Para Soul
Words/ Lou Andrews, George Wu Images/ Carol Sachs
Meet George, the woman who took the humble brolly and turned it into a work of art...
It’s 8 o’clock in the evening and I’m on a Teams call waiting to speak to George Wu, the creator and owner of Para Para Umbrellas. While I sit here, I half expect to glance out of my window to see her elegantly floating towards me, gliding through the air with one of her animated umbrellas in hand! But this girl is no Mary Poppins! She is more of a Gandalf or a Dumbledore – and I don’t mean the grey hair and long beards! – I mean the magic.
She is a master of her trade, a creative wizard! I genuinely believe that people are born with natural skills and George is one of those. Everything she does, is somehow different. Theres always another layer to her work. The unexpected twist. She’s not a follower, she’s a leader. George is originally from Manchester. She began her creative life as a graphic designer and then moved into film/video and then also installations and events. She is a mum to a seven-month-old little boy and has now launched her own animated umbrella range – Para Para – born out of a creative hobby and an obsession with umbrellas! Let’s get the lowdown on these quirky works of art…
What I want to ask is why umbrellas George? How did you come up with the idea?
So, the original idea is actually something I made as part of an installation that me and two friends did a long time ago which was for Fendi in Milan. We created a huge installation that was like a sculpture for a music video. It was based on Rube Goldberg (using everyday objects to cause a chain reaction - a ball hits a domino, which hits something else and so on). At one point there’s a spinning umbrella with some drawings on it and a strobe light. Years later I pitched the idea of a choregraphed dance with animating umbrellas for a music video. Lots of different umbrellas, all spinning with short little bits of motion that would tell the story of the song. I didn’t win the pitch, but the idea always kind of stuck in my head. Then Covid happened, a lot of my friends were making their own products at the time and I thought I’d quite like to do the same.
I also heard a rumour though, that you’re slightly obsessed with umbrellas. Is it true and, if so, why?
I’m from the north. I think Manchester is like, something silly, like the third rainiest city in Europe. Don’t quote me on that, but it’s rainy! So, I’m used to rain and um, yeah, I love a good umbrella! I don’t know what it is, I think I really love the sound, you know, when you’re in a tent and you can hear the rain tapping on the top of it, it’s that!
I really love the sound, you know, when you’re in a tent and you can hear the rain tapping on the top of it, it’s that!
That’s such a cool analogy! Yeah, that’s a lovely sound, isn’t it?
It really is. I mean, also there’s nothing that feels quite so smug than someone that has a really good umbrella in really, really bad rain!
It’s so true. And you’re there with your cheap number that’s just blown inside out. <laughs>
I’m obsessed with umbrellas, but I specifically will only use full length umbrellas. I don’t have any short ones because they flip inside out. The full length is the way to go. They’re just a lot stronger.
I’m from the north. I think Manchester is like, something silly, like the third rainiest city in Europe. Don’t quote me on that, but it’s rainy! So, I’m used to rain and um, yeah, I love a good umbrella!
So how did it go from an idea in your head to an actual product?
So again, as we were in Covid times, it was quite hard to get anything made. So, I bought a bunch of quite cheap umbrellas from eBay in just plain colours and then I cut out loads of bits of fabric that I had in the house and literally stitched them on badly and then spun them around to see if they worked…and they did.
In the beginning I was doing frame by frame – taking eight pictures of each one and seeing if it animated. And then I got my brother involved and he’s the one that made the app. So, he built this app where I could then film it in real time. Spinning and animating.
Amazing. I love it. So, tell me more about how Para Para umbrellas work? There’s a free app that you use with them isn’t there?
Yeah. So, the app acts as a shutter, it slows down the frame rate of your phone. Normally your phone will be like twenty-four, twenty-five frames a second. But I only need eight, so the app slows it right down and that’s how you see the effect. You would get the same effect if you blinked eight times a second, which you wouldn’t want to do!
Yeah, you’d get a headache, besides the fact that you would look really odd. <laughs> Alright, cool. So, you get your app and then you do what? Spin the umbrella whilst capturing it in the app?
Yeah. And uh, the easiest way is to spin it to the rhythm of singing in the rain! So, it’s quite slow.
How very apt George! Right, so I have seen there are two sizes, slim and light. Is that mainly to do with the material that they’re made of?
Oh, so, okay this was me trying to be a bit more with the times! Traditionally they would be called gents and ladies, So I decided to change the names to slim and light. Slim is the traditional gents, but because I am using a metal stem, it’s a very slim profile compared to a standard one, which would normally have a wooden centre. And then the light is the ladies, but it’s a size that you don’t see very often. Normally you would see the gents one and then you see the collapsible one. I’ve not seen this size in many shops at all. What’s nice is it’s light. It’s quite a lot lighter than the than slim one and it’s also shorter. So, I’m five foot two and for me this one works. What’s interesting is that the light is the one that sells the most.
