Khaite to open fifth US store in Los Angeles

Founded by Catherine Holstein in 2016, modern luxury brand Khaite will open its fifth Los Angeles boutique at the end of the year, in the Melrose Place neighborhood at 8400 Melrose Avenue.

 
The address chosen by the Khaite brand is an iconic Los Angeles store, located at the corner of Melrose Avenue and Melrose Place, recognizable by its ivy-covered building, formerly occupied by the Marc Jacobs boutique and the Gucci Salon store. Opened in April 2023, the ultra-luxury concept initiated by the Italian fashion house Gucci “designed to offer the most personal universe possible, and intended for a clientele invited exclusively by appointment” will have lasted just two years. 
 
With neighbors such as A.P.C, Isabel Marant, Balmain and Chloé, the New York-based Khaite brand confirms its recent ascendancy among modern luxury brands, and its promised retail expansion to a dozen boutiques by 2030. 

Named designer of the year for women’s ready-to-wear at the CFDA awards in 2022, Catherine Holstein, who has previously collaborated for Gap, Vera Wang, J.Crew and The Elder Statesman, has benefited in recent years from several key investors to ensure her expansion.

After the support of brand incubator Assembled Brands, its majority shareholder, the brand received in 2023 the backing of a new partner, Stripes, a New York-based private equity firm. 
 
Renowned for its minimalist and effortless style, the Khaite brand will have five boutiques in the United States by the end of the year. A retail story which began in New York in 2023, when the brand opened its first boutique at 165 Mercer Street in Soho.
 
“To open our first store in Soho was a dream come true,” said Holstein, at the store opening. “Every element of Khaite is shaped by New York, and we set out to make this space a tribute to the cultural legacy of Soho. When I moved to New York twenty years ago, this block of Mercer was my entry point to the city, and Soho is where Khaite was born. Our first design studio was just down the street.”

The opening of a first boutique in Los Angeles looks to be in line with the subtle, minimalist design chosen for the other boutiques, like the design of the New York boutique entrusted to her architect husband, Griffin Frazen, and conceived around steel and concrete. 
 
In September 2024, the brand added a second store at Highland Park Village, a premier open-air luxury shopping and dining destination in Dallas, home to such luxury brands as Akris, Alexander McQueen, Balmain, Chanel, Cartier, Dior, Fendi and Hermès. 
 
This was followed at the end of January by a second boutique in New York located at 828 Madison Avenue, at the intersection of Madison Avenue and 69th Street. Following the brand’s flagship located at 165 Mercer Street, Holstein partnered with Frazen for the design of the brand’s uptown location. For this third space, the design drew inspiration from Japanese tatami mat principles, and used bronze and metal as key materials.

Finally, last March, Holstein signed its arrival on the West Coast with the opening of its first boutique in the famous South Coast Plaza luxury shopping destination. Another spectacularly designed concept, featuring an asymmetrical grid of sculptural columns that seem to pierce the ceiling. 
 
As in other Khaite stores, the palette of materials at South Coast Plaza is deliberately austere – blackened steel, prefabricated concrete and smooth plaster – to create a backdrop that highlights the ready-to-wear collections.

“The overall effect is one of conscious withdrawal from the outside world, where architecture becomes an active participant in elevating the luxury retail experience” said Khaite’s team.
 
Currently pregnant with her second child, Holstein will present her new spring/summer 2026 collection at New York Fashion week this June. She has been showing in New York since 2019.