Shade Sail History
It is thought that the earliest forms of shade sails were used by the Ancient Egyptians, who took large pieces of fabric to provide shaded areas. This idea was soon adopted by the Greeks and Romans- notably, Roman sailors set up large canvas sails at the Colosseum in Rome.
However, shade sails were not particularly popular or useful until more durable fabrics were developed. In the early 1990s, different versions of shade cloth began to appear, mostly coming from South Africa and Australia. For this reason, the shade sail industry is centred mostly around these countries, who also export to the USA, but they have not yet made much of an impact in Europe and South America.
The first forms of shade cloth had the disadvantage of susceptibility to UV degradation. Modern shade sails are now manufactured with UV inhibitors and usually a ten year UV degradation warranty. Shade sails are now also often made from other materials such as PVC or canvas variations.
The craft of shade sail design has yet to be introduced in any formal educational facility. Traditionally, shade sail designers and manufacturers have been largely self-taught and this seems to have remained, although some of the principles of fabric architecture and related engineering are used, and the expertise of a designer is based largely on experience.