Khaite founder Cate Holstein blends practicality with passion, building a luxury brand focused on quality, intentional design and a touch of showmanship – no wonder Kendall Jenner is a fan
The cashmere bra Katie Holmes wore helped the brand make a splash, but Khaite’s success has been built on providing a service to women endeavouring to put together a classically stylish look
Cate Holstein, founder of New York fashion label Khaite, is not one of those designers who like to indulge in flights of fancy. As a self-proclaimed avid “shopper” and customer, she founded the brand to provide a “service” to women struggling to build a wardrobe of luxury pieces that stood the test of time.
Ensconced in a sitting area overlooking a courtyard in Milan’s chic Portrait Hotel, where the night before she had held a dinner with fashion emporium Antonia, Holstein was clad in a grey oversized sweater that covered up her barely noticeable bump (she was pregnant with her second child). She wore hardly any make-up, looking like someone who doesn’t spend too much time trying to impress, which is the whole point of the Khaite brand, as many of its customers would agree.
Launched in 2016 with a well-edited range of foundational pieces such as knitwear, denim and leather, Khaite is one of the few, if not the only, success stories to have come out of New York this decade.
While the city is a hotbed for young talent, it has struggled in recent years to nurture the kind of successful luxury labels that resonate globally. Khaite’s staying power is due in large part to Holstein’s relentless focus on catering to women just like herself, without trying to be all things to all people.
Holstein has also achieved a feat that very few US designers are able to accomplish: build a thriving accessory business, a category that tends to be dominated by European houses.
Her Arizona and Nevada boots are constant bestsellers, not to mention her belts and bags, which don’t scream fashion and are the right combination of sensible practicality and cool design (accessories now account for about 48 per cent of the overall business).
“I think you have to do both, analysis and instincts, to have that right balance [to succeed] in fashion,” she says. “So I think it was a little bit of both. We definitely look at the data and what our customers are gravitating towards and what is doing well for us, but we also know that you can never have your customer lead you, you have to lead them.”