A $30 pair of jeans sold at Walmart has drawn attention online this week after shoppers noticed its close resemblance to a $620 pair made by the designer label Khaite, favored by celebrities including Kendall Jenner and Rihanna.
Khaite is a 10-year-old brand founded by designer Catherine Holstein, who previously worked at Gap and Vera Wang. According to Bergdorf Goodman, Khaite’s largest sizes barely extend to a size 12.
The Walmart version comes from designer Brandon Maxwell, who took over Walmart’s Scoop and Free Assembly lines in 2021. Maxwell, who has designed for Jennifer Lawrence and Meghan Markle and has served as a judge on Project Runway, is described as a fashion industry friend of Holstein’s. His jeans reproduce several details associated with the Khaite style, including its signature black enamel buttons.
The key difference is sizing. Walmart’s jeans are available online up to a women’s size 28, more than double the largest size offered by Khaite, and they cost roughly 5% of the original’s price.
Maxwell has spoken publicly about prioritizing size inclusivity in his work. He told Bustle he has been making plus-size clothing “from day one,” adding: “Our job is to make women feel good. If you have a problem doing that, with any type of woman, then you should not be doing this job.”
Sources inside the brand told the New York Post that Walmart has struggled to keep the jeans in stock online since they drew attention.
Plus-size model and influencer Stella Kittrell said she bought the jeans in every available shade. “All my plus-sized luxury girlies are going to be so excited,” she said. “Walmart, you outdid yourselves.”
Casey Morrow Lewis, a luxury fashion consultant who runs the Substack newsletter After School and tracks Gen Z spending habits, said on TikTok that shoppers have found the washes of the two jeans “almost completely identical.” She called the situation “a win” for consumers.
Some fashion industry figures questioned the closeness of the resemblance given the reported friendship between the two designers. A publicist who has worked with both Maxwell and Holstein told the Post: “Fashion is such a small world. They know each other. They’re friendly. They’ve been up for the same industry awards and go to the same dinners and parties. And now he goes and dupes her? It feels petty.”
A stylist who works with the Khaite brand and asked to remain anonymous pointed specifically to the black enamel buttons as a signature detail. “It’s almost like Brandon is saying, ‘Hey Cate, this is so easy, even Walmart can do it,'” she said, adding, “He’s kind of trolling her.”
Lewis offered a different take, arguing the comparison could benefit both brands. “Khaite is very well known among fashion people but it is hardly a household name,” she said. “Plenty of people are hearing about Khaite for the first time through the dupe… Walmart [is] helping establish Khaite as a brand to aspire to.”
Walmart separately sells Khaite handbags at a discount, including a studded Elena bag currently listed $800 off its original price.
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