How Leon Haasbroek is crafting conversations in couture

Growing up in sunny Margate, Leon Haasbroek had the kind of upbringing many are afforded in a balmy beach town. However, he would soon shake things up by getting into fashion school when he discovered his talents lay in his eye for style. While his dreams were met with much derision from his parents, Haasbroek made a deal with them.

He said, “What if I enter the Durban July competition, prove to you I can do it, and then you guys send me to fashion school?”

With little experience in design, Haasbroek found his own expert seamstress and fabrics. With no formal training or influence in the fashion world, he was placed in the top 10 of the 2004 iteration of the contest. And while Haasbroek did not win the competition outright, his creations were covered in local newspapers, and this made his fashion flair undeniable. He has come a long way from the Durban July’s sidelines, and is now one of the most powerful players in South Africa’s cultural and creative sector.

With more than 15 years of experience in personal image development, Haasbroek is the thread that binds businesses to their brands, the celebrity whisperer behind their power moves who has made waves at South African Fashion Week.

As the mastermind behind two of the country’s most prominent businesses — an influencer and celebrity consultant at HAGO Consultancy, and the owner of his own personal consultancy brand LJHPR — we spoke to Haasbroek about his inspiring journey.

Do you remember the first moment you fell in love with fashion?

If I’m honest, I’ve always had a keen understanding of style — of what looks pretty. When I was young, I wasn’t one of those boys who played with Barbie dolls. My mom and dad had enough money to buy us toys, but I was very creative when I was little. I would play with rocks, using pins and masking tape to style hair made out of threads. I also realised I could express myself through clothing.

What was it like navigating a conservative social space as a creative young person? 

When the articles appeared after my Durban July moment, people recognised me more. My social network changed, because I had been noticed. I was not the most popular person at school, but I found people accepted the direction I wanted to go in. I definitely thought at that time I wanted to be a fashion designer, but I obviously didn’t know then the journey I would later go on.

And that speaks to the beauty of our industry. It’s not just about clothes and fashion — it involves so much more. I went to fashion school and hated it. The teacher kept telling me I would not amount to anything because the industry would not accept me. But what’s amazing is where I sit now, both locally and globally.

Was this bullying, or just a teacher trying to show some tough love?

I don’t think it was bullying, but rather that person’s own understanding. I think that is often the case in small towns. That’s how it was. I lasted six months and then asked my parents to let me leave, because it was not worth my while being broken for the next three years. I ended up doing a bridging course in public relations. 

How did you get involved in building brands?

My mother saw I had this talent, but I didn’t see it myself. It was her idea for me to do PR. When I went back to school, I worked in my father’s hardware store. In 2008, I got the opportunity to work for a very small promotions agency. I moved to Joburg and for the first three weeks slept in my car in the parking lot. I ate bread and drank water, and used the office gym to shower and brush my teeth. Then one of my friends realised I was sleeping in my car and offered to look after me. That was a turning point for me, because the next year I was given the opportunity to work at what would become Boss Models — and that allowed me to get into brand-building at a high level. 

The relationship you have with your family seems to inform how you work with both your clients and colleagues. What fostered this sense of family in your work life?

Last year was a very difficult one for me because I lost my dad in June, and then my mom about a month later. My mom and dad allowed me to take the time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. They were very strict with me and held me accountable all the time. And that helps with my talents, who are my chosen family. I am committed to them, and that is why it is so difficult for me to say yes to other celebrities and influencers who want me to be their manager. It’s not because I don’t have capacity — it’s because I need to believe in your brand as much as you do to promote it.

How have you gone about putting influencers and content creators at the forefront of fashion?

That all began in 2019 with the Covid-19 lockdowns. Lucilla Booyzen and Lee-Roy Esbend of South African Fashion Week approached me to help them promote their digital shows, and we noticed they were having a limited impact. Lee-Roy and I saw an opportunity to reach more viewers through TikTok, which was then only just starting to become popular. 

No other fashion week was using social media in this way, and we realised we had seen something nobody else had. Just one season after that, New York Fashion Week started using TikTok, followed by Australia and Shanghai. Only later did the snoots Paris and Milan also start using the app. Lucilla gave us the chance to use social media to promote South African Fashion Week, and we picked the right people to appear on it. The TikTokers we used later became the official TikTokers for the event.

What do you think led to fashion falling in love with influencers over the past decade, as opposed to the models and celebrities who once dominated the sphere?

Before 2018, celebrities, models and stylists were the ones in demand. Promoting fashion was kept within the industry, which is not necessarily a bad thing, because we need to know our own limits. But what we realised from 2018 onwards was that there were other big influencers, such as Ricki Kallish of Big Bad Wolf, who could also do the job well. Ricki was not recognised as a fashion influencer at first, but she was contributing a lot to the industry — even more so than some people in the mainstream media. She was the one calling people out for going to launch parties but not supporting local designers.

The shift really came when we all had to go digital, but what I am starting to realise is that the industry is going back to putting supermodels front and centre. I definitely still have my TikTokers, but I am also pushing for using our supermodels. And while this costs money, I am keen to have them back sitting in the front row at fashion events. This trend was apparent at Gucci, Guo Pei and Fendi in the last two seasons.

Where do you see South Africa’s fashion industry going in the next few years?

You are probably not going to like my answer, but I would like the South African fashion industry to go back to being a little more exclusive. I think that over the last couple of years we’ve opened up our industry in ways that have not always been successful. For example, there are different types of photographers, but if you are a food photographer, why are you at South African Fashion Week? If that’s a field you want to get involved in, that’s great — I’m not hating on you — but can we please follow the process instead of allowing anyone and everyone to depict what’s happening and not happening in our industry? We also have to create opportunities for the bigger events. We have to have more supporting events around them. These can be networking opportunities, media breakfasts, designer get-togethers, model parties, or the things we get to do at schools and colleges at all levels.