Khaite (Q4931)
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Khaite is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Khaite |
Khaite is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
2016
founder and creative director
Glancing around at the Khaite crowd, guys were few and far between. Sure, there were men in attendance, but more than other shows at New York Fashion Week, this one from Catherine Holstein attracted mostly women. I think that’s because as a designer Holstein is defining how affluent style-conscious types want to look now: polished, yes, but edgy rather than pretty.Her loyalists had a surprise in store tonight, however. Holstein has connected with her softer side. “I think I’m just feeling a little warmer these days, a little earthier,” she said backstage. “Maybe it’s my son, all the warmth I get from him, but that’s the mood coming into this.”It wasn’t apparent from the beginning—the show started with a cropped tailored black jacket with the oversize proportions she tends to favor in her outerwear, worn over sheer organza trousers. But it soon became obvious that Holstein was eager to try new things, be that hand-knit ribbon peplum tops and midi skirts, crocheted separates like an apron shirt and a narrow skirt worn over pants, or airy organza tubes braided into everything from little tops to occasion dresses. “I think we got very far into the darkness, into the slickness—obviously that’s my comfort zone,” she laughed. “This is not my comfort zone, but I wanted to venture out into making myself more uncomfortable.”Not all of Holstein’s experiments connected. It may have been nearly weightless, but the volume of the unfurling organza poncho dress tended to overwhelm its model, as did other dresses that ballooned above drop waists and descended into full but tapering skirts. But that’s alright, because elsewhere there were relevant and timely takeaways for her style-conscious loyalists: as in, how right a white sleeveless shift can look over a pair of champagne hammered silk trousers and the surprise of glossy red shoes, and how necessary a leather blouson jacket looks at the moment.Holstein also pointed out a black leather dress with a built-in white strapless sweetheart neckline corset. “It’s all stretch, no boning,” she said. “Everything is about comfort and function for us.” That may not be the sexy part of the business, but designers ignore it at their peril. Holstein is determined not to make that mistake.
8 September 2024
“We’re challenging ourselves,” Catherine Holstein declared in her NoHo showroom as she walked racks lined with her new resort collection. Khaite has become a badge of cool for fashionable women in New York and beyond, the crystal-mesh Marcy flats and slant-heel Arizona boots a kind of code shared between them. But Holstein’s ambitions are bigger than making the It shoe of the moment. Pointing to the nipped-and-tucked curving sleeves of a camel coat, among other tailored pieces, and the draped volumes of a pink gazar skirt, she explained that they’d designed the patterns using the principles of origami; the 2D shapes created more idiosyncratic 3D ones. The cool Khaite woman now has a bona fide eccentric streak.Other experiments with cut resulted in narrow jackets and coats with high armholes and a high break and buttons marching in close succession down the torso. Holstein said they felt more “early ’90s” to her than recent seasons, which had more ’80s proportions. A double-breasted leather officer’s jacket with shoulder epaulets looked cool with a pair of barrel-leg jeans. If, as Holstein said, she’s determined to push herself and her team, she also expressed an interest in believability and wearability—hence those jeans and the inclusion of a double-face cashmere pullover, which looks like the kind of thing you’d put on at the start of the weekend and not want to take off.All in all, you’ll notice an emphasis on evening in the look book. Some of the gazar pieces were layered over turtleneck bodysuits with built-in gloves, an editorial flourish that will be adapted as separate gloves in stores and online. The most persuasive after-dark look dialed down the quirky (and a little bit challenging) shapes of other numbers in favor of a sleek body-limning silhouette draped from a halter neckline. It made a strong case that simple elegance is enough.
17 June 2024
Catherine Holstein likes a moody set. Pier 61 was pitch black as the crowd assembled at the edges of the massive space. You could barely see through the dim a few seats down the row, let alone make out the people across the runway to gossip about them. Human communion is part of the fashion show experience, and Khaite shows would be more effective if Holstein took that into consideration.Still, this was an evocative show, with Thom Yorke and Ian Curtis wailing into the darkness. Holstein lost her mom not too long ago, and the collection was both a lament and a tribute to her memory. Backstage, she described her late mother as an impossibly chic New York woman, who kept lipstick on her bedside table to apply before her feet touched the floor.That’s the vision Holstein conjured on the catwalk. The models had glossy red lips and some wore sunglasses at night. Khaite recently renewed its partnership with the eyewear company Oliver Peoples, and you can picture a beauty range coming sometime not far down the line in this growing brand’s future.The shapes of her coats and jackets, with their exaggerated Claude Montana-ish shoulders, generous cowl necklines, and full sleeves evoked the late ’80s and early ’90s, when Holstein would’ve been a young child playing in her mom’s closet. A dressed-up sensibility permeated the collection, which was heavy on leather and shearling, the latter used quite effectively for tailored jackets paired with both tapered trousers and a pleated midi skirt.Holstein is a new mother herself, but the push-and-pull of work-life balance didn’t surface here. There was little sense of what the Khaite woman might wear in her down time, when she slips out of her hard New York shell into something softer. That would be worth delving into in future collections.Backstage she talked about the practice of design, specifically the process of draping silk gazar. One sculptural top was originally meant to be a dress, but as the model slid into it at the fitting and lifted its hem to put on shoes, Holstein preferred the curving volumes of it bunched up at her hips, and it was reworked at the last minute. “I want women to feel exhilarated when they put on my clothes,” she said. It was clear that the work of draping that silk gazar gave her something like that feeling, which was nice to see.
11 February 2024
Which way will the fashion winds blow when the fall 2024 collections begin in February? If Catherine Holstein’s latest Khaite collection can offer any clues, the 1980s may knock the ’90s and Y2K out of the trend cycle. The shoulder pads on the black leather motorcycle jacket that opens the look book call to mind Claude Montana at his power-dressing peak, and the blouson shape of the windbreaker in khaki nylon twill that shows up several looks later can also be traced back to that time.Volume and exaggeration are running motifs at Khaite this season. A lilac gazar paper-bag-waist skirt and a black leather tank dress both blossom from the hips. If the moto jacket’s padded shoulders seem like an easier sell, the dropped waistlines and pneumatic hips seen elsewhere in fashion suggest that the young, fashion-forward customer is bored by familiar silhouettes and up for experimentation. Holstein provides more experimentation in a dress, also in that lilac gazar, cut to curve like 3D sculpture on the torso and slink below the waist. She also balances these bolder propositions with slinky knit dresses and office-friendly matching knit sets.Outerwear is one of Holstein’s strengths. Beyond the leather biker jacket and the nylon blouson, both an elongated varsity jacket and a bell-shaped toggle coat looked confident and definitive, worthy of the investment they’d require. Accessories are another winner for the brand. The pointy-toe, slant-heel Davis boot can be seen all over town and in the front rows at Fashion Week. Come summer, she’s betting on a strappy sandal with a kitten heel and an elongated, also pointy sole.
