“The Khaite woman is really comfortable in being uncomfortable,” Catherine Holstein said backstage after her cinematic spring show featuring models emerging from the dark, mist-covered space and zig-zagging through her angular runway on “broken up glaciers,” over water — a nod to staying on the road above shaky ground.
“This whole idea of confidence that people always talk about, I really find that in insecurity and being self-conscious. I think it’s OK to be self-conscious and insecure. I really hold confidence from that,” she added.
Holstein has spoken about these notions before, but the sentiment always surprises, as the Khaite woman exudes confidence, is almost provocative and is absolutely fierce, which Holstein consistently reflects in her stealthy luxe collections. But with spring, she wanted to inject more of the idea of walking out the door and not looking “perfect.” A bit more raw and exposed, but still very much in line with brand’s minimalist ethos of blending hard with touches of soft.
“You can like it or you can hate it, that’s fine, but you can’t say it’s not Khaite. That was all I wanted,” Holstein said.
There was a lot to like.
It’s why she opened the strong show with a signature palette cleanser: leather blazer, dark blue jeans, black heels, but in the sophisticated, twisted Khaite way. The blazer, like other jackets in the collection, was cut up the side and twisted across the front — a slightly off-kilter, signature look.
But it’s also important to note the categories — denim, leather and footwear — are three of the brand’s biggest alongside belts, sunglasses in collaboration with Oliver Peoples and cashmere. During a recent interview with WWD about her milestone Los Angeles flagship opening, Holstein said, “I’m a big believer that your best marketing tool is good product. There’s a core instinct, gut feeling when I see the products. I approve all products, and I work on all products. There’s nothing that doesn’t touch my hands in the company, and I know right away if it’s right or wrong.”
Her gut instinct is key: the Khaite woman is essentially Holstein, and “a filter of the sum of all parts of what led me to be at this place in my life,” she said backstage. The designer spent the summer in the city as a new mom to her second child, and wanted to inject the naivety and emotions she experienced in her youth, and is reliving through her eldest child’s eyes.
“I used to cut things up all the time when I was a teenager and wear them a certain way, and I wanted to go back to that,” she said, as seen through ultra-cropped toppers and fold-over tiny bandeaus, cuffed crop jeans and askew-hemmed trousers. Draped tops twisted around the body and corset looks were either exploded into bulbous, hourglass sculptures or ripped down and stuffed with tulle at the bust, “just to make it a little stupid,” Holstein joked, but it was really about not being afraid to take risks.
Perpetually inspired by David Lynch and the dark underbelly of Southwest America, she mixed western nods with urban grit via big buckled belts, fabulous pony trousers and slit skirts, distressed leathers and fisherman jackets, and sheer shirting with hand-stitched floral embroideries. “It was about not being too pretty, not being too well-done,” she said of the latter.
Even her show-closing, chunky hand-crocheted knits with big polka dot skirts, as seen on Kendall Jenner and Binx Walton, had that raw yet controlled ethos. A strong exploration of subtle imperfection with ample beauty and sophisticated, polished grit for her woman to continue taking that confident stride.