Khaite S/S 2026 New York

[LadyJunon]

 

[fashionlov]

Khaite is generally one of my favorite appointments at NYFW (not that there are many), mostly because I love how the brand is usually so understated and chic. But compared to what we’ve come to expect, this collection wasn’t among my favorites — it felt dark, too much so, almost wintry. Some pieces also seemed slightly off in terms of proportion. I think my favorite spring/summer collection is still SS23. That said, the set this season was stunning — I believe it would have put the current Chanel to shame.

 

[aa2005]

I love how she really goes for it with show experience and it takes the brand thru the roof each time especially with the music. I liked it was a bit less heavy styling wise for them this time as well. I hope that it continues to build and keeps the current momentum.

 

[TianCouture]

Makes Phoebe look like Walmart.

 

[helmutnotdead]

lmao the disrespect towards Phoebe…

 

[Avonlea]

The set was great, but that's it. The collection felt random. She loves to add strange proportions and cuts for no reason. It just looks unflattering and sloppy. The execution is also not that great.

 

[Cocteau Stone]

Some leather pieces were nice and the pants that didn’t have the varying hems worked mostly well. But this is so fussy. And all the models looked incredible short. Her insistence on such a boxy “avant garde” cut will be her undoing.

I can see the appeal of Khaite, it has something to it but she’s seems like she has a vengeance against the female form. It’s like she wants to deject it then sex the result up but they all look like teapots, short and stout.

 

[jeanclaude]

She is a master...of controlling the fog level at that runway set (see Rick? We can still see the clothes here) .

 

[Kanzai]

Good lord, she keeps winning! I hate the polka dot skirts with vile waistband on Kendall and Binx tho. I can see some 2000s Rick Owen and even SS 1998 Issey Miyake reference (that ghost/onryo cape dress in white). And the set is such a banger, hauntingly stunning.

Bally guy and Bottega girl should take note since this is how Phoebe-inspired clothes should be done!

 

[youthinasia]

Hate the music

 

[MulletProof]

Hate the music

Clair de Lune has been super abused but This is Hardcore, poor edit and all?... I actually checked out of what I was watching cause I immediately entered karaoke mode, that song.. 😮‍💨. Opening with Damon's voice and closing with Roy's also feels so right.. I'm into their idea of what a show soundtrack should be, I think I said this last season but it feels very much in the spirit of Jun Takahashi, more connected to urban life somehow.

Their collections are never memorable to me, they often seem like a collage of trends that are currently successful, not bad.. but also not exciting to me..

 

[philophile]

I haven't really seen the whole collection yet in order to judge it, but here a couple of things:



As a follower of this label and everything Cate has done since around 2018, I genuinely fail to see how Khaite 'follows trends' or is a pastiche of them. If anything the brand has a very clear DNA reinventing many of the same silhouettes it's had since its beginnings every season (floor length coats, cropped leather blazers, romantic dresses, femenine and playful tops, etc). If anything, it is attempting to be timeless.

While I can see how people here don't find some of her clothing flattering (not a fan either of the boxy tailoring she's been doing in the past years), she has indeed achieved very feminine and flattering shapes in the past (see collage above).

I also don't really understand why it's so often dismissed here as a Phoebe clone brand. Like @LadyJunon has previously very accurately pointed out, it has a strong YSL romanticism influence amongst other brands. I never saw Phoebe focusing so much on leather and romantic, feminine dresses as much as Cate does.

Having said all that, I think Khaite is a hit and miss brand, but when Cate hits it, she hits it good. To me the brand has done nothing truly outstanding in the past years that comes close to her body of work in 2020 and 2021 (her resort and pre-fall collections those years were insanely beautiful and I'm still craving a few of those pieces).

One thing that is always remarkable in the brand is the styling and it has a reason: Vanessa Traina. The woman has an impeccable style and is gifted with a sharp eye for harmony.

Similarly to the Jacquemus criticism in TFS, I do believe Cate is missing improvements in the precision of her tailoring. There's often something just so off about it.