12 January 2024
Underneath Catherine Holstein’s four-ply cashmere sweater and mesh slippers is a woman of steel. That’s what she was getting at backstage when she said the word that organized her thoughts this season wasferocity. “I think every woman in New York has to handle herself with a real fearlessness,” said Holstein, indicating that that’s what she had to do while operating as her label’s top creative and, until recently, CEO. “And that’s always something that I bring forth in the brand.”With their David Bowie in the ’80s by way of Claude Montana shoulders, there was certainly something fierce about the clothes that came down the runway at the darkened and spotlighted Park Avenue Armory. A seatmate whispered “so Tom Ford,” and that isn’t a bad comparison; he liked a tough, chic vibe. It’s also a timely one: With Ford having sold his company and his successor opting to take his debut collection to Milan, New York is light on the kind of up-front sex appeal he used to specialize in.At the outset, that looked like what Holstein set out to deliver. The opening trio of looks were all black and combined semisheer body-con knits with sturdy motorcycle leather. But in the end, the collection was more of a dialogue between hard and soft, with billowy silk blouses and pin-tucked organza dresses interspersed among the motorcycle jackets and boss tailoring. The suit jackets had sharply peaked lapels and leaned boxy and oversized, overly so when they were paired with similarly exaggerated trousers. A clingy ruched knit skirt was a better partner for the big-shouldered blazers; it brought the proportions—and the pretensions that this show could sometimes suffer from—down-to-earth.Khaite’s success is at least partly fueled by accessories, which is no small feat for an American brand up against the luxury goods makers of Italy and France. As a New York woman herself, Holstein has a sixth sense for shoes and bags. Every model wore a sensible kitten-heel pump made sensual with mesh insets, and they carried a variety of bags, from smart shoulder bags to hulking duffels. The most interesting accessory on offer, however, was the belt with the brass clasped-hands buckle that punctuated many of the looks. Was it a gesture of contentment? Or self-protection? The ferocious Khaite woman will keep you guessing.
10 September 2023
In February, during New York Fashion Week, Catherine Holstein christened her new Mercer Street store with a show for 100 people. The lighting was set to dark and sultry, and the clothes leaned formal. The Khaite woman was on her way to a cocktail party or another occasion that called for tailoring. The vibe may have been downtown, but it wasn’t undone, rather the overall effect was of untouchable, arch glamour.Resort is the moment to explore the more laid-back aspect of the brand—the Katie Holmes in the cashmere bra and matching cardigan side of Khaite. The lofty showroom just north of SoHo has a corner dedicated to multiply cashmere—some of it in new super-chunky hand-knits this season—and on the racks there’s a group of impressive sweater dresses, machine knit on the horizontal, not the vertical, which gives them a substantial, but springy feel. A stretch jersey henley bodysuit worn with high-waisted leather pants just might be the star of the season; it’s sexy in the offhand way of that virally famous cashmere bra.You’ll also find the jeans that are a foundational part of the business—the silhouette of the moment is ’90s-ish, full-legged and relaxed—and an array of leather jackets that are unmistakably cool. A group of silk twill pieces in a souvenir print with depictions of New York City landmarks was a surprise, a charming one.As with the fall collection shown in February, there was a strong emphasis on tailoring. Holstein likes an exaggerated shoulder and a defined waist, or a cropped one, and she experimented with military-style buttons on some styles. The coat silhouettes are oversized and commanding. Evening dresses, in contrast, are an exercise in fluidity with fluttering ruffles, and prodigious skirts made from yard-upon-yard of drapey silk georgette. Still glam—she showed them with long gloves in this lookbook—but softer.
8 June 2023
Catherine Holstein’s first Khaite store is opening at 165 Mercer Street later this week after a year in the making, and 10 more are planned for the next five years. Next month, her first child is due. It’s a time of beginnings for the Khaite designer, and after her intimate show in the boutique last night she was talking about a new chapter. “We always talk about strength and stealth, but this is about power. That’s all we kept saying: ‘sharp power,’” she said. “I don’t want to call it grown-up, because that sounds kind of naff, but it’s a departure.”Stripped-down tailoring is one of New York’s emerging themes—serious, even austere clothes for cautionary times. The frills and embellishments of last season’s Khaite show were missing here. There was no silk fringe or diamanté trim, no snakeskin prints and definitely no polka dots. “There’s that famous Diana Vreeland quote, ‘always take one thing off before you leave the house,’ I always try to think about that,” Holstein said. “Maybe it got lost along the way in some of the other collections, but for this one we were talking about taking things away and being comfortable with that, and that’s also empowerment as well.”It wasn’t as peeled back as that might sound. The show started with a prodigious brushed natural shearling coat with black leather trim that nearly scraped the store’s poured concrete floor, and there was much more shearling, even for trousers, which will take a very strong woman to pull off. But overall the collection was a study of silhouette and material, not surface attractions. Holstein is of the mind that “people come back to your brand for your fabrics.” Black leather for a lean double-breasted coat and mini and midi skirts that flounced in a-line shape from the hips. Bonded crepe satin with a chiffon under layer for dresses as high of neck and long of sleeve as religious garb. Rubberized twill for a long hooded cape. And stretch jersey for body limning dresses with a sexiness that is “owned rather than declared,” to borrow an effective line from the press release.Where seduction was the name of the game last season, this time it’s happenstance. There’s definitely allure in that. But Holstein did make room for a little fun.
It came in the form of shearling-covered pumps and mules, burnished gold leather handbags, and a cashmere intarsia featuring dueling red Corvettes that was worn with a caramel shearling blazer in ’80s-ish proportions, black leather pants, and strappy kitten heel sandals that was the show’s killer outfit. The Corvettes are a useful symbol. This is a season when other promising emerging American brands are scaling back or sitting Fashion Week out. Khaite is on the fast track.
13 February 2023
Khaite has recently moved into new offices in lower Manhattan. On the 9th floor of a NoHo building, the corner space offers blocks-long views east and south, as well as into nearby penthouses. You couldn’t ask for a New York-ier spot. That’s fitting for designer Catherine Holstein, who takes style cues from the dark glamour of the city circa the ’80s and ’90s. “That independent, New York, strong, stealth woman—that is who I’m designing for,” she said at her show in September.The pre-fall Khaite collection is very much in keeping with that spirit. In these moodily lit pictures Vittoria Ceretti models sculpted double-breasted jackets, lace-bodice silk slip dresses, and long leather trenches. The codes of cosmopolitan after-dark dressing don’t fluctuate all that much from decade-to-decade, even if Netflix and chilling has replaced nightclubbing as city denizens’ preferred pastime.One surprise was the collection’s painted lip print; its cheeky whimsy lightened up a midi-length slip dress. This being a pre-collection, Holstein put more emphasis on before-dark dressing than she does on her runways. The silhouettes that were particularly convincing—that are likely to turn up in the offices she sees out her windows—include a long v-neck cashmere sweater whose hem gathers the precise pleats of the skirt worn beneath it, and an organza polo neck top worn over another breezy pleated skirt. Holstein duplicates all of her leather pieces in easier-on-the-wallet wool, and the wool version of an oversize bomber, heavy on the zip details, looked good too.The designer had a stealth wedding in December, and there are two looks here that could tempt a Khaite-loving bride. The first is shirred white mesh, body-con and sexy; the second is sheer organza and faille over a delicate slip. She has the “something blue” covered too, in the form of low-heeled leather pumps and a playful shearling lined plastic sandal.
