When I say “men’s apparel,” you probably don’t think “wellness.”
And you certainly don’t think “mental health.”
But Rhone does.
They’re a “premium men’s wellness brand that creates best in class performance-driven apparel engineered for an active lifestyle.”
They use their platform and products to address complex issues men face. Rhone raises awareness around the mental health crisis, provides men with tools and resources to navigate relationships — and sells a line of versatile clothes along the way.
Next month, Rhone comes to Westport.
They’ll open at 7 Main Street, the former Loft/Lou & Grey location. It will be their flagship Connecticut store, one of about a dozen nationwide. They also sell at all Equinox locations, plus Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Dillard’s, and more than 350 gyms and specialty shops.
Nate Checketts
But Rhone is clearly a Connecticut company. Co-founder and CEO Nate Checketts was a football star at New Canaan High School (Class of 2001).
“You meet the best people in this state,” he says. “They’re in high-profile jobs, but they’re also very involved in their communities. And then on the side, they do triathlons.”
He’s a huge Westport fan too. He knows the town well, from the days when he mother took him and his 5 siblings shopping on Main Street, and to the water.
Checketts — whose father Dave was a CEO or owner of the Utah Jazz; New York Knicks, Rangers and Liberty, and Madison Square Garden, among others — went the “traditional Fairfield County route” of finance and consulting.
But at Brigham Young University he picked up the entrepreneurial bug. He was involved in an early online food ordering platform.
A stint at National Football League headquarters convinced him he was “not a corporate guy.” But it was a great place to learn how a successful corporation works. “I kept my eyes open all the time,” Checketts says.
His mother’s Christmas gift of Lululemon sweatpants to the extended family sparked a discussion with his brother-in-law. “Should guys be wearing this brand?” they wondered.
For a year, they talked on train rides to New York about creating a “best in class brand that men would be proud to wear.”
Rhone shirt and shorts.
At the same time Checketts was concerned with some of the messages about masculinity that his young sons were absorbing from society. He wanted to find a way to show them that “men can do good things in life without an overly machismo sense of self,” he says.
“There can be a balance: kindness, acceptance, and also physical pursuits, and taking care of their body and mind.”
Though men are more apt to commit suicide than women, they are less likely to seek therapy for mental health issues. Checketts has friends who have struggled; he recently lost a friend to suicide.
So — along with the shirts, hoodies, jackets, vests, pants, shorts, boxers, belts, shoes, socks, hats, bags and wallets Rhone sells — they offer signature programs like “Mind & Muscle.” They’re 25-minute workouts, followed by group therapy.
That’s just one of the ways Checketts says Rhone will be involved in the Westport community. And the town has already reached out to him.
Celebrity trainer Eric Johnson invited Checketts to a session. Television personality Dave Briggs asked how he could help.
The CEO is excited to open in Westport. So is the corporate staff, at Rhone’s Stamford headquarters.
Interior of an already-open Rhone store.
Meanwhile, about that name …
“The Rhône River starts at a Swiss glacier, and runs through France,” Checketts explains.
“I lived there for a few years. I loved the region. It was part of the Roman Empire, on the trade route. Van Gogh painted it.
“The Rhône River is all about aesthetics and function. Just like our clothes look great, and are also deeply functional.”
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To prepare for Mental Health Awareness Month in May, the Staples High School Climate Committee and Teen Awareness Group (TAG) are launching a community-wide campaign. The goal is to raise awareness, and let people know they are not alone.
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