 

[Blaiseybabey]

I really like what Kate Holstein does, however I find this collection a bit too heavy. I’m not sure exactly what’s wrong but certain proportions just feel very overwhelming. I really like the concept, though. The leather work is top-notch, especially the biker jackets and skirts. You know that this stuff is well done. I like the fact that she pushes the envelope of the NY fashion week to something very high fashion. It actually baffles me when I think about bigger brand like Calvin Klein who didn’t seem to put that much effort to the presentation side of things. I also wonder - does actually the brand make enough money for all those big productions? I know that their stuff is expensive, but is it enough to fund it all? Is it all coming from the investment money?

 

[Lola701]

I think I don’t get the brand at all.
I discovered it on NAP tbh like Toteme and others. And as I follow the brand and see the products they are pushing and the women who are into it, I’m confused each time about the collections. There was one that I really enjoy but that’s it.

This was just an over-designed raid in Helmut Lang, Martin Margiela and Rei Kawakubo’s archives…Or moodboard.
I was confused while watching the show because the Set doesn’t set the tone for the clothes and the clothes don’t make sense together.

The more successful looks were the long pants with the shirts.

It seems like someone is just trying to escape the « American sportswear » stamp that can be attached to them and they just designed whatever.

And about Phoebe? Except for sharing the same references, there’s nothing of Phoebe in here. It lacks the légèreté of Phoebe. And Miss Philo has a way to appropriating her references the way this don’t.

Yes you put the reference on the runway but what did you make out of it?
The last part with the polka dots reminded me of Armani. Maybe it was an homage or just me reading too much into it.

 

[marines]

 

[philophile]

Yeah, from what I saw so far, this collection seems to be pretty disjointed and incoherent, unlike her previous ones.

Those polka dot skirts are truly vile and other pieces look so poorly executed, that I get the Walmart and the trendy pieces comments. Some things looked too exaggerated and forced. I did like very much one piece I spotted, though (need to look at it closer).

However, it is such a rarity nowadays to see high end fashion brands attempting experimentation and doing nothing else than playing it safe for the sake of sales and growth, that one can just be thankful when someone tries to do something different. I appreciate Cate's courage to take risks in this economic landscape and her spirit of exploration, but sadly, it doesn't always translate very well when executed. Playful fashion needs to exist, but not when you're just trying to be quirky for the sake of being quirky and lack intention, some sense of beauty, coherence and cohesiveness, a good feeling for proportions harmony and creating flattering shapes.

I do think Cate is very creative and clever, but she's unfortunately not very talented at executing and translating her ideas into reality. There's often something so off, something missing or something overdesigned, but I do believe the potential to do beautiful things is still there, since she has done it in the past.

And about Phoebe? Except for sharing the same references, there’s nothing of Phoebe in here. It lacks the légèreté of Phoebe.

To be 100% honest, Phoebe's recent skirt with the "double boner" like someone described it over here feels very much like a failed attempt in a similar vein to Cate's. Admittedly, that is very uncommon from her part, since she used to always nail it at Céline.

 

[alwaysademo]

Pretty show. I'm intrigued by their Euramerican take on the cultivated woman. Awar's, Hejia's, Angie Kendall's, Libby's, Binx's looks stood out, there's a sculpturalness to it but fluid in motion, also a dry wit in some details.

 

[disco54]

Great setting , love the fog, but this looks like a mish mash of Phoebe's Celine and Uniqlo lol, for such a glam set , the clothes are all pieces you can find at your local Zara, H&M, Mango.

 

[Delleone]

Pick-n-mix. Late 90s Yohji Yamamoto, check! Protuberant, convex forms by way of Duran Lantink via Margiela, check. Phoebe and co, check. YSL, check. Check, check, check! Cashing all those checks straight to the bank! Nice enough, however, the fashion compass here feels like it’s caught in a tail spin, not quite sure where to land and perhaps how.

 

[Monsieur Cristobal]

First impression: I enjoyed this one.
Found some dresses lovely, and was even surprised by the most sculptural pieces.

Nobody creates in a vacuum, we all have our references, but besides Phoebe there is more here.
You cannot say that this brand has been 15 years copying Céline. Let's give the designers time also to evolve.

I agree with the off-ness of certain pieces, but then again, have you seen Chanel and Dior in Venice?
Are there right now 3 designers who are clearcut sharp?
Names, please.

Coolest soundtrack in New York.
This woman dares to put up a fashion show.
For me it is a yes.