17 January 2023
At Khaite today you could reach across the runway and shake the hand of the person opposite you. Up close like that, the models zip by, but if you’re paying attention you don’t miss a thing. Since designer Catherine Holstein specializes in the little details that turn everyday clothes and accessories into cult objects, it was a useful set-up, all the better to see—and snap—the strappy little evening sandals with lucite Louis heels that are now in the running for shoe of the week.Khaite is now one of New York’s must-see brands. Celebrities jostle for seats and, if my Instagram feed is anything to go by, editors are eager to buy and wear it. Holstein knows her audience. “That independent, New York, strong, stealth woman—that is who I’m designing for,” she said backstage.For spring she sent out her dependable mix of sequins and silk fringe, leather and denim. Because she was looking at the 1990s films of David Lynch, Wild at Heart in particular, there was a good amount of python print. Nicolas Cage’s character wears a python jacket in the movie; Holstein stamped the pattern on leather for exaggerated bombers and pencil skirts, and silk charmeuse for a voluminous peasant dress. A little python goes a long way, admittedly. The other novelty here was bubble skirts (a trending item this week). Their horsehair reinforced waistbands sat at the crest of the hip bones below everything from a mesh bustier to a crystal embroidered shirt. The low waistlines gave those outfits a cool attitude—polished but not pretentious.Because Holstein is designing for herself and for women like her, she’s got the attitude aspect nailed, but that’s not to diminish her eye for proportion or the exacting lines of her tailoring. A strong-shouldered, elongated jacket with crystal-studded lapels was a looker. You’ll be seeing it around next fall with a tie-neck silk blouse and jeans and those little sandals.
11 September 2022
The word sinister has been coming up a lot in the Khaite studio, Cate Holstein said. It’s not a term heard much during collection previews. In fact, in a scan of the Vogue Runway archive it appeared just a couple of times, in relation to Rick Owens and Maison Margiela by John Galliano shows. That’s telling; Holstein’s brand has come a long way since its 2017 double-breasted suit and pussybow blouse beginnings.This resort collection, she went on to explain, picks up where the “sharp, stealth New York woman” aesthetic of her fall runway left off. Let’s say there’s a whole lot of badassery happening, from the leather chokers that accent nearly every look on down to the blunt-toed boots. (The mirrored shades are Oakleys, borrowed for the purposes of the shoot.) Leather outerwear is a foundational category at Khaite. Cropped motorcycle jackets mingle with oversized bombers, including one that opens the lookbook with heavy-duty studding at the shoulders. The tailoring, in leather and otherwise, takes its proportions from menswear. “We’re predominantly a feminine brand,” Holstein said, “but in order to bring out that femininity you have to have elements of men’s, otherwise it goes in a girly direction, which we try to steer clear from.”It’s not that there aren’t girly embellishments here. Lily Aldridge walked the Met Gala red carpet in Khaite crystals, and Holstein is making them a signature, adding them to bags and boots. Sequins are another recurring motif, as seen on a shift dress with a mock turtleneck as easy-wearing as a t-shirt and on a slip dress that grazes the ankle. The most novel pieces however involved not surface treatments, but volume play. A yoke-waisted skirt that ballooned out to the knees and a plissé shirtdress with poet sleeves were surprise hits of sweetness amidst the collection’s stealth glamour.
6 June 2022
Kendall Jenner wore a shearling from Catherine Holstein’s Khaite label last month in Aspen. A paparazzi shot made the rounds, as these things do, and soon there was a waitlist 140 people long for the $12,000 coat. I bring that up to illustrate not the cult of celebrity—we all know too much about that already—but the changing luxury customer. “We’re a new brand, we’re not heritage, you wouldn’t think we could sell a $12,000 shearling coat,” Holstein said backstage. “But if they’re emotional about it, there are no price boundaries.”Khaite launched in 2016 as a resource for classic essentials. The ethos of the brand hasn’t changed: It’s still constructed on a foundation of cashmere sweaters, leather, denim, and tailoring. So how to stir up the kind of emotions that spur five-figure purchases?Holstein is good at conjuring a mood. Last season, she dimmed the lights almost to black; here, she channeled the glam and grit of pre-Bloomberg New York, with Kurt Cobain wailing “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” on the soundtrack. Khaite is edgier than it was in its early days. “It’s our most New York show,” Holstein said, “the most industrial,” and she pointed out that the freight elevator fromthatscene inFatal Attractionwas down the block from the show venue.With the Kendall coat perhaps in the back of her mind, Holstein built this collection from the outerwear in. It started with a zip-front leather jacket, with an exaggerated collar and full sleeves. Much more leather followed: an aviator, a trench, double-breasted blazers, snap-front work shirts, and a Perfecto like Emmanuelle Seigner’s inFrantic, a movie Holstein quoted backstage. Jackets and coats sorted, the Khaite customer will need a mini for fall. Khaite’s are shapely—high waisted and neatly belted, with a zip all the way down the front. Should she require a dress, she might fancy an off-the-shoulder number traced in a harlequin of Swarovski crystals, a fully fringed cocktail number that took three weeks of work to complete, or the crocheted column studded with crystals that was the collection’s showpiece.As sexy as the vibe was, Holstein achieved it without the towering spike heels we’ve seen turning up elsewhere this week. There aren’t many women I know who are hoping for a post-pandemic stiletto comeback. Holstein gets that—another notch in her favor.
13 February 2022
Catherine Holstein photographed her Khaite pre-fall collection in a New York auto tunnel. Captured somewhere beneath the Hudson or East River, the scene captures her affection for the city’s gritty glamour, but it’s also a poetic nod to how she felt when she designed the clothes. Between the endless pandemic, the political tumult, and climate change—to name just a few of our modern crises—Holstein compared our shared experience to rushing through a dark tunnel, unsure when or where it will end. Scary? Definitely. But the takeaway is just to keep moving forward. (“The only way out is through,” et cetera.)That manifested in a collection she described with one word:fast. “Not ‘fast fashion,’” she clarified, nor was it impulsive or overly sleek. Holstein was thinking more about pieces that are efficient, unfussy, comfortable, straightforward. Much of it will be familiar to Khaite loyalists: the drop-shoulder trench, the slouchy leather bomber, the sumptuous cashmeres, and the glossy blouses with frills fanning around the wrists. A quilted barn jacket reflected the broader trend for rugged, functional outerwear, while the hip-hugging trousers and skirts will refresh the conversation around fashion’s inevitable return to low-rise pants. (Say what you will about the early-’00s look, but like many of us, Holstein is over the waist-whittling strictness of ribcage denim.)The real news was in the more decorative couture touches, partly prompted by the success of Holstein’s spring 2022 collection. A quarter-zip “sweatshirt” in jet sequins is her version of an evening blouse—special, but as comfy as a fleece—and the satin harness we saw on the runway in September reappeared in sparkling Swarovski crystals. Holstein said her team hadn’t even planned on producing the harnesses last season, but the reaction from press and retailers was strong enough to warrant extending its lifespan. It could become a key accessory for the label, particularly if enough Khaite shoppers want to extend the life of their own dresses and shirts by layering one on top.
12 January 2022
Khaite hosted its Fashion Week party on Thursday night, several days in advance of its show today (in part because we’ll be resting up for the Met gala tonight, ruling out the usual after-party). The Indochine bash was a raucous good time, but you likely didn’t hear much about it. Photos were strongly discouraged, and there were zero celebrity dressing alerts or press releases in my inbox after the event. Cate Holstein wanted everyone to cut loose and reconnect, plain and simple.Today’s show was similarly incompatible with Instagram, from the intentional lack of photographers to the (also intentional) dim, hazy lighting. It garnered its fair share of complaints from editors, not because they couldn’t ’gram it, but because they couldn’t see much of the clothes. Set in the bowels of a Lower East Side apartment building, there were wild green vines climbing up the walls, tumbling from the rafters, and snaking across the floor, as if we’d descended into an overgrown, long-forgotten basement. It was something of a metaphor for New York’s resilience and regeneration—no matter what, the city always comes back!—and echoed a collection designed for the equally resilient New York woman.Much of Holstein’s focus this season was on the touch and feel of the clothes—and not just in the materials but how a garment might alternately embrace or liberate the wearer. Gigi Hadid’s opening look was a luminous ivory satin coat lightly filled with down, “like your duvet cover, but more elevated,” said Holstein at a preview. “I think it’s still important to be gentle to ourselves,” she added. A crinkled organza bubble dress would be almost weightless on the body, while a new hand-stitched satin harness—Holstein’s version of jewelry—might feel satisfyingly snug over a T-shirt. A chrome sequined mini was deliberately heavy, she noted, “to ground you.” These are details that can’t be captured in two dimensions, but make all the difference IRL. “I think we’ve really established the brand’s character, so now it’s about pushing our materials and construction techniques,” said the designer.In many ways, this collection was a straightforward ode to New York, from the tough bombers and leather bustiers to the hits of silver foil (a nod to the city’s skyscrapers) and sporty, functional touches seen in the plush hoodies and squishy nylon sandals. But it was just as much a celebration of the New Yorkers who might wear the clothes.
