Dive Brief:
- DTC men’s active apparel brand Rhone announced the planned launch of its first women’s collection, which will include performance-driven and lifestyle pieces and debut at retail next May.
- Rhone is introducing the new collection at the Chicago Collective trade show. It has teased the upcoming line on its website. Retail prices are expected to range from about $58 to $128 and sizing will range from XS to XL.
- The company cited a significant interest from customers and staff to create a women’s line as a main reason for the launch, and that 30% of its men’s purchases are made by women. The long-term company goal is to have its men’s and women’s businesses each represent 50% of the brand’s revenues.
Dive Insight:
The Rhone women’s line is comprised of athletic-inspired studio, course to court and lifestyle products that utilize similar lightweight, performance-driven fabrics as its men’s products. The pieces feature “super soft” stretch fabric with resilient properties and “light as air” weights, along with sweat-wicking and anti-odor technology.
Rhone has developed the women’s collection under the leadership of Chief Product Officer Kelly Cooper.
“I was thinking about creating a women's collection for Rhone before I walked in the door, and frankly it is one of the real reasons why I am here,” Cooper said in an email to Retail Dive. “We have been in development for the better part of a year, with many iterations on style and fabric to make sure we took the time to get it right. This collection sets out to address what every woman wants, performance apparel that works for working out and for living her whole life.”
With its launch at retail next Spring, Rhone will join a crowded, competitive field of athleisure women’s brands, including industry stalwarts Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour, as well as Greatness Wins and Vuori. Rhone plans to sell the collection on the Rhone website as well as in its 15 branded retail stores throughout the country. The company said it also plans to work with department and specialty stores.
Similar to Rhone, Vuori started out by selling men’s apparel, but then expanded to offer women’s apparel. And recently Under Armour made a commitment to make women a priority, with its new chief executive officer, Stephanie Linnartz, saying in May: “We will go after women harder than this company has ever seen. Full stop.”
Rhone has previewed the new collection with retail partners that sell the men’s line. Rhone is sold through 70 Equinox locations, and available nationwide at Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Dillard’s, Scheels, Von Maur, select CorePower Yoga locations, and more than 350 gyms and specialty stores, per the company.
“I am obsessed with designing garments that are perfectly soft but also durable,” Cooper said. “For this collection, I was hyper focused on building a product that not only uses best in class fabrics but is also comfortable and able to stand the test of time.”
