Revel

Revel was a French brand celebrated for luxury parasols and umbrellas, made largely for French expatriates across the former French colonial empire. It built its name on high-quality silk umbrella craftsmanship out of Lyon, the great French silk city, and became a fixture of well-dressed sun and rain protection in its day.

Revel was founded in France on 2 October 1851 by François Revel. He had arrived in Lyon around 1830 and trained as an apprentice at Poncet Frères, an umbrella maker, learning to craft high-quality umbrellas from silk. When Poncet Frères shut down, he set up his own company, drawing on the city's deep silk expertise.

They are the brand's own labels, created by the founder's son. In 1880, Aimé Revel created the Veritas brand, marked with a red triangle, and in 1900 he established Parapluie Revel for the French market. So a piece carrying one of those names points back to specific moments in the house's history.

A big reason is the brand's famous advertising art. In 1922 Revel commissioned the celebrated Italian poster designer Leonetto Cappiello to create an iconic image of three figures with umbrellas. That poster and the brand's vintage labels are now sought after by collectors of antique umbrellas and classic French poster art.

Far more widely than you might expect. From the second half of the 19th century Revel expanded internationally, reaching Brazil, Southeast Asia, India and Madagascar. It was especially present in former French Indo-China, selling in Saigon and then Singapore from 1886, and even built its own factory in Haiphong in 1931 to meet demand.

Parasols and umbrellas were the heart of the business, but not the only thing. In 1929 Revel diversified into silk stockings, again calling on Leonetto Cappiello to design the advertising, this time with three women in silk stockings echoing the earlier umbrella poster. Still, sun and rain accessories remained what the brand was best known for.

No. Revel is described as a former French brand, so it is best understood as a heritage name rather than an active label you can buy new from. Its legacy lives on mainly through vintage pieces, antique umbrellas and the collectible Cappiello posters that carry its name.

Through family and circumstance. The brand's reach into Brazil began with Pierre Revel, who was already importing French parasols and umbrellas into Rio de Janeiro, so it made sense to build on that foothold. In Madagascar, Revel's products were sold from 1896 after a French general lifted a local restriction that had reserved umbrella use for the queen and nobility.

Yes, most memorably in the cinema. For the 1992 film The Lover, set in 1929 French Indo-China, the producers asked Revel to recreate the same parasol the brand had been selling in that region in the 1920s. It is a nice illustration of how closely the name was tied to that colonial-era world of elegant sun protection.

Partly fashion, partly status. Revel supplied sun accessories to French high society in the colonies, who wanted protection from harsh sun and rain. In several Asian cultures fair skin was prized, since tanned skin was associated with outdoor manual labour, which made a fine parasol both a practical shield and a marker of standing.