Holstein pointed out a ruched sequined dress in glittering pale gold, styled here with an oversized chocolate bomber. The effect was of a woman heading to a glitzy party—maybe her first since lockdown—and on her way out the door, she throws on her everyday jacket, not a fancy evening coat. “You still want to feel like you,” said Holstein. Why fuss when you can be comfortable? Now more than ever, she’s less inclined toward prescriptive “full looks” and deeply curious to see how each customer puts their own unique spin on a Khaite piece. Her note about elevating the brand’s techniques and materials was accurate too; these are clothes you’ll wear, rewear, and make your own for years and years to come.
12 September 2021
Back in February, Cate Holstein hosted one of New York Fashion Week’s only in-person events, a drive-in movie screening in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Beamed onto a graffitied building, the Sean Baker–lensed film was a provocative glimpse of Khaite’s new direction, grittier and tougher than how the brand had often been perceived. Models in oversized leather jackets and thigh-high boots smashed car windows, ran from baton-wielding cops, and tormented unsuspecting men, all to the beat of Ace Frehley’s “Back in the New York Groove.” It was violent—you definitely weren’t expecting Soo Joo Park to break a bottle over a girl’s head—and evocative of an earlier New York, when Holstein recalls the “menacing quality” of downtown. That feeling returned during the pandemic, for better or worse, and has influenced a sharper, less decorative, “more deliberate” aesthetic at Khaite.Resort had some of that grit and a similar pared-back essence, but where Baker’s film lent a dark, frenetic energy to the clothes, this sepia-toned look book and video are quiet, almost mundane. In the film, models laze around a tiny apartment, take naps on a rumpled bed, and wander through damp, empty New York streets. They’re armed with clothes both comforting and familiar: Last season’s buttery-soft jersey dresses come in new Grecian silhouettes; double-face cashmere coats are cut like robes; puffers extend past the ankle; and Holstein is debuting a new line of T-shirts, some with cutouts and hand-tied knots. Ottessa Moshfegh’sMy Year of Rest and Relaxationgot a mention in the press release; its narrator’s journey toward calm and renewal became more poignant during lockdown. Holstein compared it with our own year of solitude and how our relationships with fashion grew gentler and more intentional. As we reemerge, she’s happy to see a new focus on “keep forever,” can’t-live-without-it pieces, not flimsy seasonal trends.In an email, Holstein described her favorite shrunken olive green bomber as both “classic and forward.” It’s a good way to sum up Khaite’s sweet spot: familiar, wearable items made desirable by luxe materials and tweaked silhouettes. Even themostforward pieces—resort’s being a bell-shaped articulated shearling and a leather jacket with XXL studs—are still undeniably functional.On that note, much of the collection—suede flares, ivory jeans, even the Grecian dresses—was styled with rubber-soled boots or Khaite’s new hero shoe, a black sneaker with stacked platforms.
“People are surprised by how light they are,” Holstein says. No matter what we’re wearing up top, our sneaker habit isn’t going anywhere; expect more kicks to come in the spring.
14 June 2021
The big upside to this mostly virtual New York Fashion Week has been the extra attention paid to young designers. We’ve seen collections via livestream and Zoom from London, Seoul, Los Angeles, Shanghai, and beyond; getting on the NYFW schedule now requires little more than a WiFi connection. The downside, of course, is that New York itself no longer has a discernible role to play. Collections that live online have no sense of place, no perceptible rhythm, no unifying element; it’s difficult to grasp that it’s all “happening” in New York at all. But Fashion Week needs New York; it needs its energy, its atmosphere, its disruptions, just like New York needs fashion and art and music and everything else that’s made it the center of the universe.Tonight’s drive-in for Khaite’s Sean Baker–lensedfall 2021 filmwas a timely reminder of what we’ve been missing. With the Manhattan skyline in the background, Catherine Holstein brought a small group of editors, buyers, and friends to Skyline Drive-In for what was likely their only “real” event of the season. Seated in our own vintage cars, the projector rolled cheeky ’80s “advertisements” for Khaite products, a faux black-and-white movie trailer, and finally, the main event: a short film starring Paloma Elsesser, Soo Joo Park, Akon Adichol, Lulu Tenney, Tess McMillan, and several other models.It all begins innocently enough: Girls walking purposefully through downtown New York in their knee-high boots, stepping over cracked pavement and waiting for the subway. Then Elsesser is opening a Khaite tote full of graffiti bottles; others are stuffing cash into their thigh-high boots; a few girls smoke outside a bodega and are promptly reprimanded by the owner: “I’ve got my eye on you,” he says, and Tenney angrily tells him off. (I know, this is fiction and it’s a little campy, but it’s hard to imagine this group of women seeming suspicious in their four-figure coats.)As Ace Frehley’s “New York Groove” swells, they’re running wildly through the Chinatown mall, dumping forties on unsuspecting men, shadowboxing in the mirror; the camera zooms in on Park’s hand gripping a thick chain, then she’s smashing a guy’s car in. Another model breaks a bottle over a girl’s head. Elsesser and McMillan step forward as the leaders of rival gangs: “Your girls are really fucking cute, but my girls arebad,” McMillan sneers.
23 February 2021
With a basic QR code, you can beam Lia Pavlova into your living room. It takes a minute to get the hang of “placing her” in the space, but then she’s walking, posing, and giving you multiple angles of Khaite’s new pre-fall collection. The AR experience is an evolution of the one Catherine Holstein launched for spring 2021, which included only shoes; now we’re getting the full look, and it’s surprisingly realistic.Pavlova’s brisk pace gives you a sense of how a zig-zagging cardigan coat will swing as you walk, for instance, and by zooming in on a buttery suede jacket or ruched dress, you can get a pretty accurate sense of the texture. But the real takeaway is seeing these clothes in your own lived space: Instead of imagining how a puffed-sleeve bustier and wide-leg khakis might translate to your life, seeing Pavlova in the look—next to your couch, your houseplants, your mess—offers an immediate preview. No, it isn’tyouwearing the clothes (though designers might experiment with thattechnologydown the line), but it’s a lot more convincing than a runway photo or high-concept look book.What makes this particular AR experiment successful is that most of these clothes will, in fact, look right at home in your apartment. Holstein is an intuitive and product-oriented designer who cares about how her clothes are worn and lived in, not just how they look on a catwalk or in a moody video.For pre-fall, she was especially focused on comfort, practicality, and ease—“nothing frivolous,” she said. Floor-sweeping hemlines felt excessive, so there were boxy peacoats and ’60s-ish miniskirts instead. The stronger, tougher feeling of spring 2021 carried through in the combat boots and patent over-the-knee styles, shown here with voluminous evening tops, cozy knit dresses, and narrow jeans. Even her signature bubble dresses felt casualized and couch-friendly, whipped up in crinkled viscose and styled on Sasha Pivovarova with a shrunken blazer, black tights, and no jewelry.You can get a better sense of the clothes on Pavlova through the AR experience. A testament to its effects: In the past, this reviewer might have considered that dress too fancy to justify for my “regular life,” one that doesn’t involve black-tie parties every weekend. But seeing it (virtually) inhabit my Lower East Side one-bedroom, styled in an offhand way, the impression was different.I could wear that.
