Glancing around at the Khaite crowd, guys were few and far between. Sure, there were men in attendance, but more than other shows at New York Fashion Week, this one from Catherine Holstein attracted mostly women. I think that’s because as a designer Holstein is defining how affluent style-conscious types want to look now: polished, yes, but edgy rather than pretty.
Her loyalists had a surprise in store tonight, however. Holstein has connected with her softer side. “I think I’m just feeling a little warmer these days, a little earthier,” she said backstage. “Maybe it’s my son, all the warmth I get from him, but that’s the mood coming into this.”
It wasn’t apparent from the beginning—the show started with a cropped tailored black jacket with the oversize proportions she tends to favor in her outerwear, worn over sheer organza trousers. But it soon became obvious that Holstein was eager to try new things, be that hand-knit ribbon peplum tops and midi skirts, crocheted separates like an apron shirt and a narrow skirt worn over pants, or airy organza tubes braided into everything from little tops to occasion dresses. “I think we got very far into the darkness, into the slickness—obviously that’s my comfort zone,” she laughed. “This is not my comfort zone, but I wanted to venture out into making myself more uncomfortable.”
Not all of Holstein’s experiments connected. It may have been nearly weightless, but the volume of the unfurling organza poncho dress tended to overwhelm its model, as did other dresses that ballooned above drop waists and descended into full but tapering skirts. But that’s alright, because elsewhere there were relevant and timely takeaways for her style-conscious loyalists: as in, how right a white sleeveless shift can look over a pair of champagne hammered silk trousers and the surprise of glossy red shoes, and how necessary a leather blouson jacket looks at the moment.
Holstein also pointed out a black leather dress with a built-in white strapless sweetheart neckline corset. “It’s all stretch, no boning,” she said. “Everything is about comfort and function for us.” That may not be the sexy part of the business, but designers ignore it at their peril. Holstein is determined not to make that mistake.