KHAITE

KHAITE was founded in 2016 by Catherine Holstein, a force to be reckoned with today in women’s fashion.  Cate understood the emotional void facing women at the precipice of the quiet luxury movement. When she stepped into our office, equipped with a mood board, providing the solution for her customer, who was on the hunt for strength, luxury, practicality and comfort, after an hour with Cate, we were in.

Together, we defined the company’s ethos and mission statement of realizing the seamless transition from approachability to luxury. 
 

In contrast with financial planning consultants who may require hefty consultant fee retainers, and creative or digital agencies that only work with companies where they are equipped to execute an entire digital platform, eCommerce website or campaign, we believe in vision meets viability. We find as much inspiration in bringing a concept to the point of reality as we do in designing and developing award winning digital platforms. At the outset of the world that would become KHAITE, on the brand positioning side, there were emotional, competitive and visual components that needed to marinate in order to solidify into a more cohesive visual expression. 

Our discovery started with what the KHAITE customer was seeking, and predominantly what was missing within the American ready-to-wear brand landscape.  2016 was the intersection of luxury designer items, mixed with basic staples and pre-Covid, still a heavy focus on in store purchasing, and online department stores such as net-a-porter.com.  The key to a successful market entry strategy was to identify the core customer community starting in NYC, and simultaneously that word of mouth brand visibility that facilitates the reaction among that community, of “How am I and my friends seeing this brand all at once?”

On the product side, while there was undisputed talent, there was also deep item and sourcing manufacturing COGs analysis to derive approachable price points, while maintaining design and quality levels on par with Europe’s finest luxury brands.

The convergence of detailed customer targets that spanned a younger, affluent sophisticate to a more mature customer who appreciated quality, and high-end knits and outerwear with a diversified product categorization and price point range, underscored what would become KHAITE’s to market entry point. 
 

Simultaneously, there was an approach to distribution that had to be considered; while retail stores still represented the lion’s share of luxury revenues, it was a new era that required a different approach to eCommerce. Increasingly more emerging brands were surfacing in the eCommerce and direct-to-consumer showroom approach that offered more intimate experiential retail. 

We identified the KHAITE customer as the discerning fashion client. Someone who wants a high-end consistent product that competitively delivers quality without sacrificing a sophisticated multi-channel and ultimately a physical experience. We focused our year 1 distribution goals around three priorities; that quality is aspirational, exclusivity and selectivity are imminent and that the KHAITE brand emanated a lifestyle that could serve a 360 wardrobe, while exuding a vibe commensurate with downtown NYC. For NYFW and KHAITE’s debut, there was a desire to make a splash for a wildposting campaign that would drive a brand awareness that leveraged a collaboration with Manolo Blahnik.  

Different visions and ultimately brands require different means of capitalization that benefit from a creative execution of an omnichannel strategy.  With a luxury brand that would compete alongside the most well-recognized and respected brands in the fashion world, Cate’s concept required the right strategic investment partner. While neta is not an investment bank, nor an investment broker, we are translators of vision. We understand how to convey vision, but more than that, we work hand-in-hand with the entrepreneurs, companies and organizations with whom we partner, where our role is to:

• Ensure that the vision of a new KHAITE brand roll-out or platform launch is as compelling as it will be to its core audience(s)
• To cross t’s and dot i’s when it comes to comprehensive financial models that will leave prospective investor questions unanswered in essence because the implementation or go-to market strategy has been so well considered that there will be limited surprises and therefore, limited risk

And last, but not least...

• To serve as a sounding board at a scary, but exciting time, in order to identify the right type of financial investor or partner and to ultimately put you in touch with the right people, be it an attorney or a seasoned investor to ‘kick the tires’ that provides the opportunity to close a deal

In 2023, KHAITE opened their first retail store at 165 Mercer Street in downtown Soho with plans to open 10 retail locations in the next five years, in addition to operating a thriving eCommerce business that represent 35% of revenues and a wholesale business that is 65% of sales including global players Net-a-porter, Mytheresa, Matchesfashion and Moda Operandi in addition to stores such as: Bergdorf Goodman, Bon Marché, Harrods and Saks.