Speaking of parties, Holstein said she wasn’t really thinking about “re-emerging”; she prefers to design for the moment she’s living in, not for some hazy future (one that has become increasingly difficult to predict). Still, by the time this collection is in stores, it’s fair to assume that many of her customers will be getting vaccinated and resuming their normal-ish lives. Holstein acknowledged they’ll likely be in the mood to dress up, but with items that feel comforting and sensitive to the year we just endured. You’ll notice there are exactly zero stilettos for pre-fall, and little in the way of flashy embellishments. The androgynous, hardware-free leather and suede jackets and flat knee-high boots—including a pair in burnished gold—will offer a just-right balance of excitement and ease in 2021.
9 December 2020
Many of the collections coming out of this COVID-19 season are centered around ideas of optimism, hope, and joy. The clothes are bright, the prints are mood-elevating, the look books are set in fields of flowers or lush forests. There’s nothing wrong with envisioning a better tomorrow in such ominous times, but there’s also something to be said for confronting reality head-on. “What does it mean to feel simultaneously paralyzed and galvanized?” reads a line in Khaite’s press release. “Growth is never easy,” Catherine Holstein said on a Zoom call. “We’re going through one of our collective nightmares as a society. They’ve made horror movies about this. It’s mind-blowing, but it also gives me a renewed strength. Living through it has been so challenging, but on the other side, it’s so invigorating and inspiring.”Her collections had taken on a darker, moodier tone before the pandemic; she was craving a uniform of jeans, leather jackets, and combat boots. No frills, no fuss. (She name-checked Nicolas Ghesquière’s excellentfall 2002 Balenciaga collectionas a reference.) She said she was thinking about the New York she inhabited as a college grad in the early ’00s, when the city had an “element of menace” that has since faded. “But now, there’s a bit of that industrial feeling again,” she said. It’s a survivalist one too. New Yorkers are in the streets (there’s nowhere else to go), linking arms (metaphorically, that is) and getting through this together. How do you dress for that? Not in a prairie dress. “I think women are going to want to look strong.”Holstein worked with director Hanna Tveite to distill that feeling of New York into a look book and film. They also created 100 “presentation boxes” to send editors and buyers, packed with blown-up look books, fabric swatches, and an augmented reality experience that beams Khaite’s shoes into your living room. (New this season: fuchsia satin slingback pumps, square-sole gladiator sandals, and kitten-heel boots.) Holstein was surprised to report that shoes were among her top sellers this summer, despite the fact that most of us hardly left home. Also surprising: Women bought Khaite evening dresses, and Holstein could hardly keep her leather moto jackets in stock. The former speaks to the “fantasy shoppers” dreaming of future events; the latter illustrates a growing interest in timeless, keep-forever investment pieces. Holstein’s word for them: “cherished.
” When we can’t predict tomorrow’s headlines, there’s a comfort in buying something you can see yourself wearing and loving 10 or 20 years from now.Of course, the women buying that motorcycle jacket might also be feeling the strong, unprecious aesthetic Holstein is leaning into. They’ll find more of that in the spring 2021 collection, from Khaite’s familiar body-skimming knits and ruched dresses to sharp-shouldered tailoring, nubby cashmere sweaters, and glossy knee-high patent boots. Holstein said it was a “more comfortable” collection than seasons past, and that’s mostly down to the sweaters. Made from the most luxurious wools, recycled cashmeres, and viscose yarns, they’re among the best on the market.
16 September 2020
What does sexy mean in 2020? It’s one of fashion’s most fraught questions. The obvious answer is that sexy means whatever you want it to: It’s a sparkly minidress; it’s a tailored suit; it’s a T-shirt and jeans. But when was the last time you heard the word “sexy” in a Fashion Week conversation? In our post-#MeToo era, it’s almost become antiquated, conjuring old-timey notions of beauty and femininity as dictated by men. Designers have spent the better part of a decade raging against conventional sex appeal; Phoebe Philo single-handedly influenced an entire industry of designers who favor clean lines and comfort over flash and seduction.Most of us would loop Khaite into that world, too, with its roots in upgraded American staples like jeans, cashmere sweaters, and blazers. Cate Holstein launched the brand in 2016 at the height of Instagram-y statement pieces and meme-able trends, and her luxe, wearable clothes were a welcome counter. Unsurprisingly, “sexy” was not part of the equation; Holstein actually found the word revolting. But in the past year, a lot has changed: Khaite has grown exponentially, and fall 2020 marked Holstein’s third runway show. The fact that Bella Hadid was the opener tells you almost everything you need to know: Sexy is back at Khaite, and it doesn’t get much sexier than Hadid.Her unbuttoned scarf-print blouse and zebra jacquard trousers were of a piece with the glam, rock-and-roll mood of Khaite’s pre-fall collection in December. This time out Holstein’s missive was roughly the same, too: “I’ve always avoided the word ‘sexy’ and would say ‘sensual’ instead,” she offered. “But at this point in my life, I just want to embrace it.” She was thinking about her college years in New York, when she lived in the meatpacking district and nobody had a cell phone, let alone an Instagram profile to tend to. “You had to be really engaged with your surroundings and engaged with New York,” she continued. You also got dressed for the place you were going, maybe for the crowd, and, you know, for fun; the thought of sharing photos of your outfit with thousands of people via social media didn’t even exist in our brains.The darker sensibility of Hadid’s opening look continued throughout the collection, with clubby miniskirts, plunging silk dresses, and “going out tops” with open backs suspended by a narrow string of crystals. The cornerstones of after-dark fashion were all there—animal prints, metallics, up-to-there hemlines.
In a few instances, it felt strikingly young and not entirely inclusive; how will the improbably low busts of those square-neck blouses fare on a woman with more up top than an A-cup? The tiny denim shorts and thigh-high boots felt disconnected from the sumptuous ease of past collections, too. Perhaps it’s Khaite’s audience that’s inspiring the shift; what began as a resource for “cherished,” timeless essentials has become a fast favorite of influencers and celebrities, and many of them want bolder and, yes, sexier stuff. The question is whether fashion needs more of that; this is an industry overflowing with sexy, single-use garments. What’s still rare are those modern, luxurious pieces we actually want to wear every single day.There were still plenty of those to satisfy the OG Khaite customer, though: the expert tailoring, the ankle-grazing coats, the ruched dresses (simpler and easier than last season’s), the buttery leather and suede trousers. The accessories will be a unanimous hit, too, including the little suede kiss lock bag; several new, low-heeled boots; and satin-wrapped kitten pumps.
