Keeping pace with its usual robust femininity, Khaite’s Fall/Winter 2022 showing married something whimsy with the rigidity of life spent outdoors – on buzzy streets and in cool city haunts, and somewhere beyond the staid tailoring and buttoned-up ethos of women’s sartorial past – playing instead to the fluidity of a life tied to the ebb and flow of fashion. 

Models walked to the folksy metronome of Van Morisson, slow and raspy, and elsewhere to shallow, brassy guitar notes turning the catwalk into something as glamorous as it was grunge. There was some 90’s inflected denim – outsized and unassuming – there were mini-skirts, and micro dresses, and slits climbing well-above the knee (Anthony Vaccarello-above the knee). Dark, squared shades rested neatly atop each nose, balanced steadily on pin-like heels and slouched patent boots – crafted with a quiet promise to take us into an awakened, expectant world. Meanwhile, damp, slicked hair and delicate, nearly demure, moments of nudity brought Khaite’s champion womanly-ness back into picture, stilly at the fore.

A catwalk tread in wearable, functional pieces, the collection took a svelt, minimalistic shape – oversized and quiet, yet tipping slightly errant and very overtly cool. It was a gentle reimagining of American fashion for today’s era of design. A runway walked with purpose, with rhythm and an unfussy informality – set to the swells of Bob Dylan and Kurt Cobain – squared away a very modish, yet timeless image of present-day dressing.

All told, Catherine Holstein has certainly refined Khaite’s voice – yes effortless and unerring, but Fall/Winter 22 has played to a promise of far more than just luxury. Her latest are clothes of equal utility and opulence, the pieces that build the bones of a daily uniform to live life within – clothes you really just want to own.