Khaite Opens Madison Avenue Store
Khaite’s retail expansion is in full swing for 2025.
Cate Holstein’s New York fashion label has a new home on the Upper East Side at Madison Avenue and 69th Street.
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Once again she tapped her husband, architect Griffin Frazen, to design the space, which has a dark and moody urban industrial vibe in keeping with the brand. He also worked on her debut store at 165 Mercer Street, as well as her Dallas location that opened late last year.
The roughly 2,000-square-foot Madison Avenue space draws interior organization inspiration from the tradition of Japanese tatami mats, the historical architectural element that has shaped spatial design and social customs. The influence can be seen in the hot rolled steel plates arranged on the floor without fasteners or additional finishings, creating a modular grid.
The display elements are designed to appear to be peeling upward from the steel floor plane, revealing glimpses of bronze and material layering. They serve as both product displays and seating.
After securing landmark approval, the 828 Madison storefront was transformed with the redesign of seven window bays with custom solid bronze frames on both street sides of the building. A second entry on 69th Street was added leading into the intimate interior, which has lower ceilings and floor-based displays but full-height doors and wall niches to created an expanded sense of space.
Like with the Mercer Street store, the materiality is broadly industrial with bronze chosen for its minimalist qualities but rich patina that ages with time, and steel that has an iridescent effect in this space.
The store stocks the full range of Khaite ready-to-wear and accessories as well as an exclusive collection of exotic handbags created in partnership with Inversa, the U.S.-based company that sources invasive python with environmental sustainability in mind. There’s also an assortment of vintage jewelry curated by Khaite style director Vanessa de Viel Castrel.
Khaite is in the midst of a retail expansion, with its first West Coast store opening at South Coast Plaza at the end of January, and a new lease signed for Los Angeles.
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