We proudly nurture a 100-year-old tradition and continue the family business of making umbrellas for three generations. Our story begins back in 1912. Mr Mijo Cepanec started his umbrella artisan shop in Varaždin called „Cepanec". His business grew and since Mr. Cepanec didn't have any children, he chose his nephew Gabriel Cerovečki to teach him the arts and crafts of umbrella making and to continue the business. Since they worked with high-quality materials and followed the fashion trends, the demand for their handmade umbrellas grew. In 1936 Mr. Cepanec opened another shop at 19 Ilica Street in Zagreb, where Gabrijel Cerovečki took over after finishing his apprenticeship and passing the Pre-Master and Master umbrella maker examination. A skillful master, Gabrijel Cerovečki made the umbrellas for the General Trades International Exhibition in London in 1936 that won the Grand Prix and Gold Medal award..
We have been making all kinds of umbrellas: from simple, everyday umbrellas, elegant ladies and gents umbrellas to ladies and garden parasols. Around 1937 we began importing Knirps umbrella parts. In our workshop we assembled the famous Knirps umbrellas and continued the cooperation with other foreign umbrella manufacturers aswell. The quality and durability of our products have always been of paramount importance. In 1943 Gabrijel Cerovečki inherited the entire branch from Mr. Cepanec. As the business continued to grow, Mr. Cerovečki decided to pass his knowledge on to his son Krešimir Cerovečki, who also became a master umbrella maker. To keep up with the ever growing demand, they worked together with six other workers. During 1967, due to political decisions unfavorable toward the private tradespeople and their businesses, many of the crafts and shops in the center of Zagreb were closed, Kišobrani Cerovečki was not excluded from this. Within 24 hours Gabrijel Cerovečki was out of his legaly owned shop. However, he refused to give up and continued working at home until he got another chance to open his shop, this time at Ilica 50.
Thanks to persistance and devotion, Kišobrani Cerovečki were back to business. Despite of tough competition, our quality and design became our trademark. We made umbrellas and ladies parasols for film sets and theatres with which we continue our cooperation up until today. We made custom made replicas of umbrellas and parasols from the 18th, 19th and the early 20th century for American, English and German film studios. In 1975 Krešimir Cerovečki took over his father's business. Continuing the family tradition, Krešimir's son Thomislav Cerovečki joined the craft in 1994 and is today the proud owner of Kišobrani Cerovečki. Since 2004 our workshop has been situated at 49 Ilica Street, where you can find us today.
Many domestic and foreign media have shown interest in our products and our traditional craft of making umbrellas: the Japanese, Spanish and Greek broadcastig companies and the Austrian ORF, to name but a few. We made the Šestine umbrellas for the Japanese market and have even had the pleasure of making a replica of a mid 19th century ladies parasol for the Japanese Princess. The parasol was a custom made gift from the City of Zagreb when she visited our capital. We have presented our products at exhibitions in Germany (Frankfurt, München) and the USA (New York, Manhattan). Many companies, embassies, ministries, the Office of the Chief of Protocol etc. have acknowledged our commitment to top quality by ordering our products as gifts for other statesmen or business partners. Most popular gift seems to be the charming and recognizable Šestine umbrella.
In times of increasing imports from the Far East, our products stand out thanks to their premium quality and style. Same as back in 1912, our high quality umbrellas and parasols are still being handmade with precision and love. We specialize in making and repairing all kinds of umbrellas as well as ladies and garden parasolsWe are proud of our success and tradition, and our products – that can be found both in Croatia and worldwide – speek for themselves.
