• Roal Boezaart started making clothes and bags in his Stellenbosch dorm room in his first year, which would sell out on campus.
• Together with his brothers, they would build Freedom of Movement, which today is a premium lifestyle brand with 30 stores and boasts partners such as Siya Kolisi.
• And in July, they will expand beyond SA shores for the first time, opening their first European store in Bath, UK.
• This story is part of the series SA Success Stories: Origin stories of successful SA brands and names.

Roal Boezaart loved making clothes as an undergraduate at Stellenbosch University.

But not even he thought his designs would be in 30 stores around the country, worn by the Springboks during a World Cup, and heading to the UK for their first global store opening.

That is the story of Freedom of Movement – a true South African success story, which is about to open its first international store in Bath in the UK.

And it all started with a desire to learn how to make better quality garments for a koshuis res.

“I always wanted to learn the art of making clothes,” Roal tells News24 from their Cape Town headquarters.

“I spent a month in Cape Town over December of my first year and just walked into a fabric store. I had zero idea how it worked, but they pointed me in the right direction, and that’s where I learnt the craft.”

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Roal identified a gap in local mass clothing production. He felt the quality of the university and the residence garments were not great, and he struggled to get himself something he liked to wear.

While studying civil engineering by day, he would make T-shirts and hoodies for his classmates by night, which became a hit on campus.

This led him to start his first business while still a student, Clockwork Clothing, which sold branded apparel to schools and university residences.

“It grew extremely fast on campus and then spilled over to knitted jerseys. It grew rapidly and expanded beyond Stellenbosch.”

150 bags sold for a res reunion

Having had some early success with Clockwork, his long-term dream was always to create a high-quality premium South African brand.

“That’s when leather started playing a big part. I couldn’t develop a premium brand with the same material as the mass produced T-shirts,” Roal continues. “I found the local fabric options at the time quite limiting, whereas leather stands the test of time and led to the birth of FOM.”

In 2012, while Roal was giving his best man speech at his brother Léan’s wedding – he relayed a family motto called ‘Freedom of Movement’ to grins from the crowd – and that’s where inspiration struck: the name had been found. But more on that later.

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Soon thereafter, he sourced leather hides from a tannery in Cape Town, purchased a sewing machine, and partnered with a craftsperson in Blue Downs to produce a leather sling bag that would later become known as The Russell.

“I was head of memorabilia at my res and I made this bag for a reunion. I made one sample, put a website together, and people pre-ordered over 150 bags. It was a massive success and people started seeing the bag on campus. It started snowballing.”

After that success, it was time to call in the cavalry: his brothers Léan and Marcel.

‘You had to earn your Freedom of Movement’

Léan Boezaart was a chartered accountant working for a top firm in Cape Town at the time and had a business mind. He recalls the day Roal mentioned the term at his wedding and what FOM meant in their Pretoria household.

“My parents had their hands full with four boys. We grew up in Pretoria, went to Affies and were all into sport, so my dad came up with a house rule called Freedom of Movement,” Léan says.

“His principle was that you had to not leave your academics behind. You had to earn your freedom of movement.”

If they achieved their level, coupled with some chores, the boys were ‘free to move’.

“We weren’t sure how it would land at first, but then we played around with FOM and got a friend to put together a logo design,” Roal says.

“We also wrote a one-liner: We want to build a proudly South African lifestyle brand. So, every decision made after that would be around that mission,” Léan adds.

Growth and the first store opening in Menlo Park

Stellenbosch University had an innovation hub on campus called The Launch Lab, which gave the new ‘FOM’ a 10m² room.

There, they pulled in a leather craftsman who helped expand the leather range as the business grew, creating a new bag named after himself called The Benjamin.

Naming the bags was important, Roal says, because they could be treated as companions you could take with you.

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From there, they moved to a bigger space to sell the goods at markets and to local sellers. And in those days, Facebook and Instagram were on the rise and relatively affordable for startup businesses.

“Through Facebook and the right partnerships, we got noticed. The next logical step was a store. We’re from Pretoria, so we had a nice base there and opened our first store in Menlo Park eight months in,” says Roal.

Over the next few years, the business was in full swing. Investing profits back in the business, products grew to watches and other accessories, as well as apparel.

More stores would open, including a flagship store in Bree Street, Cape Town.

Vellies, Siya Kolisi and the 2019 World Cup

It was during these first few years that Roal’s passion for design would lead to the creation of what would become their best sellers to this day: footwear and the “Vellies”.

“I struggled to find footwear that I genuinely loved,” Roal continues. “Most shoes felt either too formal or too casual. The idea behind the Vellies was to create something versatile enough to do both: a shoe that could be worn to a braai, a wedding or the office without feeling out of place.”

Back then, rugby star Frans Malherbe was a friend and brand ambassador, and he introduced the brothers to a young Siya Kolisi, before he was the well-known Springbok captain he is today.

“Siya would hang out at our store in Bree Street, and our friendship just grew organically. We were first friends, and he really loved the products,” Roal says.

This friendship would lead to a partnership and a highlight moment in the brand’s story, when the entire Springbok team would wear the Vellies at the 2019 World Cup just two years after their creation.

Even President Cyril Ramaphosa received a pair from the then-new Springbok captain.

It also yielded two community projects, helping to fund a rugby field in Mbekweni Township, as well as a multi-purpose astro facility in partnership with the Kolisi Foundation, Adidas and TotalEnergies.

Bath store opening and taking FOM to Europe

Today, FOM represents a dorm-room dream: a proudly South African lifestyle brand with a footprint all around the country and online.

Their bestsellers are still their core products, including the Vellies, and made across multiple countries.

They employ 180 people and operate out of a brand-new 2 800m² headquarters in Harvest Park, Cape Town, their seventh in more than a decade.

Going forward, the brand aims to go from 30 stores to 40+ by the end of 2027.

“We’re sticking to our core. You can easily get distracted, but for us it’s about focusing on what we do best: creating exceptional leather products and footwear,” Roal says.

And next month, FOM will be opening its first international store in the rugby and tourist town of Bath.

“Bath is our first step into Europe and we’re incredibly excited about the opportunity. We want to make Bath a success, learn from the market and continue building with a great team on the ground.”

Left with final thoughts upon reflecting on the story, Roal had this to add: “I just feel very grateful. I never had big plans. There are ups and downs in work, but when you love what you do, it does not really feel like work.

“I just loved waking up, going to the factory and finishing the product I dreamed up the day before.”

Léan and Marcel have since left the business to pursue other passions, but Léan had this to say: “We could never have imagined building something this significant. If you have an idea, just start with ‘What do I need to do today?’”

As the brand enters its next chapter, Roal, Siya Kolisi and VEA Capital Partners have joined forces behind a shared vision for FOM: to build a stronger, more sustainable company while preserving the entrepreneurial spirit at its heart since its beginnings in that Stellenbosch dorm room.

This story is part of the series SA Success Stories: Origin stories of successful SA brands and names.