Siya Kolisi-backed Freedom of Movement opens first store in Bath
A Stellenbosch brand that began with one craftsman and a second-hand stitching machine now trades in a historic English city, and the numbers behind the move are the story.
BusinessTech reports that Freedom of Movement, the South African leather goods brand backed by Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, has opened its first store outside the country, in Bath, England.
The brand is known for luxury footwear, bags and accessories, with leather at the centre of the range. Kolisi is a minority investor in the group.
“When we started FOM in South Africa, I could never have imagined that one day we would be opening a store on the other side of the world,” chief executive and co-founder Roal Boezaart said.
“Building a globally recognised South African brand has always been the dream, but today that dream suddenly feels a little more real.”
The number that matters is 46%
The opening is the visible part of a build that has been running for years. Between 2019 and 2025 the group grew from 6 stores to 29 and its headcount rose from 30 to 170, according to figures carried in the BusinessTech report. Revenue grew at a compound annual rate of 46% over that period, and EBITDA at 60%.
Those are the numbers a South African manufacturer should be judged on, because they describe a business that scaled its own production and its own retail footprint at the same time. The Bath store is the first time that machine has been pointed at a market outside the region.
Boezaart was frank that getting there was not smooth. The store build was hard, the last few months brought setbacks, and opening in a historic English city meant working through a set of heritage and planning rules that do not exist in the same form here.
“You believe in your brand, and you believe in your product, but taking it to a completely new country is different,” he said. “You simply don’t know how people are going to respond.”
They responded well, he said, and the launch drew a positive reception.
From a university room to Bath
Freedom of Movement was founded in 2013 by brothers Roal and Léan Boezaart, who had qualified as a civil engineer and a chartered accountant. Seed funding came from a third brother, Marcel, who also served as chairman.
The first operation was a small room at the University of Stellenbosch, one leather craftsman named Benjamin, and an old traditional leather-stitching machine.
The name comes from a house rule their father introduced while raising four energetic sons. Freedom of Movement had to be earned through academic performance and discipline before it was granted.
“Initially, our vision was to create a proudly South African lifestyle brand anchored in the core principles of quality, longevity, value, and worth,” the founders said. Leather, they said, was the material that carried all four.
Who owns what, and what comes next
Earlier this year VEA Capital Partners bought a stake in Freedom of Movement from Bellair Road, which had invested in the company in 2019 alongside the founding team. Under VEA the group says it is positioned to scale South African design and manufacturing both locally and abroad.
Boezaart said the partnership gave the company the strategic support to open the next chapter of its growth, international expansion among them. He thanked the partners involved, naming VEA Capital Partners and Kolisi.
He also kept the scale of the moment in proportion. The Bath store is a small first step, he said, but a meaningful one.
“I truly believe there is no reason why a South African brand can’t stand alongside international brands on the world stage,” he said.
For the 170 people on the group’s payroll, and for the leather trade that supplies it, the test is whether a British storefront turns into a second market or stays a single shopfront. The company has not said where it will open next or when.
