Collaborations
Autumn 2023
Introducing the latest Karen Walker collaboration, with their classic monogram print in its newly deconstructed and reconstructed form.
The print creatively combines the KW monogram with the brand's signature arrow, creating a playful yet structured design reminiscent of kaleidoscopes, building blocks, and Monopoly houses.
- Karen Walker
Summer 2023
Influenced by her Chinese heritage and true to her signature style, the latest limited edition design celebrates the Year of the Water Rabbit.
"The Water Rabbit umbrella feels uplifting and peaceful. It’s fun, with a few cheeky carrot and daikon characters hanging around the place, but also has a kind of elegance about it which I really like."
Spring 2022
An illustrator and artist with a passion for the native manu (birds) of New Zealand, Melissa has collaborated with BLUNT and Forest & Bird to create the stunning new umbrella design.
"I wanted to create a design chock full of manu and have different illustrations all around the umbrella, so every panel has a different scene. The overall vibe is a natural one, with a neutral colour palette to compliment the manu and make them the main focus."
Winter 2022
Inspired by soft brushstrokes and hand sketched patterns, this limited edition design features paisley in a captivating cornflower blue - made to stand out even on the greyest of rainy days.
“Cornflowers are my favourite flower,” says Costelloe. “The cornflower blue colour has been my favourite since I was a child.”
- Frances Costelloe
Winter 2022
“This design was conceptualised over lockdown during the first year of the pandemic when moments outdoors, and in my neighbourhood, had become more vital than ever."
"My inspiration came from vintage travel posters and luggage labels. However as our adventures had been very localised through the pandemic, I tried to imagine what a travel poster would look like if it were for a trip to the park down the road, or a muddy walk, what icons would be on there? What sights would I cross as I walk round my neighbourhood? Then I created it with my own
illustrative spin and lots of colour."
Full Interview here
Spring 2022
“What I love about creating designs with BLUNT is that the core product is so well designed, and we know that it’ll perform, last and look great. Our style’s always based on mixing utility and practicality with glamour and I think that this umbrella captures that perfectly.”
- Karen Walker
Summer 2022
“I wanted the artwork and design to tap into that nostalgic feeling of looking into a rock pool, just like I did as a child and did with my own children,”
“Gazing in and exploring through layers of seaweed, searching for movement, watching the small fish, crabs, sea-anemones and tiny shrimp all going about their daily business oblivious to what’s going on in the rest of the world. It’s magical.”
Full interview here
Summer 2022
Bringing together two complimentary and best-in-field brands, Wallace Cotton and BLUNT umbrellas have combined both the iconic full bloom pattern and innovative engineering to create the Full Bloom BLUNT umbrella. Inspired by nature and the darker tones of full bloom, this umbrella is the perfect blend of florals and function.
Read Interview here
Summer 2022
“Many in the LGBTQI+ community feel unsafe. They are subjected to violence, bullying, and hate speech in physical and/or digital spaces. This continues to contribute to highly disproportionate rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide in the LGBTQI+ community globally, marking a clear need for safe spaces that do not tolerate these behaviours. We are working hard to make a better world for the LGBTQI+ community by acknowledging, supporting, and celebrating this community, in this case through a striking umbrella.”
- Director of Safe Space Alliance, Shannon Novak (he/him)
Full Interview here
Spring 2021
"A lot of my work is monochromatic, so creating an umbrella felt most natural for me if it was classic and not too bright. I wanted to create an artwork that was made up of words, but at the same time the words go together to create a kind of graphic element rather than a bunch of words you felt like you needed to read every line. It’s fun and not too serious."
- Nathan Johnson of Blacklist Studios
Winter 2021
“I loved the challenge of working with a new and unusual canvas! Playing around with how the umbrella would look at different angles, open, and closed was really fun. I was given a lot of creative freedom by the Blunt team to go wild with the patterns and colours, so seeing it come to life was amazing. I hope this umbrella injects a bit of psychedelic fun and colour into people’s rainy days.”
