Bathu — for being Africa’s local hero sneaker

Image: Bathu Journey Express – Sven Colours (township slang for a fancy meal typically eaten on Sundays)

Bathu founder Theo Baloyi, a self-professed sneakerhead, asked himself why a homegrown footwear brand can’t compete on the international stage?

Asia has Onitsuka Tiger, Europe has Adidas, and North America has Nike. South Africa has a booming sneaker sub-culture dominated by the usual global giants. But Theo Baloyi felt a lack of connection with the global brands and set out to build an aspirational African sneaker brand inspired by the colourful and vibrant continent.

The heart of the brand

Bathu, which means shoe in South African slang, was founded in 2015. While the initial inspiration for starting the brand was to create a sneaker that would benchmark against the likes of Nike and Adidas on design, quality and style, Baloyi also wanted to play his part in addressing the socio-economic challenges in the country. As he put it, he wanted customers to know that “you are not just buying sneakers, you are creating jobs”. True to this intent, he’s established a platform called Bathu for Batho (shoes for the people) with a target of distributing one million shoes to school children. Bathu believes that we all have journeys to walk and wants to inspire everyone to do so with confidence.

Lacing up to compete

Having started the business in a small room in the township of Alexandra, Johannesburg, with only his savings to fund the business, Baloyi decided that to stay true to his intent he would own his supply chain end-to-end. So he bootstrapped the company and sold his first 100 pairs out of the boot of his car. The first sneaker launched by Bathu had a colourful mesh design, something entirely new to the market.

South African customers like to touch, feel and see products before they buy, so brick and mortar stores became key to Bathu’s strategy. However, Baloyi realised that many retail spaces felt quite similar, so he decided to build award-winning stores with designs as colourful and vibrant as the shoes they sold. To dramatise the experience, flagship stores also boast Customisation Labs, where customers can add their own unique flavour to their sneakers at no extra charge.

Both feet firmly on the ground

Bathu continues to draw inspiration from its context, evidenced in how they name some of the colours of their shoes: Egoli Gold (Johannesburg Gold), Mamba Green, Naledi Yellow (Star Yellow), Wakanda Black.

The brand’s authentic story has been the driving force behind the following it has built, resonating with the everyday person and celebrities who organically gravitated towards the brand and endorsed it for free on their social media platforms. Bathu has also landed numerous corporate collaborations (Opel, AB InBev) and continues to drive partnerships in its marketing campaigns.

Small steps and giant leaps

While many other retailers struggled during the pandemic, Bathu achieved top-line growth of 180% year-on-year, grew their omnichannel experience and delivery system and now have 30 stores nationwide. In 2021, Bathu ranked as one of the top 10 most admired African brands, and with the momentum it has built so far, it has sights set on building an international footprint in 2022.