After 14 years, Jenni Kayne is back at New York Fashion Week this season — with a more distinct brand lifestyle, a much larger business and more ambitious growth plans that include international markets.
Compared to 2011, the fashion industry is also different, said Jenni Kayne, founder and CEO of her 23-year-old, L.A.-based business. And that opened the door for her brand’s Fashion Week return.
“Fourteen years ago, you really had to play by the rules to acquire customers, get press and find wholesale accounts to buy the collection,” she said. “But Fashion Week became a lot of an investment, and I wasn’t sure it was the best way to build my brand. So I took a step back.”
The “California” world Kayne has since been building was shown off in all its glory on Friday evening, when her brand hosted press and influencers, among others, at its store in NYC’s SoHo neighborhood. The brand’s Spring 2026 apparel and accessories, put together by stylist Kate Young, were joined by Jenni Kayne home furnishings, accessories and rugs — the brand entered the home category in 2017.
The “reimagination” of the store’s interior, as described by brand president Kate Watters, will stay intact for several weeks, during which the brand will host several activations and allow customers to get a taste of the Fashion Week experience.
“When walking in, everyone will understand what the world of Jenni Kayne is about,” Kayne told Glossy three days before showtime. “The clothes are amazing, but the furniture is really the star.”
Watters added, “It’s exciting that we’re able to come into our own space and do it our own way. We are laying a foundation of timeless pieces, versus chasing into trends.”
While fleeing NYFW, Kayne also stepped away from wholesale partnerships, opting to instead invest in owned retail — the company had a single store at the time — while also getting to know the brand’s customer and refining its approach to rolling out new products. Without pressure from retailers and the Fashion Week calendar, there was no reason to introduce “so much newness” via four annual collections, which is costly and wasteful, Kayne said.
So, she transitioned to focusing on a core assortment of pieces that women can leverage as a uniform. That idea stuck, and the core apparel collection now drives the bulk of the Jenni Kayne business. “People want simple, easy, elegant and classic pieces in pretty, neutral colors that they can wear over and over again,” Kayne said — describing the look as “California,” but noting that it has global appeal. As the Jenni Kayne customer also craves newness and color, evolutions of the core pieces are regularly introduced.
The fashion show was strategically timed to coincide with the release of Kayne’s third book, “Pacific Natural Everywhere,” also showcasing the brand’s aspirational lifestyle. At the moment, “storytelling” is the brand’s marketing focus, Kayne said. It’s worth noting that Kayne has called Ralph Lauren an inspiration — specifically the way he has built a world around a distinctive look. “That’s definitely what I’m trying to achieve,” Kayne said.
The idea for hosting a New York Fashion Show again came following the 2024 launch of the Jenni Kayne Farmhouse, an experiential wellness retreat located the brand hosted in Upstate New York, in part to showcase its Oak Essentials skin-care line, launched in 2021. “We generally do stuff like that on the West Coast, but we got such a great response doing it on the East Coast,” Kayne said.
The goal for the fashion show, Kayne said, was for people to feel inspired to decorate their homes and their wardrobes.
According to Watters, the brand sees the highest value from customers who shop both the apparel and home categories, which currently includes a small percentage of customers. “Cross-category exposure is something we’re constantly looking at and trying to improve,” she said.
Though at a smaller scale than its fashion show, the brand’s stores have allowed it to showcase its lifestyle. “Our stores are the most successful and profitable [sales channel] and really work for our brand,” Watters said. “They allow us to learn what we can do better and what customers want more of,” based on IRL feedback.
Jenni Kayne went from 13 stores in 2021 to 31 today. In the same period, its revenue grew from $100 million to $140 million. Watters declined to discuss the brand’s outside funding, but it has been widely reported that it got off the ground with an investment from Kayne’s father, investor Richard Kayne. And Oak Essentials received funding from Silas Capital and Unilever Ventures last year.
Jenni Kayne is currently pausing store openings while “restabilizing and resetting after periods of rapid growth,” Kayne said.
That has also included pulling back on promotions. “We’re implementing best practices and encouraging full price behavior as we focus on protecting margin,” Watters said.
Kayne estimated that the brand’s average customer is in her 30s to early 60s. NYC is its biggest market after L.A., followed by Chicago.
As the brand barely has a presence outside of the U.S. — restricted to limited wholesale accounts in Canada and a pop-up currently running in London’s Selfridges department store — international markets spell big opportunity. The brand is focusing its efforts on the markets where it sees significant customer engagement.
Next year — starting in April with Canada, likely followed by the U.K. — the company will introduce a more seamless online shopping experience in select international markets. The launches will be accompanied by local activations tied to big cultural fashion moments, Kayne said.
And next week, in the states, the brand will launch a new e-commerce experience with refined navigation and more dynamic content, including video.
“We want to bring the immersive Jenni Kayne experience to digital as much as possible,” Watters said.
It’s a challenging time for most every brand, with tariffs increasing costs across the supply chain. And it could get rougher for furniture brands, with the Trump administration potentially introducing duties specific to the market.
“We’ve had to adjust our buys and rethink where we’re sourcing, in order to adapt,” Watters said. “Fortunately, we were already actively working to diversify our production prior to this year. We’re future-proofing ourselves and bringing a lot of our production back to domestic partners, across all categories. It’s a big undertaking.”
Before scaling its home business, Jenni Kayne produced many of its home products in North Carolina. A large percentage of its wood pieces are still made in L.A. “We know our customers appreciate ‘Made in the U.S.,’ especially in the furnishings category,” Watters said.
Overall, Jenni Kayne’s focus on timeless, classic pieces — including cashmere sweaters and pleated skirts in its apparel category — has made it resilient, Watters said. What’s more, the brand’s customers are loyal — more than 3,000 customers paying a $150 annual membership to receive discounts and brand perks.
The brand’s current challenge is acquiring new customers, Watters said. A buzzy fashion show no doubt helps.
