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.
