“What does ‘probably back to normal’ look like?” wondered Batsheva Hay over a video call. She was vexed about how style might change over the coming months as reemergence begins in parts of the world. Rather than offer a prescriptive solution, Hay equated the anxious jitters of being on the precipice of a major fashion change to the idea of back-to-school style.
On a basic level, school clothes make sense as an inspiration for Hay—and not just for their sweetness. She started her brand as a young mother, aiming to make funny dresses that work for working moms. Now her daughter, Ruth, is well into elementary school with a uniform of a pinafore, shirt, and cardigan. Hay has sized up each of these to an adult scale and rendered them in shades of neon yellow, brown, and cherry red, adding rosettes to the boxy sweaters.
In a deeper sense, back-to-school style was always about taking a uniform and making it one’s own. Rather than hypothesize about how wearers might make a Batsheva ruffle dress or bow-trimmed trouser work in their life, Hay put her garments to the test. With her photographer husband, Alexei Hay, she set up a booth in Washington Square Park and recruited people in the area to change into her resort 2022 pieces and model for her look book.
One went full Dovima in a strapless ’50s-style golden gown and kitten heels. Another just tossed an ivory dress coat over their regular clothes, coffee cup in hand. There are teen goths, lovers, sisters, NYU graduates, and passersby smiling throughout the look book, a total celebration of New York back in action.
The breadth of this season’s offering is as diverse as the people in the clothes: A skateboarder wears a roomy midi-housedress in a hologram print. Best friends sport a shapeless glittery dress inspired by a traditional Hasidic style and burnout velvet pants. A roller skater chose practical black-and-white ruffles while a pair of sisters model crochet tops and skirts. This is probably as close as we’ll get to “probably back to normal” this summer—and it looks great.
