The business of premium women's activewear is booming, with sales reaching more than $11.5 billion alone in 2013. Yet while brands like Canada's
Enter Rhone Apparel. Founded in 2013, Rhone was specifically created to fill the current void in the high quality men's athleisure market. The company's product line aims to separate the brand from competitors like Lululemon,
In just two years, Rhone's growth has been nothing short of extraordinary. Buoyed by strong online sales, the company's product lines are already available in over 90 brick and mortar locations, including but not limited to, Bloomingdales,
"We're incredibly excited about the growth of the brand and what this [new round of] financing allows us to do in terms of expansion," says Rhone co-founder and CEO Nate Checketts. "While we've made great strides over the last two years, more than anything we've learned a great deal about what our target audience wants in a premium activewear product. Most men simply aren’t comfortable wearing women's yoga brands. Coupled with the fact that other sports apparel manufactures aren't really offering high quality men's activewear lines and you realize that half the world's population simply doesn't have the access to a product they clearly want," he adds.
While Rhone still has a long way to go before it can go toe to toe with sports apparel's biggest juggernauts, the strides it has made thus far provide strong evidence that the brand is positioned for rapid growth. With the activewear industry expected to reach $83 billion in sales by 2020 (assuming an influx of men's lines), there simply is no telling just how high the brand can go in the near future. What we can be certain about is that with its high quality products and stylish designs, Rhone has firmly cemented itself as 2016's hottest men's activewear brand.
Jason Belzer, Esq. is Founder of GAME, Inc. and a Professor of Organizational Behavior and Sports Law at Rutgers University. Follow him on Twitter @JasonBelzer.