Fresh off her second CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year award, Khaite designer Catherine Holstein is moving even further. She plans to open two new stores in 2024, one on Madison Avenue and the other at South Coast Plaza in Southern California.
And it has made a significant investment in handbags, aiming to grow the category from 45 percent to 60 percent of the business over the next two years.
Exhibit A, front and center for pre-fall, the Zoe bag in a mosaic grid of painted python skin, black, caramel and white, all materials used in the collection. It's a great looking bag and a testament to Holstein's balance between the creative and the commercial as he has built a new luxury brand in just five short years.
It also redesigned the best-selling Lotus bag in a leather and canvas combination, the Lilith structured evening bag now with a shearling handle, and is venturing into the ultra-luxury The Row Margaux priced from $4,000 to $5,000 with more structured options.
Functionality is also paramount for Holstein, which specializes in bold and glamorous wardrobe pieces that evolve with slight adjustments in proportion, length and strength: the ideal leather jacket, the denim jacket, the black dress, the tailored jacket, knit sets, etc.
By pre-fall, the news was his obsession with elongating the torso, which translated into powerful shoulders in outerwear; elegant dresses with a bodice; low-slung silk gazar pants and paper-bag waist skirts that had ribbed knits or glamorous origami folded blouses tucked in.
“I always have the same story and I'm embarrassed,” he said of his inspiration for the season. “But there's something very late '70s, early '80s about New York… I keep imagining Ellen Burstyn jogging down the street in a really severe pair of boots and black leather gloves and this bag with a trench coat. So that was the starting point: a cool end to the 'Klute' era coming into the '80s and that can be seen on the shoulders and on the jackets, combined with the sporty minimalism that we are also today.”
The season's leather trench coat is oversized and buttery, the bomber is super short over a cream open knit skirt, the moto comes in bright white leather, belted and with powerful shoulders, and the formal black coat has a slight cut in the waist to emphasize the feminine maxi. length. There's a stylish oversized leather jacket and also a short coat with leather details that will make you swoon.
A romantic orchid-pink organza column evening dress, worn with long black gloves, stood out, as did a sportier but still sophisticated black funnel-neck windbreaker with a draped, bubbly back, and a black anorak worn with a skirt. low-rise nylon column, expanding the brand's range. .
The new boot is a thigh-high version of the Apollo second skin, and the newest shoe is a pointed toe sandal with leather ankle laces.
For her evolving jewelry range, she's introducing futuristic-looking earrings that cover the entire earlobe “like liquid body parts,” Holstein said with a sci-fi wink.
The next step? New York Fashion Week. Following her latest film outing at the Park Avenue Armory, she will perform at a 50,000-square-foot soundstage at Chelsea Piers.
Her husband, architect Griffin Frazen, who designed the first Khaite retail store in SoHo, will design the show once again with all the storytelling continuing to drive it creatively.
Frazen is becoming a frequent collaborator, Holstein said, adding that she was glad he was with her at the CFDA Awards in November.
“He didn't come with me last year and it was really nice, especially considering how much of a part of the brand he is now,” she said. “I was really stunned, honored and touched… to win it for the second time and I think being the first woman to win it twice in a row was something I've never seen in my career.”
