Many designers will tell you their goal is to create a true lifestyle brand, but few are as successful as Jenni Kayne. Her brand goes beyond her signature mules, knitwear, and shirting: Kayne’s stores are filled with home goods by L’Artisan Parfumeur, jewelry by Sophie Buhai, and all-natural skin products by Earth Tu Face, and she also runs her own blog about fashion, cooking, and motherhood. Women are loyal to her brand because it all feels of the same minimal, laid-back California world—and because they relate to Kayne herself.
As such, they don’t go to Kayne for flash-in-the-pan trends; you can guarantee she won’t be trying Spring 2017’s neon colors. Instead, she specializes in luxurious, ’90s-tinged staples that leave room for interpretation. Each collection usually conveys a specific mood or destination; for instance, she envisioned Pre-Fall as the ideal capsule for a spontaneous camping trip. Kayne described the mix of buffalo-check jackets, ’50s-inspired eyelet nightgowns, ringer tees, and button-front shorts as an “improvised wardrobe,” because when you’re waking up with the sun and hiking through the Catskills or the Sierra Nevadas, who’s stopping you from wearing a nightie with your hiking boots? It’s a fantasy Kayne’s busiest customers will likely feel drawn to; as our lives get more hectic and we become more dependent on technology, nothing sounds better than a quiet weekend in nature. If a few of the pieces are too pretty to wear into the actual woods—or a weekend trip isn’t in the cards—Kayne’s clothes will look even better in the urban jungle.