Oh, okay. Some good little tips in there. What phones do the apps work on? Because I’m assuming my 2010 Nokia probably won’t cut it?!
It works on iPhone, iOS 14 and above and for Android it’s five and above.
Tell me a bit more about the company that are making the umbrellas for you? I understand they’re all handmade?
So, James Ince & Sons is the name, and they are the UK’s oldest umbrella maker. They happen to be in Bethnal Green, and they’ve been making umbrellas for over 200 years (founded in 1805). And it’s still family run to this day.
So, James Ince & Sons is the name, and they are the UK’s oldest umbrella maker...they’ve been making umbrellas for over 200 years (founded in 1805). And it’s still family run to this day.
That’s mad though.
Yeah. Isn’t it? It’s great. And I think this is something that a lot of designers struggle with, trying to make stuff in the UK because, you know, umbrellas aren’t cheap to make. And it’s very expensive to make products in this country, which is sad because we have such amazing traditional crafts in the UK and I know loads of people that just really want to make stuff here because ecologically they don’t want to leave a massive carbon footprint. But, it’s just not very affordable for most people so it’s hard.
It’s nice to know this sort of background to a product, because then people know much care has gone into making them.
Yeah, they’re a lovely company. And the other thing is that they all come with a lifetime repair guarantee. Now what that means is that if any part of it breaks, we can send it back to the factory and they will get it fixed. I mean, they will charge you a fee, but you can always get it fixed. You know, the number of umbrellas I’ve seen broken in bins.
That’s funny because I was just thinking about the sheer volume of bin-brellas I’ve bought over the last five years alone! <laughs> So I could have just bought one of yours and it would’ve saved me money and, of course, it’s better for the environment to buy just one that will last. I’ve seen you’ve got some artist collaborations? Tell me about those, who have you got coming up and when?
Well, the two that I’ve just launched is Malika Favre and Erchen Chang from the BAO restaurants and they launched last month. That was really fun.
The creative director of the BAO restaurants? Wow. How, on earth did that happen?
Instagram did it really! And it’s quite funny because, I’m a huge fan of these restaurants, I’ve been going to them for many years, literally obsessed! And so, I knew who she was, and she liked one of my Para-Para posts! I took screenshots and sent it to all my friends with ‘Oh my God, look who’s just liked my post’! So, I thought, right, I’ll take the bull by the horns. So I messaged her and said, you know, I’m a big fan and I saw that you like my umbrella. If you ever want to do a collaboration with me, let me know! I was thinking okay, I won’t hear anything. And then she messaged me back in a couple of hours and said she really liked the umbrellas and was happy to do a follow up call! So, I replied saying ‘this is going to sound really crazy, but I’m giving birth on Monday! <laughs> And she was like, ‘oh my God, we can wait!’. <laughs> And I was like, ‘no, no, I’m doing it now!’. And that’s how it happened. After that I’m like, wow, you really don’t know what’s going to happen. If you don’t ask, you don’t get!
That’s such an awesome story George, love it! So, where can people buy a Para Para umbrella? Is it just the website or is it available in other places?
It’s just the website and again, that’s to try and keep costs down as it’s difficult to do wholesale.
And what’s next for Para Para?
Hmmm, I think I need to work on another new set. What’s been quite surprising is after doing the BAO collaboration, I’m getting a lot of restaurants emailing me saying they want to make an umbrella! And it’s kind of like, this is a very strange market I’ve tapped into! <laughs>
Restaurants? That’s too funny! What’s next? McDonald’s?! <laughs>
Yeah! Also, I would love to make a kids umbrella and specifically I would love to make a kids umbrella with a well-known cartoon character.
Yeah, that would be awesome. Snoopy and Woodstock now that would be epic! So, if anyone out there reading this has any contacts, please let George know! Thanks for talking to REFRAME and good luck with such an amazing product.
As the call ends, I am once again left to my thoughts! Swirling thoughts made of colourful animated images! You see, the Para Para slogan is ‘Bringing joy to bad weather’ and what I’ve learnt from this call is that’s very true! Everything umbrella-related would have been better with a sprinkling of Para Para! I mean just imagine; Mary Poppins coming down from the sky with an animated umbrella! Better! The cast of friends in the opening scenes where they are all in the water fountain…better! Rhianna video, singing in the rain…better, better, better! So, need I say more? Go out there and get yourself one and, of course, enjoy the rain.
Lou x