The idea for Monchiqe was born in a village in Portugal with almost the same name. But to understand the whole process, we have to go back to the year when we moved to our small house with the attached garden, almost 7 years ago.

A garden that was quickly filled with cozy furniture and lush plants. But when it came to finding a parasol, we failed miserably. We wanted a parasol with character and a lovely colour. After several weeks of searching, we simply gave up. We had to settle for a mass-produced impersonal and very gray parasol.

The summer of 2020, the summer that everyone spent at home and did their best to liven up life. The gardens, balconies and terraces have probably never been used as extensively as that summer. The same applied to us.

​We spent more or less every single day in the garden. We cooked and mixed colorful drinks with recipes from more southern latitudes and dreamed away.

The only thing we still lacked in our carefully created home holiday environment was a parasol with the right vibes. The idea of ​​a self-designed parasol begins to take shape, but it takes a while before everything completely falls into place.

Our family is a motley group of world citizens with roots here and there. But there is one place that we all yearn for almost constantly. A place to which we have extra strong ties. It is a small mountain village in southern Portugal. A village where the spirit of the people is as beautiful as its surrounding green valleys and rolling hills. It was right here, back in this small village, that it all really took off.

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One hot afternoon we sat at our local cafe in the village square and fanned ourselves cool with menu sheets. The cafe owner and also our friend Zeé Joao came out to us and asked for help carrying in the latest delivery of port wine.

And there in the shed with a half-collapsed roof, behind bottles and trays it stood tilted - Our dream parasol!

Fringe-worn and sun-bleached but with just the right feeling and character that we've been looking for for so long. The parasol was wide-striped and had beautiful worn cotton fringes that whispered of bygone times.

We decided then and there to create just such parasols. Parasol that would bring to mind the dream place that we all have. Maybe it's the Algarve coast in Portugal or the Riviera in France or one of the Mediterranean's wonderful islands.

Our own parasols would have strong character and eye-catching design, playful and elegant at the same time. But it is also important not to give way to function and a wide area of ​​use for the sake of it.

They should fit just as well on the terrace as on the beach, raise the mood at the dinner table as well as on the picnic, or just provide peace and shade for a much-needed siesta.

Monchiqe was created and the rest will be history...