– Ellen Porteus
Full Interview here
Autumn 2021
"During lockdown in Melbourne in 2020, I was lucky enough to have a farmer’s market within my 5km radius. The market became my one and only permitted adventure during the week, so I spent as much time as possible there on Sundays. Every week there was a man selling some of the most amazing mushrooms I’ve ever seen, giant pink ones, weird wrinkly ones and fungi of all colours and descriptions, I would come home every week with a new variety to try (and also just look at!). At the same time, I’d just planted a flower garden to attract insects to my garden, so when it came to sketching these two things became my biggest inspiration, some could say I was mildly mushroom obsessed for a while!"
- Kelly Thompson
Full interview here
Spring 2020
"I wanted to create something BLUNT customers would have never seen before on an umbrella, I wanted it to “breathe life” and be something a BLUNT customer would use to provide a certain level of self-expression. I am pretty expressive myself with my art and with my physical appearance and I find my work is most appreciated when I don’t hold back. I wanted to make BLUNT customers feel like they weren’t just buying an umbrella, but also a piece of art."
- Jordan Debney
Full interview here.
Winter 2020
"I put myself in the position of pulling out an umbrella on a rainy day. I am feeling cozy and I have to go out into the wet, it is dark and rainy so I want my umbrella to bring a bit of light into my day. I wanted the BLUNT + Studio Jasmine umbrella to bring joy through the abstract painted foliage design in colours that instantly make me feel happy and positive."
- Jasmine Dowling of Studio Jasmine
Full Interview here.
Winter 2020
The BLUNT + Flox Limited Edition pays homage to the beautiful landscapes in Aotearoa as well as across the ditch in neighbouring Australia. Featuring a mix of both native New Zealand and Australian birds and botanicals, the artwork is a lush synergy of nature and colour.
Read interview here.
Autumn 2020
“I designed the Blunt + fortyonehundred umbrella as a reminder of connection; between the rain falling, with the soul in the middle, grounded to the earth below. Fractal patterning allows us to visualise the unbreakable and immense interconnection between humans and nature. A beautiful fusion of art, science, mathematics and people”
- Lizzie Snow AKA fortyonehundred
Full interview here.
Spring 2019
"The gloss black print on matte black umbrella catches the light beautifully and has a wet look. We have also incorporated elements of our fine jewellery collection, with the detachable leather strap featuring silver ‘Ninja Star’ charms and a branded snap-dome.”
- Marc Moore, founder + creative director at Stolen Girlfriends Club
Spring 2019
Inspired by George’s ‘Freedom of Expression’ collection, where he explores the different identities influenced by street culture. Using multiple printing techniques, George created a distinctive camo print allowing the colours and textures to blend and fabricate into a unique print.
Winter 2019
“My husband breeds tropical fish, and for the past year our studio has been shared with quite a few aquariums, which is lovely to be surrounded by, and has definitely had some influence in creating this work. I wanted the design to be watery and dreamy but also quite graphic with eye-popping colour so it would really be noticed when coming down the street.”
Autumn 2019
“When traveling, I’ve always loved scenes of people playing chess at the seaside in Europe and under the trees in Central Park and wish we had more of that in my hometown…Perhaps we have a little more rain than they do around the Med or the Black Sea but why should a spot of rain get in the way of an afternoon at the chessboard? Enter our latest Karen Walker + BLUNT Umbrella and the problem’s solved. Talk about a great defence”
- Karen Walker
Spring 2017
Flox’s trademark native birds, ferns and flowers, all in a celebration of Aotearoa’s environmental taonga, transform a rainy day into a vibrant depiction of the natural world.
Spring 2017
Dick Frizzell is one of New Zealand’s most-loved artists. Inspired by weather catch-crys, Frizzell created this classic sign-style print celebrating slogans, popular sayings, famous weather reports and song lyrics, such as ‘always take the weather with you’, ‘the sun will come out tomorrow’, ‘I’m singing in the rain’,‘blame it on the rain’, and ‘there’s a weather bomb out in the Tasman’.