11 February 2020
That a poplin button-down and a crystal-embellished tulle dress can both be recognizably “Khaite” is pretty remarkable. Cate Holstein, who started her label quietly three years ago (mostly with jeans and sweaters), chalks it up to Khaite “being more about a feeling” than a single item or signature. You know a cashmere sweater is Khaite thanks to its plush texture and rounded sleeves; a silk blouse is obviously Khaite because of its deep cuffs and strong shoulders. That tulle dress is Khaite because it’s made of the finest tulle, and because it’s cut in a romantic, yet grown-up silhouette. Holstein doesn’t do logos or meme-able trends, but that hasn’t stopped the brand from going viral: We needn’t remind you of Katie Holmes’s cardigan andcashmere bra; meanwhile even Khaite’s most understated bags havebecome Insta-famous.You could say Holstein knows what women want (and has the figures to back it up; she reported that the return customer rate on Khaite’s website is exceptionally high). For prefall, she tweaked some of her familiar hits—the Victorian blouses, the Western skirts, the knife-pleated skirts—and sprinkled in a touch of ’60s rock-and-roll glamour. She was thinking about her childhood in London as well as the city’s most stylish musicians, like Keith Richards and Brian Jones, who inspired the ruffled tuxedo blouses and flashy, burnished-gold brocade tailoring. An ivory shirtdress with flared cuffs and a cascade of frills touched on the reference without feeling at all literal. Holstein’s most devoted fans will appreciate how it’s styled here too: with dark tights and slingbacks.That said, the designer felt her greatest departure was in the ultra-short minidresses and body-hugging ruched gowns. “I’ve always avoided using the word ‘sexy’ to describe the clothes,” she said. “I would call them ‘sensual,’ which sounded more modern, or maybe more feminist. But I really wanted to embrace the idea of sexy and what that means for our woman right now.” Suffice it to say it has nothing to do with the male gaze. Beyond the sheer blouses and minis, even the suits had a curvier, more womanly fit, with narrow, high-rise trousers and snug blazers. The sexiest look of all might have been the ivory pantsuit, shown with a black leather belt and nothing else. No shirt, no jewelry, no fuss.
4 December 2019
The line of editors, stylists, and buyers waiting to congratulate Catherine Holstein after her show today says a lot about Khaite’s appeal. It isn’t easy to get all of those people excited at once; the brands that succeed at retail are often met with a shrug by magazine editors, while the opposite is true for avant-garde designers, whose clothes look great in photos but have limited sales potential. Holstein has surreptitiously (or perhaps very intentionally) avoided being pigeonholed. The core of her business is jeans, shirting, and knits—she likes to call them “cherished items,” not “basics”—but tweaks in proportion and fabrication keep things interesting. A prime example is the plush cashmere cardigan and matching bra Katie Holmes worelast week, which prompted a viral frenzy. (Needless to say, both items are now sold out on Khaite’s website.)Holstein could probably keep growing her label with those kinds of luxe essentials, but she’s got an experimental streak. Her first look for Spring 2020 registered as a genuine shock: a deconstructed suit, a long navel-baring blouse, and a rhinestone hairpiece. Things got slinkier from there: Chintz-printed sarongs, liquid-silk trousers, and harem pants replaced the structure we’ve come to expect from Khaite, and handkerchief dresses nearly scraped the floor. “I wanted it to feel more sensual,” Holstein said. “It’s a riskier take, especially for a line that’s kind of synonymous with ‘easy.’ But there’s a side of me that loves a sense of gaudiness and flash . . . I’m so much more into that than a minimalist approach, so I want to start incorporating those aspects into my work.”It’s a bit of a pivot from the story of refined, timeless American style she’s been telling for the past few years. But Spring’s more idiosyncratic pieces and styling choices—a pieced-together corset over a satin sarong, a peplum top ballooning over denim shorts—will also place her more convincingly alongside New York’s other emerging, boundary-pushing talents. It almost feels like a rejection of the uber-luxe, rarefied world Khaite has been edging towards; Holstein is exacting when it comes to quality and fit (with the price tags to match), but she wants every kind of woman to feel moved by Khaite—not just the painfully chic, minimalist types.Americana is still her grounding force—consider Spring’s fringed suede jackets, blue jeans, and button-downs—and the collection began with her childhood summers in Woodstock, Vermont.
Her most treasured memories were there in her grandmother’s home, where she recently returned for the first time in decades. The place was completely preserved with its late-’60s furnishings, and the experience was affecting; only after Holstein had designed the plaids and florals did she realize that she’d been thinking about that house the whole time. (For the record, the rhinestone headpieces—divisive among guests at the show—were inspired by playing dress-up and wearing her grandmother’s necklaces in her hair.) “I wanted to evoke this sense of what it’s like to be truly innocent—before you’re so bound by these ideas about your identity,” she mused. “I wanted to strip that all away.” Let your freak flag fly! Holstein is still going to sell a lot of sweaters and jeans, but maybe that’s her secret; while most designers start out with editorial, runway-worthy stuff and add commercial pieces later, she’s kind of working backward. Three years in, she’s established herself as a resource for the clothes women truly want to wear; now, she’s giving herself room for a little audacity.
7 September 2019
Khaite’s Catherine Holstein is up for the Emerging Designer of the Year trophy at Monday’s 2019 CFDA Fashion Awards, though “emerging” feels like a bit of a misnomer. Three years in, Khaite is already well-known throughout the industry and sincerely obsessed over by women of varying ages, occupations, and tastes around the world.That global appeal comes down to the push-pull of European and American sensibilities in Holstein’s clothes—Resort 2020 had a pleated tulle gown next to suede-paneled jeans, for instance—but it’s important to consider Khaite within the narrower context of American fashion. On the cusp of a new decade, women here seem more confused than ever about what to wear, something that’s exacerbated by the tumultuous political climate and a lack of female leadership at top American brands. (New York is a good place to be a female designer at an upstart or midsize label, but as far as massive houses that really move the needle…well, we can’t think of many.) It’s still early days for Khaite, but it isn’t hard to picture it scaling to a point where it’s contending with those bigger names. Holstein has been talking about redefining American style for years now (revisit her previous collections onVogueRunway for proof).At present, Khaite is more or less defined by two poles: luxurious, hardworking daywear and unconventional eveningwear. Resort’s casual contingent was partly an extension of what we saw in Khaite’s Southwestern-inspired Fall 2019 show: “dusty” suede jackets and trousers, oversize blouses, whipstitched knits. “I think I’ve always gravitated to the Southwest, because I was an American who grew up in London, and I was really obsessed with American history,” she explains. “It was sort of an identity crisis.” Her desert references tend to be more about the spirit and landscape than, say, a literal homage to Georgia O’Keeffe. There’s always “a bit of sharpness” to balance out that warmth and softness, too (see: the sculptural leather trench). Despite their earthy origins, these clothes are meant for the city.Holstein is carving out her own niche as a red carpet designer, too, so she lent a few tweaks to Fall’s airy tulle dresses and velvet evening tops. Hanging next to her sharp tailoring and floor-length coats, they looked like wisps—but she was quick to point out the intricate construction inside each. They looked delicate without being flimsy, a real sweet spot.
The highlight of this collection bridged the gap between those “day” and “night” sections: a strapless, drop-waist gown in khaki poplin with a surprising bubble hem. Holstein styled it with suede lace-up ballet flats, not stilettos. It had the look of the next decade’s black tie—no diamonds or airbrushed makeup necessary.
