I have been looking at Khaite for a while because the clothes are often much more wearable than the styling first suggests.
There are plenty of pieces I could imagine wearing on their own: straight jeans, leather jackets, simple knits, black boots, long coats. But the outfits never feel basic.
I think a lot of that comes from how the proportions are handled. The jackets are often stronger than expected, the jeans sit a little looser, and softer pieces are usually styled in a way that stops them feeling too pretty.
That is the part of Khaite I want to look at here. Not the individual pieces, but the choices that make the outfits recognisable, and which of those choices are actually useful if you want to recreate the look with other brands.
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Khaite at a glance
Khaite is a New York fashion brand founded by Catherine Holstein in 2016. Denim and knitwear have become important parts of the business, although the runway collections tend to push the tailoring, leather and dresses much further. Vogue described the Fall 2026 collection in almost exactly those terms: black tailoring, often in leather, set against softer dresses.
That combination probably explains why the clothes feel so recognisable even when the individual pieces are familiar.
There is a lot of black, denim, leather and fairly simple knitwear, but then the proportions become much more specific. Shoulders get wider. Trousers fall longer. A sheer blouse appears with leather trousers. Something very fitted is placed next to something much larger.
Khaite also seems increasingly comfortable making the fit a little strange. For Pre-Fall 2026, Holstein actually talked about questioning the “right” way for things to fit and said she had been embracing “bad fits.”
That is useful to keep in mind when looking at the clothes, because a lot of the styling makes more sense once you stop expecting everything to sit perfectly.
A weekly guide to understanding why outfits and interiors work, with practical details you can use in your own wardrobe and home.
The Khaite formula
The jacket usually sets the shape
The jackets are the first thing I notice.
Khaite uses a lot of leather, but the same idea appears in blazers and coats. The shoulder is often very clear. Sleeves have room. The jacket keeps its shape instead of falling softly around the body.
That changes the rest of the outfit.
A fitted knit and jeans can look very simple. Add a broader jacket and the jeans look narrower. The waist becomes more visible. The whole outfit has a stronger outline. I looked at proportion from a slightly different angle in my The Row formula, where the clothes are generally softer but the balance between volumes matters just as much.
The volume is usually concentrated somewhere rather than spread across everything.
A cropped jacket might be boxy through the shoulder and sleeve, then stop high enough to show the waist. A longer coat can be oversized, while the clothes underneath stay much straighter.
That is probably why the bigger jackets do not feel clumsy.
Soft clothes are usually styled with something heavier
Khaite does a lot of very feminine clothes.
There is lace, transparency, satin, fitted knits and softer skirts. What I like is that those pieces are rarely surrounded by more of the same.
A sheer blouse might sit above leather trousers. A floral skirt appears with a structured jacket. A fitted top is worn with something much wider underneath. This is also the idea behind my guide to understanding what each piece is doing in an outfit: sometimes one piece works precisely because another one is pulling the outfit in a different direction.
That makes the softer piece feel more noticeable.
If everything in an outfit is delicate, the eye reads the whole thing in one go. Khaite often gives one piece a different weight or texture, which changes how the softer one is seen.
The Pre-Fall 2026 blouse with leather trousers is a good example. The blouse is light and almost transparent, but the trousers are heavy and loose. The outfit would feel completely different with a narrow skirt.
Denim is treated with the same care as tailoring
Denim comes up again and again in Khaite.
I think that is part of why the brand feels easier to relate to than some other luxury labels. The jeans make the clothes feel more normal.
But the denim itself is still very considered.
The jeans usually have enough weight to hold a line through the leg. They are often longer than the most basic version would be, and they can sit looser around the thigh and ankle.
The shoe underneath matters as well.
A pointed boot or pump keeps a longer jean looking sharp. A darker wash works well with leather and tailoring because it does not pull the outfit in a very casual direction.
The red leather jacket and jeans from Spring 2026 is a good example. The jacket is very strong through the shoulder, while the denim underneath stays simple and straight.
