Khaite has opened doors in Los Angeles.

“It was inevitable,” said founder and designer Catherine Holstein. “But we were always looking for the right space.”

When the chance arose to secure 8409 Melrose Avenue — a landmark storefront that housed Marc Jacobs for years before Gucci, on the edge of the street’s triangular corner — she knew instantly it was the right fit.

“It was just a dream come true,” Holstein went on. “Honestly, if you told me that this would be our L.A. store, even a year ago, I never would have believed you. When I heard that this opportunity was on the horizon and that it was a possibility, I clamored down that we absolutely had to have it, would not take ‘no’ for an answer. And we got it. There were other people that were in the running. I was over the moon about it. I don’t feel totally worthy, honestly, to follow such big shoes, given that it was Marc Jacobs and then Gucci. But we’re really excited.”

The 3,525-square-foot store, unveiled on Monday, was designed by her husband, architect and actor Griffin Frazen, who is behind all of Khaite’s retail spaces. The sales floor spans 1,475 square feet, with 1,550 square feet for back-of-house operations, plus an additional 500 square feet for three fitting rooms and other areas.

“I think he’s a genius,” Holstein said of Frazen. “I really give him full creative control and trust his vision.”

“It’s our major, flagship-level store outside of New York on the West Coast,” Frazen said of the undertaking. He’s been working with the same vendors and collaborators locally in New York, where the couple is based, but also incorporated materials and partners from California for the project.

“I’m pursuing something with the stores kind of in parallel to what she’s doing with the collections,” he continued. “Because of her comfort level and confidence with my work and with the stores, we have this interesting parallel way of working where we’re both investigating ideas through different mediums. I definitely keep her informed, but she likes to be surprised.”

It’s Khaite’s second location in California and 10th total, after two openings in New York — its first on Mercer Street in SoHo, unveiled in February 2023, then Madison Avenue; Dallas, and Costa Mesa, Calif. at South Coast Plaza. Internationally, the brand operates five shops in Seoul. The L.A. flagship comes as Khaite continues to broaden its retail footprint beyond wholesale partners, following investment from private equity firm Stripes and bringing on Brigitte Kleine, a Tory Burch veteran, as chief executive officer in 2023.

“L.A. was always on our radar screen, because it is our second-largest market after New York. But it really takes time to find the right location,” said Kleine. “Good things come to those who wait, because we were so fortunate to find this location.”

Born in 2016, the modern American luxury brand debuted with denim, leather and cashmere before expanding with handbags, footwear and accessories, while gaining a cult following along the way. Holstein, 42 and a mom of two, has since won two consecutive CFDA Women’s Designer of the Year awards, with Khaite reportedly surpassing $100 million in sales and becoming a fixture at New York Fashion Week.

“I suffer from imposter syndrome a little bit,” Holstein said of the excitement surrounding Khaite’s L.A. opening. (Khaite isn’t her first entrepreneurial endeavor; after dropping out of Parsons School of Design, she launched a line in 2006, which Barneys New York carried before the brand closed. She then gained experience in luxury and commercial design through roles at Vera Wang and Gap, and later launched Khaite with the support of friends and backing of Assembled Brands.)

“I wouldn’t have guessed that the reaction from the general public would have been as strong — I mean, I thank god it is, because I really did this from a business perspective and raised the capital, and have gone in and out of investment rounds, and there’s that whole thing, that whole aspect of it,” she continued. “I believed in it, and people bought into that belief.”

She designs to serve the modern woman, focusing on quality and fit. “I’m a big believer that your best marketing tool is good product,” she said. “There’s a core instinct, gut feeling when I see the products. I approve all products, and I work on all products. There’s nothing that doesn’t touch my hands in the company, and I know right away if it’s right or wrong.”

The L.A. store emphasizes accessories, a key sales driver for the brand. Prices in bags range from $880 for natural python-embossed leather to $48,000 for alligator leather, while footwear is between $690 for flat sandals in leather to $2,800 for over-the-knee boots in glossy calfskin.