31 May 2019
At a time when big-name brands are taking a break from the runway and up-and-coming designers are questioning the relevance of fashion week altogether, it was energizing to witness Khaite’s first show tonight. It served as a reminder of just how good a fashion show can be: It was glamorous and dramatic (but not to a fault), with great music, fantastic models, and a gorgeous setting, staged inside St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn with a massive tree of golden leaves planted in the center. In just two years, Catherine Holstein has cultivated a mood and a “world” for Khaite, but this was our first opportunity to experience it in a real, physical way. (The martinis were a nice touch, too!)Despite the brand’s roots in classic American staples—jeans, sweaters, shirting—Holstein designs genuinely surprising pieces. The first look out was new territory for her: an ivory “gown” comprised of a mutton-sleeved ribbed turtleneck tucked into a long poplin skirt and cinched with a gold medallion belt. It was a cousin to a cherry poplin gown Holstein showed for Pre-Fall, which Amandla Stenberg wore to the Critics Choice Awards. (Poplin for evening? That’s so Khaite.)There were fancier tulle gowns and black-tie-worthy dresses in the show, too, likely a result of Khaite’s recent presence on the red carpet. Mixed in were Holstein’s best-selling cashmere pullovers, jeans, and crisp blouses. Those casual pieces actually transmitted her message best: The collection was titled The New Frontier, and Holstein said she was thinking about the turn of the 20th century in America, when women first began to travel alone and were beginning to join the suffragette movement. On the brink of a new era, it was an exciting—and sort of scary—time, not unlike how many of us are feeling in 2019. “Women need a voice that celebrates the strength of women right now, and, as a consumer, I think that was lacking,” Holstein said. “Especially here in America.”That got her thinking about strong, timeless, truly “American” pieces, from those staple poplin shirts and jeans to Southwestern fringed jackets, whipstitched coats, and all manner of leather and suede trousers. Even the finale gowns in semi-sheer tulle were cinched with Western belts (albeit in real gold and studded with garnets). The balletic beigey pink one in particular looked like an Oscars contender.
Elsewhere, the show was simply a testament to Khaite’s excellent, elegant daywear: For many women, Giedre Dukauskaite’s taupe sweater, chestnut suede trousers, zebra-striped boots, and leather tote would be the ultimate casual-luxe uniform. Speaking of accessories,both the handbagsand the shoes are new categories for Khaite. By next season, you can plan on seeing a lot of her cross-body bags and low-heeled boots.
8 February 2019
It’s hard to believe Khaite is just two years old. It hardly took any time for women to fall for its elegant, pared-back world and what designer Catherine Holstein calls “pieces you always gravitate toward.” That might sound simple enough—there are regularly elevated basics like crisp poplin shirts, excellent tailoring, great jeans, and luxe knits here—but lately, Holstein has been introducing pieces we’ve never seen from her before. It’s not often you find such gems at a showroom appointment, let alone from a designer known for daywear and jeans. The items that qualified for Pre-Fall included a crimson poplin dress with super-full sleeves and a scooped-out back; a cotton bustier dress with a single leather cord looped through as a strap; and a creamy linen dress with a big swath of dotted tulle floating around the hem. They were as timeless and wearable as anything else you’d find at Khaite, but felt happily unfamiliar.Holstein chalked it all up to her 35th birthday. She designed the collection in the (sometimes anxious) months leading up to it, and opted to do so without a mood board or specific reference. Instead, she simply created the pieces she felt she needs in her closet—and, because her instincts are so right on, what other women need in theirs. She cut jackets with strong, wide-set shoulders, a silhouette that nudges you to stand up a little straighter and hold your head a bit higher. The boxy, ultra-cropped leather motorcycle jacket had an edge we haven’t seen at Khaite yet; Holstein said she’s feeling a rock ’n’ roll look again. Perhaps that darker, sultrier vibe is in the air as a reaction to the past few years of arty prints and eccentric, unsexy dressing. It wouldn’t be the first trend Holstein anticipated: Since she introduced lacy bras and cotton bandeaux last season, other designers have followed suit. This season, in fact, she’s proposing a new way to wear her delicates: with a square-shoulder blazer, no shirt, and high-rise trousers or pedal pushers. By next summer, you can count on your friends trying it out.
4 December 2018
What does American style look like in 2019? It’s a question most New York designers have been asking themselves. Khaite’s Catherine Holstein focuses on the operative word:style. Not fashion necessarily. Her collections center around timeless, highly considered pieces with subtle notes of the current moment, like a particular shade of pink or a bit of Southwestern flair. The results are ultra-luxe, but the key to Khaite’s massive success is that it still feels down-to-earth. It helps that even her most sumptuous cashmere coats and leather blazers are grounded by jeans, shirting, and knits—the building blocks of most women’s wardrobes.Holstein can’t be all things to all women, but she’s trying to speak to most of them. For the minimalist, Spring offered crisp button-downs, new low-slung jeans, and a caped trench; for the more feminine dresser, the designer introduced vaguely ’90s-ish tie-front camisoles and cotton circle skirts; and for the younger set, there were cashmere bras and briefs (to be worn with or without clothing). Holstein debuted her first “real” lingerie, too: delicate triangle bras trimmed with lace. Lingerie isn’t the category we’d expect her to get into next—our bet would have been on shoes or bags—but those bralettes will no doubt sell fast. In the lookbook, one was styled under an open poplin shirt with khaki trousers, and you can picture the Khaite customer trying the full look. Maybe it’s the rise of extreme “naked dresses” or the fact that women are taking more risks in general, but it’s no longer a shock to see a bra. At least in New York. Another ribbed-knit bra was styled with a supple leather jacket and pedal pushers, an outfit that felt the most 2019 of the bunch.Holstein described her other growing category as “easy evening”—i.e., unfussy dresses you can wear with heels at night or with flats (preferably the velvet Khaite x Manolo Blahnik slides) during the day. A long-sleeved crocheted dress certainly qualified and took a mind-boggling 200 hours to complete, so quantities will be limited. Another standout was a simple spaghetti-strap cotton dress with a fitted bustier and flared skirt. If you’re doubting its ability to go formal, consider this: Holstein is making one for herself to wear to a friend’s black-tie wedding.
12 September 2018
In keeping with her mission to grow Khaite into the next great American sportswear brand, Catherine Holstein hasn’t tried her hand at party dressing much. She’s been busy elevating classic, casual East Coast staples like knitwear, denim, trenchcoats, and shirting; her knits and jeans in particular have a cultish following. Resort 2019 was a marked departure, not because she backed away from those categories—the cashmere knits were as strong as ever, and her new slim boot-cut jean is going to be huge—but because she introduced some of her fanciest, most labor-intensive pieces yet.Considering these clothes will deliver in November, Holstein had holiday dressing on her mind. For the Khaite woman celebrating New Year’s Eve on an island, there were two razor-pleated, deep-V party dresses in white and cherry red cotton. Holstein approached them as an “exercise,” likely a product of her art background. “I wanted to push cotton to the limit in terms of technique, to see how elaborate a dress I could make with it,” she said. With velvet sashes in the back—the red dress had a black one, and the white dress came with burgundy ties—they were a genuine surprise.For those of us spending the holidays in New York or another cold climate, Holstein’s pleated, ankle-length skirts looked remarkably cool with chunky cardigans and belted blazers. They had an easy, sculptural drape, but Holstein said they were “laborious” to make. The polka-dot skirt wasn’t printed, for instance—each dot was actually flocked velvet—and the solid ones in orchid, black, and cream were made using eight panels of crepe. Laborious? Yes. But not even a little bit fussy.
