Business

How Burnt went from a Limpopo farm to South Africa’s top luxury activewear brand

Kirsten Minnaar • 8 November 2025

In 2018, spouses Pierre and Andriana Cronje founded Burnt Studios from a farm in Limpopo with no signal, no money and no experience.

In the years since, they have grown their small eCommerce site into one of South Africa’s biggest premium activewear brands.

In 2013, Pierre and Andriana started at Stellenbosch University, where Pierre studied Business Science and Andriana studied marketing.

Andriana went on to pursue her Advanced Post-Graduate Diploma in Marketing, Advertising and Communications from the Red & Yellow Creative School of Business.

At the same time, Pierre completed his Honours in Strategy, Innovation, and Marketing at Stellenbosch University.

Andriana and Pierre had always planned to start their own business, they told Maroela Media, but it wasn’t until 2018 that this became a reality.

The pair were both interested in fashion. In fact, Andriana had been running a fashion and travel blog since 2016, for which Pierre sometimes helped take photos.

Exercise was another shared passion of theirs. However, Andriana had been struggling to find high-quality, fashionable clothes to work out in.

This made Pierre realise that there was a gap in the market for women’s activewear that was high-quality, stylish and could be worn all day long.

So, in August 2018, the couple founded Burnt Studios on Andriana’s family farm in Limpopo. The name came from Pierre’s previous braai wood-selling business, which he ran during his university days.

Although they had a solid idea, getting the business started was challenging. Located in the middle of nowhere, in the Waterberg region of Limpopo, the farm had no signal.

This meant that whenever they needed to talk to suppliers, they had to drive 20 kilometres to a small hill where they had a signal. Here, they would sit on the roof of their car and discuss material samples with their manufacturers.

Founding Burnt

Andriana Cronje on her family farm in Limpopo

In November 2018, they moved to an apartment in Cape Town, where they continued to develop the business. In December, they opened pre-orders, and by January, they shipped their first products.

Andriana explained that clients often thought Burnt was a much bigger operation with several employees. In reality, it was just a small online business run by Pierre and Andriana, who used their living room and kitchen to pack orders.

“When we started Burnt, we had very little. No big cash reserves, no external financial backing and no specific experience in building a brand,” they explained on their website.

“The one thing we had was a clear vision. We knew exactly what we wanted to do. We wanted to create a brand that bridges the gap between high-end performance and fashion.”

They wanted to create a product that could be worn to run a sub-3-hour marathon but was fashionable enough to be worn as a lifestyle product.

By October 2019, Burnt held its first pop-up in Stellenbosch, marking a modest yet significant step in response to the growing demand for a physical presence.

At the start of 2020, Burnt Fit launched gym and home training programs. Despite Covid-19 challenges in February of that year, Pierre said Burnt thrived during that period.

By September, Burnt had moved to a new office and warehouse in Woodstock, and in October, they hired their first employee.

Their 2020 Black Friday sale was so successful that by 13:00 they had surpassed the first year’s total revenue. In January 2021, Burnt launched Hope Exchange Feed5000, giving a meal to the less fortunate for every Black Friday order.

In the same year, they introduced their Active Jewellery line and moved to a larger warehouse. In October 2021, they leased their first retail store.

They also launched the Burnt Run Clubs, which attracted over 1,000 runners. By the end of the year, their team had grown to eight people.

Burnt gets physical

Burnt’s first retail store in Stellenbosch

In March 2022, Burnt officially opened its first retail store in Stellenbosch. By April, it had again moved to a larger warehouse.

Later that year, they opened another store in the V&A. By December, their team had grown to 27, and they launched their first Men’s range.

The business continued to expand its physical footprint, and in April 2023, it opened its first store in Gauteng in Mall of Africa. By September, they moved into new headquarters, three times larger than before.

November saw the opening of two stores in two days – Village Walk in Pretoria and Canal Walk in Cape Town. By December, their team had grown to 60. “There is no greater payout than the compounding interest on consistency,” Pierre said.

In April 2024, they secured an additional warehouse facility to handle larger shipments. In June, they opened two new retail stores in Johannesburg – Morningside Shopping Centre and Sandton City.

The Sandton City store was their first flagship location, showcasing a new design. Toward the end of 2024, they opened two new Burnt stores in Tygervalley and Castle Gate.

Today, Burnt has 13 stores across South Africa and offers a wide product range, which includes male and female athleticwear, accessories, training programs, gym equipment, and water bottles.

It is still steadily rolling out new stores, with its latest location opening at Fourways Mall on 1 November 2025.