, to protect you from the sun and rain like the sunshade and the Sheperd's umbrella and even the english umbrella which represents the top-of-the-range umbrella, adapted to your size so you can use it as a walking stick on long walks.
For over a century, we've been adapting to keep our family business going, and still offer our customers beautiful umbrellas in our store in Poitiers, but also on our website with which we ship umbrellas all over the world!
Where are umbrellas manufactured in France ?
Today, there are only a handful of artisanal umbrella factories left in France including our François umbrella factory located in Poitiers (Vienne), in the north of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.
In France in the early 1900s, there were 400 umbrella factories. Unfortunately, the two world wars destroyed many of these factories, but some survived, like the François umbrella factory !
In the 1960s, there were still a few dozen umbrella manufacturers. But from the 1970s onwards, with the arrival of supermarkets and over-consumption, prices and quality plummeted until the 1990s. At that time, umbrellas could be found all over France for 5 or 10 francs (around €1.50).
During this difficult period, other umbrella factories closed and many of our suppliers also disappeared, weakening the entire chain.
But despite a lot of stress and the redundancy of 11 employees, we weathered the storm. Little by little, consumers changed their habits and returned to a search for durable, solid products that could be repaired, even if it meant paying more. Lifespan has once again become a major issue in the face of disposable imported products !
Even so, this change in mentality came rather late (in the early 2000s), and it was only 10 to 15 years later that the Made in France movement made it possible to assert the know-how of French craftsmen both in our beautiful country and internationally !
Our job is a passion maybe an art and we are searching and we are improving.
To conclude here is a beautiful quotation to meditate by Auguste Rodin :“An art that lives doesn’t repeat the past,
Auguste Rodin
it makes it goes on.”So thank you for participating in this virtuous movement and choose an umbrella crafted in France !