Keeping the denim this simple lets the jacket stay the focus.
Khaite lets one proportion go further than expected
Khaite often takes one part of the silhouette slightly further than I would normally think to.
The trouser falls longer. The jacket gets broader. The coat has more volume than the clothes underneath really need.
Catherine Holstein has spoken about questioning the “right” way clothes should fit, and I think that is a better way to understand these looks than calling them oversized.
Usually one proportion is exaggerated and the rest of the outfit gives it room.
That is why a very long trouser can still look intentional under a fitted top, or a broad jacket can work with a narrow base underneath. If trousers are the part you find hardest to judge, I go into the rise, width, length and break in much more detail in my guide to how tailored trousers should fit.
For me, this is one of the most useful things to take from Khaite because it changes the outfit without requiring more detail.
How I would recreate Khaite style
Once the proportions are clear, the outfits are actually quite simple to build.
I would start with one piece that changes the shape of the outfit and let the rest stay fairly straightforward.
Look 1: Strong jacket with a simple base
A structured jacket over jeans is probably the easiest place to start.
I would use the following pieces:
I would wear the hourglass jacket with a fitted black knit and dark straight jeans, then add pointed ankle boots and a larger leather bag. The jacket already gives the outfit a strong shape, so I would keep the rest simple and skip any noticeable jewellery.
Look 2: Satin with leather
This is the one I would choose if you like the softer side of Khaite.
I would pair:
I would wear the cropped leather jacket over a fitted black top with the silk skirt, then finish it with pointed knee-high boots. The jacket gives the softer skirt more structure, while the black top keeps the middle of the outfit clean. I would leave out extra accessories here; the leather and silk already give the look enough contrast.
Look 3: Relaxed denim with a long coat
Here I would let the denim sit much looser than in the first look. The long coat keeps the outfit polished, while the sleeveless knit gives some definition underneath.
I would use:
I would wear the long coat over the fitted sleeveless knit with relaxed dark denim and pointed slingbacks. The longer, wider denim makes this feel quite different from a standard coat-and-jeans outfit. I would add the rectangular sunglasses and leave it there.
If you are looking for this kind of longer outer layer, I compared the cut, fabric and warmth of different brands in my guide to the best wool coats.
Look 4: A fitted top with longer, wider trousers
For this look, I would start with a fitted black top and wider trousers, but I would avoid making the trousers too neat.
I would use:
The trousers are what make the outfit feel closer to Khaite. I would keep the leg fairly full and let the hem fall over the shoe rather than shortening it to the neatest possible length.
I would wear the fitted top tucked in or sitting cleanly at the waist so the difference between the narrow upper half and the fuller trouser is obvious. A pointed shoe keeps the lower half from feeling heavy, and I would choose a bag with enough size to hold its own next to the trousers.
I would not add a jacket here. The longer trouser and the change in scale are enough to give the outfit more character. For the bag, I would still prioritise the leather and construction over finding an exact Khaite shape. I explain what I check before buying one in my guide to choosing a quality handbag.
Look 5: A fitted black dress under an oversized jacket
For the last look, I would start with a fitted black dress and put something much larger over it.
The dress keeps the line underneath narrow, while the oversized leather jacket adds most of the volume around the shoulders and sleeves. I would finish it with pointed knee-high boots and keep everything else dark.
I would choose a very plain dress here. Between the fitted ribbed knit, the oversized leather and the tall boots, there is already enough going on with the proportions.
A weekly guide to understanding why outfits and interiors work, with practical details you can use in your own wardrobe and home.
What I would take from Khaite
What I find useful about Khaite is that most of these ideas can be tried with fairly ordinary clothes.
You can see it in a pair of trousers that is left slightly longer, in the difference a stronger shoulder makes to jeans, or in wearing a silk skirt with something heavier than you normally would.
I would not try to recreate a Khaite outfit piece by piece. I would pay more attention to the proportions and to where the weight of the outfit sits. That is usually what I end up saving from the runway anyway.
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