The Umbrella Gets an Extreme Makeover

March 6, 2007 — -- Mary Poppins used it as a mode of transportation, Gene Kelly sang and danced with it in the rain, and just last week, Britney Spears attacked a paparazzo's car with one. The umbrella: classic, simple, and, clearly, versatile. Not, however, the sturdiest of gadgets.

Parodied in films and cartoons for its flimsiness, the umbrella has an uncanny knack for turning itself inside out or refusing to close, or worse, refusing to open when needed.

But now a Dutch company, Senz Technologies, is reinventing this timeless contraption. Eschewing traditional designs, materials and capabilities, Senz Umbrellas claims to have created "the first game-changing innovations in umbrella design." But how exactly does one reconstruct a gadget that has remained largely the same since its inception more than 4,000 years ago?

For starters, the Senz Umbrella does not look like any other one out there. Aerodynamically styled to "slice its way through all winds," the Senz Umbrella resembles a cross between a hang-glider and a spaceship. Complete with an oval-shaped shaft, a stylish handle, and extra reinforcing ribs in the frame, this Dutch doohickey is the escalade of umbrellas.

"It all started out of frustration," said Philip Hess, Senz Umbrellas' co-founder and commercial director. "We said we have all the technology in the world. We can go to the moon and beyond, but we can't create a functional umbrella?!"

Hess and his partners, Gerwin Hoogendoorn, the creative brain behind the umbrella, and Gerard Kool, managing director of Senz Umbrellas, began working on the umbrella's design more than two years ago at Delft University. Although the umbrella's new design was a collaborative effort, Hess credited Hoogendoorn's thesis as the real catalyst behind their design.

"Basically, we tried to eliminate all annoyances of your typical umbrella," Hess said. "Our shape is different. The circular shape is the worst shape for an umbrella -- so ours is asymmetrical. We have a new patented construction that better distributes pressure throughout the device so it won't break. And we've added what we call, eye-savers, so there'll be no more nasty eye poking."