Khaite’s New York Fashion Week Show Put Craft at the Center of Every Look

3 min read

Antique corsetry and voluminous crinolines are back, if Khaite’s spring/summer 2027 collection is any indication. The beloved label celebrated its 10th anniversary with a runway show held inside a minimalist warehouse at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. As PJ Harvey’s rage-fueled Rid of Me played, Kaia Gerber opened the show in a leather midi skirt with corsetry lacing on the back and a sculptural white bra. Models walked under dramatic spotlights in antique-inspired gowns with peplum belts, sculpted shrunken leather jackets with pointy shoulders, and those aforementioned crinolines, which served as building blocks for almost every single piece. Another starting point for the collection was Venice, Italy, with an unusually detailed dedication to handcraft and the ceremony of getting dressed.

“It was really not about the silhouette,” Catherine Holstein said backstage after the show. “Silhouette actually came later. It was about building the clothes from inside-out.” Holstein called it her most “me” collection yet, influenced by her personal experience of finding her own style again after having children. And despite the impending anniversary, she said that wasn’t a factor when designing these pieces. “My husband and I got married at City Hall,” she said. “The whole spectacle of celebration for me—I love going to other people’s things, but that’s really just not for me, you know?”

Big Skirt Energy was in full effect: sculptural frills collided with ruffled hemlines and ’50s-inspired full skirts, while ’90s-inspired slip dresses were reworked and midi skirts contained corsetry details, flipped open and revealed. Dark feminine codes were subverted and the core Khaite signatures, like oversize leather jackets, were reworked, lifted, cropped, and shrunken, with pointed shoulders that were created during recent fittings. The ’20s drop-waist that the runway can’t get enough of also made an appearance, the Khaite way, and Holstein mentioned the ’40s as another key inspiration. The combination of messy hair and punk bouffants with sheer layers, Victorian-esque silhouettes, and minidress crinolines felt distinctly Khaite—editorial but wearable, and a little bit weird in the best way.

“My husband and I spent a lot of time in Venice,” Holstein said. “We always stayed at The Gritti Palace. I was having a martini at the Gritti and looking up at the ceiling.” That was the inspiration behind the highly detailed, handcrafted embroideries featuring flowers and horses. “I wanted all these special moments that you didn’t even see, but once you open up the clothing, everything is finished by hand.” Hand-knit floral details were sewn together, also by hand; intricate lace fabrications were all custom-made, and corsetry where you least expected it (on the backs of skirts) ruled the runway.

Most surprisingly, “The crinoline was a big thing for us this season,” added Holstein. “Like, what would be the modern crinoline today, if it still existed?” The designer built them into peplum belts and layered them into dresses. (“I don’t think my team ever wants to hear the word ‘crinoline’ again,” she jokes.)

In its decade-long history, the label has developed a serious following for a reason: from luxe leather bags to the infamous knit bralette and beyond, the Khaite aesthetic and storytelling endure. If anyone can make the fashion girls of New York wear crinolines en masse, it might just be Holstein.

Kristen Bateman is a contributing editor at Harper’s Bazaar. Her first fashion article was published in Vogue Italia during her junior year of high school. Since then, she has interned and contributed to WWD, Glamour, Lucky, i-D, Marie Claire and more. She created and writes the #ChicEats column and covers fashion and culture for Bazaar. When not writing, she follows the latest runway collections, dyes her hair to match her mood, and practices her Italian in hopes of scoring 90% off Prada at the Tuscan outlets. She loves vintage shopping, dessert and cats.