In 18th-century London, rain was an unavoidable part of life, but umbrellas were not. At the time, umbrellas were considered delicate accessories reserved almost exclusively for women. Men were expected to brave the weather bare-headed, soaked, and stoic. To carry an umbrella was to invite ridicule.

And then came Jonas Hanway.

A philanthropist, traveler, and stubbornly practical thinker, Hanway returned from travels in Persia where umbrellas were used by both men and women. When he brought this custom home, he did something almost unthinkable for his era: he walked through London carrying an umbrella, calmly and consistently, day after day.

People mocked him. Cab drivers cursed him for reducing their business. Passersby mocked him for being “unmanly.” Yet Hanway kept walking. He refused to shrink from the rain or from convention. Little by little, the city’s laughter turned into curiosity. Curiosity turned into imitation.

By the early 1800s, men across London were carrying umbrellas. One person’s quiet decision had shifted an entire cultural norm.

Jonas Hanway didn’t just carry an umbrella. He changed how a society saw it. A Modern Reflection: how hogo speaks to that same spirit

Today, umbrellas are no longer statements of rebellion, yet they can still hold meaning. They can still shift how we express ourselves in the rain. They can still bring something human and beautiful to a grey day.

That is where Hogo finds its place.

Just as Hanway challenged expectations, Hogo hopes to gently reshape the rainy day experience, especially for women who see the umbrella not as a burden, but as an extension of their style, their confidence, and their quiet strength.

A Hogo umbrella doesn’t hide you from the rain. It accompanies you into it. It adds color to a grey sky. It turns a rainy day into a moment.

At Hogo we want want to offer women not just protection from the rain, but a small piece of beauty they carry above them. A reminder that even in the rain, there is beauty.