Hanspeter 'HP' Winklmayr
Three centuries of craft. One man. Two countries. A story that refused to end at retirement.
When a young Austrian craftsman landed in South Africa in 1981 — carrying a suitcase, his tools, and a lineage of leatherworkers stretching back to 1691 — he had no intention of staying forever. More than four decades later, he is still here, still at his bench, and still the most exacting person in the room.
HP Winklmayr at the Winklmayr atelier, Randburg — featured in City Press / News24, April 2025. "Leathercraft is in my blood. It's not just a business; it's a lifelong dedication."
A family tradition older than most nations
The story begins not with HP, but with his ancestors. The Winklmayr family's involvement in leathercraft has been traced back to the Jakob Kammerer workshop, established in Austria in 1691 — three decades before Johann Sebastian Bach wrote the Brandenburg Concertos, a century before the French Revolution. Working with leather has not been a career choice in this family; it has been a birthright.
HP's grandfather, Johann Winklmayr, ran a small leather goods business in Austria in the early 1900s, a trade he passed on to HP's father, Johann Georg Winklmayr. Meanwhile, HP's brother Georg continues the Austrian operation today, expanding into luxurious handmade upholstery for automotive and aerospace clients. The family works leather across two continents and multiple generations — each branch in its own idiom, each animated by the same obsession.
The youngest master at the Vienna School of Fashion
HP developed his passion for leather goods from childhood — he could work a hide, it is said, before he could write with any confidence. That early devotion took him to the Vienna School of Fashion, where he earned his Masters' Degree in fine leather craft and design. He was the youngest in his year to receive the qualification.
When his classmates graduated and scattered to the great fashion capitals — Paris, Milan, London — HP received a recruitment offer from a different direction entirely. South Africa's premier leather goods company was looking for a designer and production manager. He accepted.
"His fellow graduates left for Paris, Milan and London, but he arrived on the Southern shores of Africa with unbridled passion, a suitcase and his tools."
— Via La Moda, The History Behind the Brand
A new country. The same craft.
HP arrived in South Africa in 1981 as a designer and production manager, drawn by opportunity and a desire to put his degree to serious use. What he found here — the extraordinary raw materials, particularly ostrich and crocodile leather, the scale of the craft, and the human energy of the ateliers — quickly made the prospect of returning to Europe feel abstract.
South Africa, with its world-class exotic leather industry centred around Oudtshoorn and the Karoo, turned out to be the ideal stage for a craftsman of HP's particular gifts. He was hands-on from the start, wearing his sleeveless work coat and overseeing every stage of production — cutting, measuring, stitching — with the intensity of someone who regards each piece of leather as inherently precious.
Building something from the ground up
Eight years after arriving in South Africa, HP co-founded Via La Moda alongside Walter Hauser. The company would go on to become one of the most significant exotic leather goods houses on the African continent — and arguably one of Johannesburg's best-kept secrets, tucked into an industrial building in what would become Randburg, its showroom said to house the largest display of exotic leather goods on the continent.
In an interview quoted across multiple publications, HP articulated what made ostrich leather, specifically, worth the investment: it is used whole, without being corrected or treated to change its nature, making it one of the most supple leathers available — and simultaneously among the toughest. That philosophy of working with material rather than against it would define everything he made.
The retirement that didn't take
When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, HP stepped back. After more than three decades building Via La Moda into a household name among those who understood leather, he chose to retire. It seemed, from the outside, like a fitting conclusion to a remarkable career.
It wasn't. The quiet of retirement, it turned out, was something HP was constitutionally unsuited for. He found himself restless, missing the hum of the workshop, the smell of the hides, the particular satisfaction of watching a piece come together under skilled hands. The craft, as he puts it simply, is in his blood.
"He soon found himself grappling with a sense of ennui, recognising his yearning for the gratification derived from working and creating masterpieces."
— Dossier Magazine, March 2024
His own name on the tag — finally
After lockdown, HP gathered his team — many of whom had worked alongside him for decades — and launched Leathercraft Winklmayr. For the first time in his career, his family name was on the product itself. It was not a vanity project; it was a reckoning. After forty years of building something for others, HP wanted to build something that fully embodied his own standards, his own design language, and his own values.
The result was a brand that moved beyond mere production into genuine authorship. Every shape is original — "My designs are very unique," HP told the Randburg Sun. "It's not like another brand copied. We create our own bags and shapes." The signature lime-green sateen lining from Italy, embossed with the Winklmayr logo, was his particular touch: green, he explains, symbolises hope. When you open a Winklmayr bag and see that flash of bright green, it is HP's intention to make you smile.
The brand also came with an unconditional commitment: a lifetime warranty on every piece. Not a marketing line — a structural promise, reflecting the certainty that comes from knowing exactly how something was made.
Dubai, a new generation, and the road ahead
Three years into the enterprise, Winklmayr began to find its stride globally. The brand debuted a collection in Dubai in early 2026 — a significant milestone that placed this proudly South African atelier in conversation with the world's most demanding luxury markets. The Dubai Collection showcased rare hides and a new Men's Collection: wallets, belts, passport holders, sunglass cases, all crafted with the same hand as every bag that came before.
And then there is Christopher. HP's nephew, at 23, holds a Master's Degree in Leathercraft from Austria. He is being personally mentored by HP — the same way HP was shaped by generations before him. The lineage, which began in 1691 and crossed continents, is intact.
"Christopher represents both the future and the continuing legacy of Winklmayr Leathercraft," HP has said. "His dedication, talent, and respect for the craft ensure that what we've built so far will continue."
The man at the bench
Every profile of HP Winklmayr returns to the same image: a man in a sleeveless white work coat, standing at his vantage point above the workshop floor, watching everything. Visitors to the atelier in Randburg describe the experience of watching his team work — cutting, measuring, stitching — as stepping into a story. One journalist compared it to watching a conductor orchestrate a symphony.
HP personally trains every artisan. He employs nearly twenty people, and some have worked alongside him for decades. The loyalty runs both ways: this is not a high-turnover factory, but a community of people who understand they are contributing to something with a longer arc than any single piece or season.
His community commitment extends further still. The signature Winklmayr dust bags — the protective pouches that accompany each piece — are sewn by elderly women from Alexandra township, part of a programme HP calls "goGoGogo." It is not a cause attached to the brand; it is how the brand operates, from the inside out.
"We are more than just a brand; we are a movement celebrating South African craftsmanship on the global stage. Each of our creations tells a story — not just of luxury, but of heritage, sustainability, and the hands that bring them to life."
— HP Winklmayr
He has also spoken candidly about the challenge of sustaining hand craft in an age of automation. "The younger generation, I'm generalising, enjoys more pushing buttons than actually crafting with their hands," he told the Randburg Sun. "When you then find people who enjoy what they're doing, and enjoy working with their hands, then the results are phenomenal."
Worn by icons
HP has never chased celebrity endorsement. The pieces speak; people come. Among those who carry Winklmayr:
A collaboration with Yasmin Furmie produced the Afra Yasmin X Winklmayr collection — a dark brown ostrich leg leather shoulder bag that became one of the atelier's most talked-about limited pieces. HP's willingness to collaborate, while never compromising the underlying standard of craft, is characteristic of a man who is confident enough in his foundation to build freely on it.
The numbers that tell his story
"It's been challenging but also rewarding. Everything takes time. Three years into the enterprise, we start seeing the light — but it's good and fun. We like what we are doing. It's beautiful when you get good remarks from customers and they appreciate your work. It's a good journey."