A Fresh Spin

Kim Haller, a 25-year knitwear veteran who has designed for Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, and Derek Lam (the latter is a current client), had wanted to start her own line for years. The waiting has paid off. “There are so many interesting things going on with yarn development now,” says the Brooklyn artisan, who debuted her namesake label this fall. “None of the pieces in my collection could have been done 10 or 15 years ago.” Take, for instance, her pointelle dresses and bodysuits. Knit from a high-tech nylon, they have an armored crispness she never could have gotten from run-of-the-mill cotton. Or her chunky, rounded-sleeve cardigans, which would weigh down the sturdiest of fashionistas were they not woven from a cotton yarn infused with light, squishy nylon. In her attempts to create new and unusual stitches, Haller, a traditionalist by nature, finds herself continually surprised. “The line is bolder and more provocative than I first imagined it,” she says. “It’s basically for the woman I want to be.”

Sittings editor: Nora Milch. Photography assistant: Jonathan Schultz.