Nate Checketts, CEO and co-founder of men's apparel and activewear brand Rhone, has mastered the art of building a premium brand at a comfortable pace. Rhone, Checketts' 8-year-old brand based in Connecticut, has gone through its fair share of growing pains. Checketts owes its ability to power through the tough times to quality products and smart strategies.  "Part of the ethos and emphasis of Rhone has always been marrying aesthetic and function," Checketts said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. Activewear, or as the brand categorizes it "performance lifestyle," has been a key driver of Rhone's business. The category performed incredibly well in 2019, but like every other brand, Rhone was not prepared for the year that followed. "[The year] 2020 was an enormous challenge for us because the interest swung into active and lounge[wear], and we could not keep those products in stock. We were chasing inventory," Checketts said. "Not only [were we] not able to get enough inventory to keep up with demand in a typical calendar year, but now, you have supply chain challenges and countries shutting down, too." Checketts said the sudden increase in demand and new challenges the team faced helped shape Rhone's business strategy from there. "As we thought about 2021, we had to start making calculated decisions as to when we thought lifestyle [apparel] was going to come back," Checketts said.

Arianna Casadei, head of marketing at her family's namesake brand, Casadei, has her eyes set on the future of retail and technology. The 60-year-old, Milan-based luxury footwear business, which was started by her grandfather, has made a name for itself through its design and craftsmanship. And its "Blade" heel style has become well-known among footwear fans. "From a craftsmanship perspective, [the Blade heel] is so interesting, because heels are usually made of plastic, while here you have a stainless steel heel sole within it," Casadei said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. "With all of the trials they did throughout six months — the whole team was restlessly trying and trying, day in day out [to create the perfect heel] — when it came alive, it was like winning a championship or something." This year, Casadei is celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the "Blade," which has been a bestseller since its inception. As part of the celebration, Casadei released a limited-edition wearable NFT, a first for the company. To develop it, the company partnered with web3 firm Another1, and it launched the NFT on Decentraland in September. Another area of growth for the brand has been through physical retail. Currently, Casadei has two brick-and-mortar stores in Italy and one in the U.K. And with the U.S. being a large online market for the brand, there are plans to expand its physical footprint to the states very soon. "We want to grow, from an omnichannel [perspective]. And we're looking at possible solutions [for providing] localized stock [in the