Rhone

Rhone was founded in 2014 by brothers Nate and Ben Checketts together with Casey Edgar, Kyle McClure and Carras Holmstead, with the goal of building a performance menswear brand positioned between mass-market athletic labels and expensive niche ones. Nate Checketts became CEO and Ben Checketts creative director. The company's best-known technical development, GoldFusion, infuses 24-karat gold nanoparticles into its highest-performance fabrics; Rhone says the treatment makes garments more color-fast, more resistant to odor, more breathable, and faster-drying than comparable synthetic fabrics. Nate Checketts worked directly on GoldFusion's development alongside biochemical technology partners over roughly a year before launch. The line was introduced through a pre-launch Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign before a curated GoldFusion collection reached retailers nationwide in spring 2017. The brand's broader catalog covers polos, joggers, outerwear and other menswear built around moisture-wicking, stretch and odor-control performance fabrics, aimed at customers who want athletic-grade technical features in clothing designed to also work outside the gym.