The scene was happening at Ben’s Kosher Deli on West 38th street. Busy Philipps, Chloe Fineman, and Coco Rocha hung out in booths while servers walked around offering coffee and orange juice. Of course this place could only be the setting for Batsheva’s spring collection.
This season Batsheva Hay wanted to challenge herself. “I started thinking about Gunne Sax, because I’ve so Laura Ashley’d myself out that I was like, ‘Let’s go into this more ’70s kind of vibe,’” the designer said after the show. “I was appalled by how I continually make such frumpy garments, and I thought, the only thing I can do is try to do something sexy, show more skin and make it sexy… or whatever.” The sexiness was there in the fabrics, like the white mesh with black flocked velvet stars that was used on a short princess sleeve cropped top with Batsheva’s signature ruffle on the chest, worn with a matching mid-rise maxi skirt (complete with red lace underwear visible underneath). It was also there in the Working Girl-esque ensemble of a slim button down shirt tucked into a pencil skirt with a peplum, all done on a red polka dot on white fabric and accessorized with a floral print tie and red polka dot mesh gloves.
Hay’s challenge to show more skin resulted in bikini tops, lots of PVC, and a wide variety of shorts including bloomers—in an all-over bow fabric with a corset-inspired cotton shirt with a sailor collar, and modeled by Kembra Pfahler—which seemed to epitomize the vibe of this collection. There was also as a flared short, and a Bermuda that Hay described as “a sort of ’80s Escada-esque thing.”
The cast included Jordan Roth, Hari Nef, Charlotte Kemp Muhl, SamRon in a shiny red PVC dress, and Jemima Kirke and Alex Cameron, who opened the show in sort of matching white PVC wedding looks. “This felt like a really big show,” