Klibansky family business: "With the family we can take on the whole world"

Family businesses are the cornerstone of the economy. In this series, MASTERS portrays family businesses with a story. This installment focuses on Studio Joseph Klibansky, in which Joseph works with his father, mother, brother and sister-in-law. "It's not our work, it's our DNA. "Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer
Online editing: Noa Verseveldt
Image: John van Helvert
Hair & make up: Eefje Schuur

Joseph Klibansky

What does family mean to you?
Joseph: "Family is THE, that's what I do it for. I can't imagine doing this journey alone. Every day we are together, sparring. With the family we can take on the whole world.We have so much support from each other! That gives a strong foundation and a huge dose of self-confidence. It is reassuring to know that you can always fall back on your family, in good times and bad. The relationship with my family is the greatest blessing in my life."

Doesn't that put pressure on the future Mrs. Klibansky? Who must fit into the picture....
Joseph: "I have been with Victoria (Waldau; ed.) for almost three years. Being my partner, you have to have a certain character to integrate into this family with its long, close-knit dynamic. Victoria has just the right qualities to blend in very well with that. She is very humble, sweet, with integrity, does not always need to be in the foreground and has the same family norms and values as we do: she loves being together AND children. In short: the perfect partner to integrate.

Will she be part of the company later?
Joseph: "No she won't. For starters, she is a successful influencer and with over 220,000 followers has quite a fan base of her own. Apart from that, I want to keep her separate from my work; that is very important to me. I like to be able to come home and talk about other things. With us it's quite intense: when we are together as a family, it's always about the projects we are working on, new ideas, improvements... Privately, I sometimes avoid moments when we all get together, because I want some peace and quiet. And I know that when we are together, within ten minutes we talk about work. 'Guys, Victoria's there. Can we talk about something else?' I've had to say that very often on purpose. We live this. It's not our work, it's our DNA."

Leon Klibansky & Immechien Bonnet

How did you meet?
Immechien: "I had emigrated to South Africa, Cape Town, for the weather. There I worked as a make-up artist. Leon was a photographer. We met and kept chatting with each other - and we still do. From day one we worked together. We had a photo studio and did high-level advertising and fashion photography. Later I started doing styling, acquisition and production in addition to make-up.

Why did you go to Holland in 1984?
Immechien: "Because of Apartheid. We had it very good there, but there was a lot going on politically. You could feel the tension rising, which led to riots in September of that year. That's why we left. Simple as that."

Was it that simple for you to leave, too, Leon?
Leon: "No. It was quite a difference of lifestyle. In Cape Town it was 26 degrees and here it was like -26 degrees. That was a shock. And I had to get used to a lot of other things. I knew it was time to get away from South Africa and saw New York or Paris as good options. But it became Bergambacht." Immechien: "We did go to Paris with our portfolios. There we could start right away. But with two babies, it was easier to settle in the Netherlands."

Louis & Susanna Klibansky

Louis, what do you know about your hometown of Cape Town?
Louis: "I am one year older than Joseph. At a very young age we moved to Holland. My father wanted to preserve the romantic image he has of that time and that is the reason we never went back later. Cape Town I therefore know mainly from the stories, móóóie stories. The relatives I still had there - grandpa, grandma, aunt, uncle, cousins - all left as well. Half of them moved to Sydney, the other half to LA. So we didn't have to go back to Cape Town for family visits either."

How did you and Joseph used to get along?
Louis: "We were always best friends. And a lot together. That was also because of my parents' work. If they went to a trade show, we had to go with them. So we always depended on each other, spent a lot of time together. We were always each other's backup. At most in high school we were a little less together, because we attended different schools. But then again, we had common friends, were always in each other's friend groups. We are completely on the same page and both know we are always there for each other."

When did you meet?
Susanna: "When I was sixteen and Louis was eighteen. So at an early age. I knew Joseph even longer, since I was fourteen. I lived in Laren, he lived in Bussum. But we had common friends. Whenever I saw the brothers together, I would ask: 'Who is that then?' I thought Louis was a nice boy, but he had a girlfriend at the time and I heard he was very loyal. After we lost sight of each other for a while, I ran into him again. Then it was over with that girlfriend. And something immediately developed between us. And indeed: he is very loyal, haha." Louis: "The nice thing is that Joseph and Susanna are also two hands in one. They have known each other for so long and call each other even more often than Joseph and I do." Susanna: "When we travel, we also often book a room for three - we find it cozy. When I came into the family at sixteen, we often did slumber parties. And actually, we still do. That's how close we are to each other."

Want to continue reading the interview of guest editor-in-chief Joseph Klibansky and his family? Then order the new MASTERS MAGAZINE now!

MASTERS #48 with guest editor-in-chief Joseph Klibansky