“Shoes, particularly, is our fastest growing category,” said Holstein. “Belts have been a huge growth trajectory for us. Sunglasses, with our collaboration with Oliver Peoples, has really grown. So that’s really where the business is headed. Right now, it’s a 50-50, split, but we only launched accessories in 2019 with one boot, so it’s really caught up quite fast to the rest of the business. We’re expecting that growth to exceed 50 percent over the next three years, and that’s what the majority of our customers really come to us for, that, cashmere, leather. We have a big leather business and a lot of denim as well.”

They’re still learning who that customer is in L.A., according to Kleine.

“Truthfully, we’re going to know more as we build a more intimate relationship with our clients. That’s the beauty of retail, is that you can really have a more intimate relationship with your clients, really understand what they want, have more interaction,” said Kleine, adding, “One of the amazing things about the brand, something I think is a real positive and just speaks to the diversity of the brand, is that we have the Gen Z customer, we have the Millennial customer, and we have the Gen X customer. So, we really have all three shopping the brand and shopping our collections.”

The aspirational customer often starts with accessories, Kleine said, before moving into ready-to-wear over time. She emphasizes that Khaite already has an existing community of customers, particularly stylists and personal shoppers, in L.A.: “So our initial learnings for L.A. are that we have that cross-generational customer. But now we really want to build a closer relationship with the clients.”

The new store reflects the brand’s design DNA, maintaining consistency across all locations while giving each boutique its own distinct character. In L.A., glass is the defining element, inspired by the space’s existing large windows. But at Khaite, that light is controlled; the windows are tinted to manage both natural light and fixtures.

Reflective and semi-transparent surfaces are found throughout the store, with Frazen highlighting shelving that illuminates a lineup of handbags and footwear on display.

“They’re resin, and they’re lit internally, so they glow,” he explained of the shelves.

Also experimenting with light, large glass panels separate the main floor from the back area, which includes a small lounge and the fitting rooms. The panels themselves serve as a display tool, concealing or revealing accessories.

“It’s a ceramic-printed gradient,” Frazen continued. “A portion of it is completely clear and transparent, and then the gradient is sort of translucent and frosted, so that the product starts to dissolve, soften. As you move it, you see things come into focus.”

The interior balances industrial severity with softness. A leather bench anchors the center of the store, surrounded by a carefully curated mix of vintage finds and newer pieces sourced from galleries. The details speak to Holstein’s attraction toward the dark and unusual. Accessories are staged unexpectedly: a belt styled as a choker on a mannequin, hands holding up a bag. Fitting rooms introduce a layer of surprise, with black carpet and rubber walls.

As in other stores, the material mix features concrete, plaster and steel, offering a neutral backdrop for the luxury and exotic goods, with pops of red, snakeskin and leopard. The floor is cement, and two solid concrete displays line the store. “They were poured here as one single piece,” said Frazen.

The L.A. store is “a little bit slicker, for a lack of a better word, which I also feel like suits L.A.,” added Frazen, who was born and raised in the city.

Outside, the facade is preserved.

“We wanted to keep the ivy, the greenery,” he said. “The ivy has been here for a long time, and is maintained very well.”

The front entry is framed by an elongated steel structure. “This kind of steel portal, this extended door frame, almost a hallway,” he said. “The intention was that it looked like it was just kind of inserted into the ivy facade.”

For Frazen, the stores “serve to test new ideas. And some of them we love and we carry on, or we develop further. Others, they remain specific to a location.”

Looking forward, Khaite’s growth strategy is deliberate, prioritizing long-term stability over rapid expansion, said Kleine.

“One of the things that we’re all aligned on is that in order to build a business for the long term, the growth has to be measured and very considered,” she said. “So, while we’re all very excited about growth, we’re also very careful about not seeking growth at all costs. For example, our rollout plan — we will be opportunistic in looking at opening stores, but our growth plan for retail stores right now is opening one store a year. As we establish ourselves and learn more about what works and what doesn’t work, we can amend that plan. But we want to make sure that every decision we make is about the long-term health of Khaite and its future.”

What’s next? Miami, it seems.

When the topic of Holstein’s recent trip to the vibrant Florida city came up, Kleine teased, “Miami seems like a great next city, doesn’t it? We’re feeling good about Miami.”