Batsheva Hay has the seven year itch. “I’ve been really opening myself up to other ways of dressing, and seeing how people react to the clothing,” she said at her showroom in between market appointments. “I think I’m going through a little ‘rejuve,’ looking back through other ways that I used to dress.”
The core Batsheva aesthetic is still here, but the designer is indulging her weirder impulses, often with winning results, as seen in dresses and separates made from a white and green oversized floral print. “There’s this whole thing now about how you need large-scale prints because people only shop online,” Hay said, a little bit conspiratorially. After all, she’s made her brand on hyperfemme teensy florals (that eventually begat a series of successful collaborations with Laura Ashley). The dress, of abbreviated length with long balloon-ish sleeves, and contrasting Peter Pan collar, was made more interesting by a series of black ribbons that cut across the bodice diagonally. A maxi skirt in the same fabric was constructed from diagonal panels cut on the bias that alternated the floral print with a contrasting fabric in ’90s VHS blue. “Some of it doesn’t make sense, [but] I just wanted to put these colors together,” she said matter-of-factly. “I don’t know if to other people it seems successful or not, but I like it.”
Elsewhere, Hay continued to strongly advocate for dressing in sets; little jackets-as-tops paired with bloomer shorts done in gray corduroy, red taffeta, or, most convincingly, with a mini skirt in peach lamé. Navy dresses with crystal embellishments also looked really special, especially the model with spaghetti straps with an empire waist detail—it would be at home at any number of semi-formal occasions, or, alternatively, layered over a white t-shirt. The designer’s knitwear, though currently just a small offering of a vest and a cardigan, seems brimming with promise. The chunky pieces in white or black with floral details and blanket stitch trim seemed like they could’ve been a treasured score at a thrift store. They looked great paired with her structured mesh zebra print pieces, and even better with black cotton dresses and blouses with a smocking detail at the chest in contrasting white thread. “I’d avoided smocking for so long,” she said, “but I guess women like it because it gives them room to move.”
