The five brands taking Bathu beyond the sneaker business
SUN CITY — Theo Baloyi’s move to broaden Bathu into a group spanning fashion, fragrance and furniture brought five brands into its expansion plans, including Boys of Soweto. Announced at the Bathu Annual Conference in Sun City and reported in March 2025, the move extended the business beyond the sneaker brand on which Baloyi built his name.
The group named Flowers For Society, Boys of Soweto, Monosi Sneakers, Avenue Exchange and Baka as its new partners. Together, they covered German and South African sneakers, luxury clothing, perfume retail and bespoke furniture, giving Bathu exposure to several consumer markets rather than footwear alone.
The arrangements were not all described as outright acquisitions. Bathu explicitly identified its relationship with German sneaker brand Flowers For Society as a licensing agreement. Although the IOL report referred to five subsidiaries, the group’s own announcement called them partners and did not disclose ownership percentages or transaction values. It would therefore be inaccurate to treat the announcement as confirmation that Bathu had bought all five businesses outright.
For Boys of Soweto, the attraction was access to the business systems behind Bathu’s retail growth. Founder Vusimuzi Ndima, known as Bob The Stylist, told IOL that creative ability needed to be supported by a stronger commercial structure if the clothing label was to grow sustainably. He pointed to local designers whose brands had disappeared despite their creative appeal, explaining that he wanted a different outcome for his business.
Ndima also said the partnership would preserve the label’s identity. “This partnership won’t dilute Boys of Soweto, it will strengthen it,” he told IOL. At the time, Bathu had reached 35 stores, including its first international outlet at Maerua Mall in Windhoek, Namibia, which opened in 2024. That expansion provided the operating experience Ndima hoped would support his brand.
The wider significance is the attempt to connect locally developed brands with the management capacity needed to survive beyond their founders’ creative output. In separate reporting by The Citizen in March 2025, FNB business development head Janis Robson identified access to finance, entrepreneurial skills and cash flow management as recurring obstacles for fashion businesses. She also highlighted the sector’s links to suppliers, manufacturing, logistics and marketing, explaining why successful labels can support activity beyond their own stores.
The conference announcement established the direction of Bathu’s diversification, but offered no detailed financial targets or timetable for the five partnerships. The commercial test is whether the group can help each brand build a sustainable business while retaining the distinct products and identities that attracted customers in the first place.
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