Umbrella Maker · Brisbane, Queensland
In a quiet workshop filled with rare European machines, Alicia Mora continues a craft that has almost disappeared from Australia. At eighty-four, she is believed to be the nation’s last umbrella maker – a title she carries with humility, determination, and a deep sense of responsibility.
Originally from Chile, Alicia discovered umbrella making in the 1970s under a Polish master artisan who trained her in the traditional European methods. She inherited not only his knowledge, but also the historic German and English presses, drills and sewing machines that still shape every umbrella she creates.
Each piece begins as carefully cut fabric panels – patterns aligned with mathematical precision — before being stitched, pressed, mounted on vintage frames, and finished with handcrafted handles. Her double-lined parasols, patterned umbrellas and rare frames are no longer produced anywhere in the world.
For Alicia, this work is more than a livelihood; it is memory, resilience, and art. Her workshop holds decades of fabrics, tools and stories, each umbrella becoming a quiet testament to skill and endurance.
“I don’t need money,” she says. “I need people to know me. To remember this craft.”
Alicia’s inclusion in Heritage Hands honours a lifetime dedicated to making beautiful, lasting things – and preserves the legacy of a craft now held by one extraordinary woman.
