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.
