Rhone appoints its first chief merchandising officer

Rhone has created a chief merchandising officer role and filled it with Alexa Andersen, most recently senior vice president of merchandising at Puma North America, WWD reported.

Andersen will oversee both the merchandising and design teams at the Stamford, Connecticut company. She brings more than 20 years in performance apparel, having run Puma's North America merchandising organisation across wholesale and direct-to-consumer, covering footwear, apparel and accessories as well as collaborations and partnerships.

Before Puma she was at Lululemon, leading product creation and merchandising for strategic initiatives including technical performance categories and global brand moments such as the Olympic Games. Earlier in her career she held merchandising leadership roles at Adidas, Asics and Nike.

Nate Checketts, chief executive and co-founder, said Andersen's record building merchandising organisations at major brands spoke for itself, but that what stood out was the alignment in values. "Alexa understands that great product and long-term brand building go hand in hand, and she's going to be an incredible partner as we continue to grow with intention," he said.

Andersen, who was raised in Mexico and has lived in the United States, Italy and the Netherlands, framed the move as a deliberate step away from scale. "After spending my career at some incredible big brands, I've seen how the pressure to deliver short-term growth can sometimes pull focus away from long-term vision and brand building," she said. "What drew me to Rhone is the chance to be part of a business that's moved past the start-up stage but is still very much in growth mode, where you can actually see the fruits of your labor."

Where the business stands

Rhone was founded in 2014 by brothers Nate and Ben Checketts, initially as a web-only men's activewear label pitched at what the founders called weekday warriors. It began with a 100,000 dollar friends-and-family round and has since raised roughly 37 million dollars in total, with its most recent round in January 2025.

The company reached profitability in 2020 and has built out physical retail steadily, operating around 20 stores in the United States as of early this year, including a Hudson Yards flagship in New York it redesigned in 2024. Wholesale runs through Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's and REI, and the brand has positioned itself as the leading men's partner for Equinox and Peloton.

Recent activity has leaned into lifecycle and community rather than new categories. In January the company launched reRhone, a brand-owned resale operation built with the platform Archive, starting with inventory from selected customer returns and slated to widen through 2026. Its marketing continues to centre on mental fitness, a theme Andersen singled out in her statement.

Rhone is privately held and does not disclose revenue.

This article was drafted with the assistance of AI and edited by a FashionUnited journalist.