9 June 2018
There’s been a bit of a Western vibe happening in the Fall 2018 collections, but Cate Holstein has been feeling it for a few seasons. Her new lineup included a reissue of the flared, patch-pocket jeans she introduced for Spring, plus a new iteration of her thick crocodile belt, this time in emerald green. Pair both of those items with a core Khaite button-down or denim jacket, and it’s Western in the subtlest, chicest way.There were bigger Western statements, too. Holstein developed a blown-up check in beige, navy, and brick red for a long coat and a cropped, double-breasted jacket, and fans of her shirting will be happily surprised by the floor-grazing cornflower blue plaid shirtdress. They’re statement pieces with restraint and felt right at home next to Khaite’s simpler stuff: perfect cashmere turtlenecks with loose, curved sleeves; straight-leg trousers in a luxe, water-resistant cotton; and a puff-sleeved dress in hearty checked viscose.Celebrities wear Khaite often—particularly the knits, jeans, and bodysuits—but Fall offered a few red carpet–worthy options for them, too. A bordeaux velvet suit was faultless, and Holstein introduced what might be her first-ever minidress: a shirred, nipped-waist satin LBD, which will appeal to women famous or not. On top, it had a touch of ’40s charm, but the flippy hemline made it undoubtedly sexy.
13 February 2018
Khaite is a line premised on jeans and sweaters, but there’s always a surprise (or three) to discover in Cate Holstein’s collections. For Pre-Fall 2018, the first was a nearly neon shade of pink, seen on a trenchcoat, trousers, and a round-sleeved dress. The Khaite woman isn’t super-feminine, and she likely isn’t attuned to the bold, trendy colors we’ve seen on recent runways, either. But she does favor an offbeat choice. In the lookbook, Jean Campbell wears those shocking pink trousers with a banker blue shirt, satin heels, and minimal makeup, and looks singularly chic.The bold color tied into the lineup’s broader undercurrent: a push-pull between late-’70s and early-’80s style. The weighty crocodile belt with gold-tone hardware felt like a statement piece from the latter era, while the flared jeans, checked suits, and poplin button-downs nodded to the groovy former. As for the generous puffed sleeves, the effect was ’70s prairie on a crisp white blouse, but on the punch-pink dress, it was ’80s decadence. Holstein said she was thinking about a young girl’s coming of age, when she’s starting to figure out her look and taste; she might cherry-pick from multiple aesthetics or eras before landing on her personal style.Khaite fans will be happy to see tweaked variations on Khaite signatures, too. Along with the flares, there was a new cropped jean with contrast stitching and a wide, slightly-bowed leg, which Holstein noted as a slimming trick of the eye. A jacket that can be worn as a dress has become a less-obvious Khaite-ism, too; past seasons have included a sleeveless trench and an extra-long blazer styled without pants. Pre-Fall’s iteration was a faultless single-button ivory jacket that fell to mid-thigh and had a curving, bonded hourglass shape that looked even better from behind.
5 December 2017
What does American sportswear mean these days? And who’s out there reinventing it? For starters, there’s Khaite, the one-year-old label designed by Catherine Holstein under the Assembled Brands umbrella (which also includes The Line and Protagonist). Holstein is a designer who cares about the subtle nuances of a garment, from the gauge of a knit to the length of a jacket collar and the plush, pillowy feel of a cashmere sweater. She isn’t after the wild, street style–bait looks; she specializes in polished, simple, but still eye-catching stuff.That isn’t the same thing as the “basics,” and on otherworldly model Kirsty Hume, the clothes looked anything but. Khaite’s freshest-looking items for Spring ’18 were the stretch-knit hot pants—Holstein swears they’re flattering!—and pedal pushers, which are gaining ground as the surprise trend of the week. The ocean inspired the watery palette of turquoise, cobalt, and sand, and Holstein said she was thinking about “the stillness of summer in America”—those long, hot days in the suburbs when you’ve got nothing to do and nowhere to be. You could do worse than to lounge around in Khaite’s burlap trousers and slinky viscose knits, which were almost cool to the touch.Those textures come through in the lookbook to a degree, but at the end of the day, Holstein still believes these clothes are best seen (and touched) in person. Luckily, she just opened a shop-in-shop at The Apartment by The Line, and it’s doing even better than expected—so those jeans and bodysuits are going fast. Chances are the editors, buyers, and models in town for Fashion Week had something to do with that.
12 September 2017
It takes a disciplined woman to resist the temptation of a fun, flashy trend. Pouf sleeves! Shocking pink! Slogan tees! The Khaite customer has likely said, “No, thanks” to those. Khaite’s clients are women of exacting tastes—not “fancy” or stuffy, just polished. For what feels like seasons now, “polished” has not been in fashion’s vocabulary. That’s partly what inspired Cate Holstein to launch Khaite with Vanessa Traina’s concept shop The Line in the first place: “We always ask ourselves, ‘what is elevated American sportswear now?’” Holstein said. “It feels like there’s a place for a fresh perspective, and women of our generation really need it. I want to feel as polished as possible—that’s what feels new and cool.”Casual yet polished daywear is Khaite’s bread and butter, always with a “robust, crisp feeling” thanks to beautiful fabrics and finishes. Resort’s new button-downs, for instance, weren’t your average work shirts; instead, they came in a supersmooth, “toothpaste”-color poplin with covered buttons or with rounded sleeves and raw edges. Similarly, the jean jackets were heirloom-worthy with jewellike lacquer buttons. Elsewhere, cashmere sweaters were cropped to flatter, and trousers came with slits up the ankle. It was all stuff you could picture on a ’90s-era style icon like Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. There were a few “evening” dresses, too, but they’d pass for day with a jacket thrown over the shoulders; in the same vein, Khaite’s “day” pieces are refined enough for evening.Holstein does find room for novelty; a trenchdress was precise and sexy at the same time, and the rhinestone-trimmed pumps—a collaboration with Manolo Blahnik—were Holstein’s clever take on prom shoes. She wasn’t kidding about the classic American thing. “I really wanted to modernize that high school memory,” she said with a laugh. The shoes were gorgeous, particularly with Khaite’s new dark-rinse jeans.
31 May 2017
Last spring, a mysterious Instagram account had every editor in New York double-tapping their screens. “What’s Khaite?” was the question on their lips as they scrolled through photos of faded jeans and Egon Schiele paintings. In a few weeks, the secret was out: Khaite was a new line of luxurious classics by Catherine Holstein, launched by Vanessa Traina’s concept shop, The Line. Khaite’s signatures were there from the beginning: the incredible jeans (finished with cool black-lacquered buttons), the lofty cashmere sweaters, the quirky bow pumps (a collaboration with Manolo Blahnik), and the sexy-smart bodysuits.To Holstein, it’s “a fresh take on American sportswear.” Her goal isn’t to christen new trends or design pieces you can point out in street style photos; instead, her vision for Khaite includes “solid, robust” items you don’t need, but want. “We’re moving away from the word essential, because it’s more about what’s cherished,” she says. In other words: thoughtfully made things a woman could feasibly buy and love forever. (This is not the same thing as “elevated basics,” for the record.)For Fall, Hosltein had three pieces of news to share: outerwear, velvet, and leather. The vanilla wool-cashmere coat was refreshingly simple, but soft padding at the shoulders and clean, masculine lines made it a future wardrobe MVP. The blazer version looked just as good and would pair nicely with Khaite’s high-rise jeans or new A-line leather mini. The draped velvet tops and dresses came in what Holstein called absinthe, a shade akin to the saffron and chartreuse we’ve been seeing lately; they appeared plush and opulent in a way that felt new for Khaite.There was a touch of the ’90s, too, which is par for the course. “I grew up in the ’90s, when my older sister was in her 20s and living in Paris, so I have all these memories of those classic silhouettes and velvet,” Holstein explained. “That era is always in the back of my mind.”
7 February 2017