A historic brand from Poitiers

Before the 1920s all the seams were entirely made by hand.

Even if the third generation with Emile François was not really disposed to modernize our workshop

our first Durkopp and Pfaff electrical sewing machines and our Pegasus serger would arrive in the 1950s.

Thanks to these machines our yield has speeded up and it makes it possible to meet a strong demand.

From the 1920s to the 1980s there was more and more production and the François Umbrella Factory has employed up to 13 staff members during the prosperous times.

But at the end of the 1980s the Chinese importation started. As a consequence, cheap and unreliable umbrellas conquered the French crafts.

In France a lot of umbrella factories closed down. Despite this bad time and thanks to our insight our François Frères Factory has survived.

In 2000s the way of buying began to change in France. The consumers wanted to get “Made in France” products again and went back to small business. They prefer to buy a more expensive and more strong product which could be repaired. It helped us to revive our production and to make evolved our company with new means of communication such as internet.

A know-how acclaimed by major brands, celebrities, the public…

We have manufactured umbrellas for major brands like Vuitton or Hermès.

Some celebrities have also worn a François Umbrella, such as Bernard Loiseau, Frédérick Gersal, Édouard Baer and Stéphane Bern.

Faithful to our know-how since more than 140 years we still continue to make handmade umbrellas with the constant view to new creations in order to offer high quality and top of the range products to our custumers all around the world.

Take your turn to discover la Fabrique de parapluies François

It is now time for you too to come and discover the period window of our François Umbrella Factory in Poitiers, to enter our store and visit our workshop.

If unfortunately you are too far away, we have made our Online Store which will immerse you in the heart of our most beautiful umbrellas.

In any case, welcome to the François Umbrella Factory!