Abdu-Shakoer Baderoen managed to start a brand with only an idea and the support of his family and friends. BRAhSSE XCV, “a blend of culture, heritage and freedom of Xpression”, is a streetwear brand making its mark both locally and internationally.
Along Van Rheede Street in Strand you’ll find houses painted in various shades of white, and half-parked cars on sidewalks, in front of the homes of their owners. But one home is bright orange with grass and shrubbery adding to its character. Just outside a bright-red Fiat Uno is parked. Abdu-Shakoer Baderoen leans back onto his “baby”. Behind him is the equally bright-red supply store.
Shakoer standing by his faithful Fiat Uno. He refers to the car as his “baby”, as it has worked just as hard as he has; from delivering clothing to carrying equipment to pop-up shop locations around the Western Cape. PHOTO: Caitlin Maledo
Shakoer grew up in Strand, and spent most of his life in Brewery Road. As a child, he was equally naughty as he was sweet, recalls his mother, Doriah. She notes a particular moment in his childhood when he decided that he did not want to attend crèche. However, because he had to, he chose to sit outside the entire day, eat his lunch and wait for her to pick him up again. When it was time for him to attend primary school, “I had to go plea[d] with the principal to take him”, she says.
The fresh prince of Strand
Shakoer says his ability to adapt is a result of his “middle child syndrome”. Being the middle child helped him adapt to staying far from home, navigate university, live in residences, and to – by himself – accomplish the things he has been able to.
“Dis hoekom ek my eie ding doen,” he adds. [“That is why I do my own thing.”]
In his fifth year of primary school, his parents got divorced. Not having his father included in most of his life was a big adjustment for him.
“It’s been a struggle,” he remarks. Yet, Shakoer says that his father had always taught him to work hard for what he wanted.
“He always taught me that the world owes you nothing. You must work hard to get what you want,” he remarks.
Shakoer attended Gordon High School. According to Doriah, he was a very jovial individual during high school; a “grapjas”. Being the joker, however, did not deter him from being hardworking, proving his then teachers wrong. His teachers had told him that he would not make it beyond matric, Doriah says.
His entrepreneurial mindset is something he got from his mother, he says. It was also the reason why all of his high school subjects were related to understanding how businesses worked.
Despite the challenges he and his family faced over the years, Shakoer’s mother, Doriah, is resilient and that inspires him to work hard, he noted. Doriah is also famous in Strand and surrounding areas for her chiffon cake. PHOTO: Caitlin Maledo.
Doriah, a nurse by training, was unable to work after a car accident in 1996 left her with injuries that required multiple surgeries. As a result, her household, which consists of Shakoer and his younger sister, Yusra, would be under financial strain, says Doriah. At the time, Doriah started selling cakes and pastries as a means of income.
From a young age, Shakoer observed the way in which his mother operated her own business. How she made an income by selling cakes and pastries and investing it back into the business by “buying flour, sugar, cocoa and everything”, is testament to her unrelenting spirit, Shakoer says. That’s why his mother is his biggest inspiration.
After matric, Shakoer went to Stellenbosch University and completed a Bachelor of Commerce in logistics and transport economics in 2017. He also completed a postgraduate diploma in marketing, from which he says he still greatly benefits.
With his mother being the sole breadwinner in his home at the time, and the knowledge that he had gained from the courses he studied, he was prompted to start BRAhSSE, the cultural and colourful streetwear brand taking the world by storm.
A t-shirt from the second range of BRAhSSE XCV t-shirts. Shakoer says he wants his brand to be a symbol for unity, just as Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk had done for a Democratic South Africa. PHOTO: Caitlin Maledo
The bold and the BRAhSSE
The concept of the brand had been with Shakoer from a young age. For a career day in primary school, Shakoer dressed up as a businessman, but his friend did not know what he wanted to be. Shakoer decided that his friend was to become a fashion designer, he recalls, unaware that being a fashion designer was a dream of his own.
In the final year of his undergraduate degree, Shakoer had woken up one day and decided that it was time. He told his friend and business partner, Chad Mockey, that he was ready for the birth of BRAhSSE, he says.
Shakoer’s mother, Doriah, shows one of the first t-shirts by BRAhSSE. When the brand was initially established, Doriah recalls sowing the label on some of the first t-shirts made. PHOTO: Caitlin Maledo
BRAhSSE XCV was established in 2017. The meaning behind the name carries much thought. BRAhSSE, translates from Afrikaans slang into English as “friends”. The name symbolises the importance of unity and collectively, Shakoer says.
While explaining, he trails off to the sound of a revving engine. A car enters the street and parks next to his, and he uses that as an opportunity to illustrate the partnership of the brand, as his friends approach to greet him.
“That’s also why it’s [called] BRAhSSE. Everyone is doing their own thing. There’s a lot of talent between us, but it’s also a way of creating unity,” he adds.
XCV has two meanings. In Roman numerals it stands for the number 95, which relates to 1995; the year that he and a number of his friends involved in BRAhSSE were born. XCV as a representation of 1995, also denotes the first “free” year in South Africa, the year of the post-apartheid generation named the “born-frees”.
But XCV is also an acronym for “XTRDNARY CLRD VZNS”, or “extraordinary coloured visions”, which represents a group of coloured people with a broad range of skills, from streetwear, videography to content creation. “It is all the coloured visions coming together,” he remarks.
Shakoer with his friends, who are all contributors to the BRAhSSE XCV establishment. The talents within the group range from clothing designing, videography and content creation. PHOTO: Caitlin Maledo
The streetwear brand has achieved many accolades since its start four years ago. In 2020, BRAhSSE collaborated with Jive Cooldrinks on its new range of flavours.
“It was also a big learning curve for us,” says Shakoer, referring to them having to adapt to working within a more corporate space.
Working with JiVE is what Shakoer believes puts the brand on the map for international collaborations. He recalls receiving an Instagram message from Agenda Las Vegas, a streetwear tradeshow, regarding an invitation to present the brand at the show.
“I thought this was probably a hoax, this is too big,” he says.
His mother advised him to take the chance and respond to Agenda Las Vegas. When he found that it was indeed a real event and that BRAhSSE was the first brand from South Africa to ever present at the show, he was elated.
While the Covid-19 pandemic has put a hold on the opportunity to take his brand overseas, it has not deterred him from continuously improving, he says.
If he would do anything differently, he would have started BRAhSSE earlier, he says. “It was always an idea of mine…I took three years to start the brand.”
The day job
Shakoer’s main focus at the moment is working as a logistics coordinator at Freight Logistics4U. Here, you might find Shakoer answering multiple calls, organising the delivery of fruit from one venue to the next and from there to the world, and everything in between.
A long-time friend, Ziyaad Jeftha, describes Shakoer as vibrant and colourful. The most striking evidence of this is how Shakoer can make something like logistics and booking containers enticing. “It’s lekker challenging man, that’s why I like logistics,” Shakoer says excitedly.
In the next few years, though, he plans to devote himself to continue to grow his BRAhSSE XCV brand.
“Getting my family a house… I’m very proud of that, because we went through a lot,” he says. “Now we have a house, my brother lives down the road [and] my friend stays here opposite me.”
Shakoer, alongside his mother, Doriah and sister, Yusra, in their home. He notes that getting this house is one of his greatest accomplishments. PHOTO: Caitlin Maledo