THE KHAITE WOMAN SS26: TWISTS, RISKS & UNAPOLOGETIC FIERCENESS

Confidence through insecurity

For Spring 2026, the Khaite woman looks as fierce as ever, but backstage, designer Catherine Holstein offered a surprising insight: “The whole idea of confidence that people always talk about? I really find that in insecurity and being self-conscious.” Identifying as an outsider, even if “I don't look like one,” Holstein reflected on her youth, recalling how she was always cutting and modifying her clothes. That playful, experimental spirit drives the season’s philosophy: the question, “how do you twist this?”

Leather blazers and deconstructed dresses

The show opened with a leather blazer, meticulously spliced up the sides so it hung at an angle, wrapping its model in a kind of embrace.

Dresses received similar treatment. Holstein pointed to Julia Nobis's strapless cocktail number with a fluttery bodice and explained, “we took things apart: ripped this down from the corset, stuffed tulle in it... to make it a little bit stupid.” Laughter rippled through the assembled journalists, yet Holstein’s point was clear: to take a risk, to experiment, to make imperfection part of the statement.

From new york to los angeles

Holstein can afford to take these risks. Her fifth US store opened this month on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Though the Khaite customer is often imagined as a stealth New Yorker, there is a hint of Southern Californian ease in the collection: skirts hitched to the hips of Kendall Jenner and Binx Walton sport supersize polka dots, just a playful nod away from the infamous teeny weeny polka dot bikinis of legend.

Wide gauge knits in loose, laissez-faire shapes added to the mix, balancing slick tailoring with a sense of naivety.

Contrasts & juxtapositions

The season thrived on contrasts. Padded shoulders on tie-neck silk blouses met almost childish embroideries on button-ups, while Basque-waisted pinafore tops and double-breasted coat dresses contrasted sharply with raw, deeply cuffed denim reminiscent of grade-school styles from decades past.

The resulting mix felt simultaneously sophisticated and innocent, a deliberate tension that kept the eye engaged.

Accessories & finishing touches

Accessories drew attention in equal measure. Deeply cuffed jeans were paired with leather moccasins sporting tiny kitten heels, while caramel-colored low-heeled slingbacks conveyed understated confidence alongside dark rinse denim and a red leather jacket/cape hybrid.

Perhaps the most striking moment came with a simple black dress, its back sculpted into a portrait that dipped all the way to the sacrum, embodying the twist Holstein sought: elegance with an unexpected edge, minimal yet provocative.

The bags from the collection are an absolute favorite:

Conclusion: fearless, twisted & unmistakably khaite

Spring 2026 for Khaite is a lesson in contradiction: fierce yet self-conscious, structured yet playful, polished yet slightly off-kilter. Holstein’s approach embraces the risk of imperfection and the thrill of the unexpected, proving once again that confidence does not always come from perfection. The Khaite woman walks into the world wrapped in twisted leather, playful tulle, and cuffed denim, and she does it unapologetically. And if your heels are tiny, your polka dots oversized, or your back bared to the sacrum, so be it — in Khaite, imperfection is always in style.

ALL THE LOOKS FROM THE COLLECTION:

VIDEO OF THE SHOW: