In December 2020, mid-pandemic, husband-and-wife duo Ricardo and Marina Larroué combined their career experiences — his centered in the financial sector and hers including fashion director roles at Style.com and Barneys — and started the shoe brand Larroudé. Based on its unique approach to the footwear industry — namely, selling accessibly priced, luxury-quality, “it” girl-perfect shoes — it wasn’t long before consumers and retailers took notice. And it’s safe to say it’s since hit its stride. “On our own website, we've been growing 4-5X, depending on the month,” CEO Ricardo Larroudé said on this week’s episode of the Glossy Podcast. “And the percentage of [repeat customers] buying from our website alone is north of 20%.” Also on the podcast, Ricardo Larroudé discussed Larroudé’s other differentiators including its vertical production and marketing processes, its rapidly growing online marketplace, and its global workforce, which has grown from five people to 120.  Get more from Glossy with the daily newsletter, sent out each weekday morning. Visit glossy.co/newsletters to sign up.

L.A.-based Elwood Clothing has had three lives.  Currently a street- and loungewear brand owned by creative director Justin Saul and business director Jackson Wirht, it first launched in 1996 with different ownership and a focus on skate culture. Twelve years later, it resurfaced with styles including denim. When Saul and Wirht acquired the company in 2020, it was fueling sales with heavy discounts and had “horrible” community engagement, Saul said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. According to Saul, getting the brand on track meant overhauling everything about it except for its name. On the podcast, he breaks down why he and Wirht bought into Elwood Clothing versus starting a brand from scratch. He also explains what’s driving the company’s recent growth, with sales increasing 165% In the last 12 months.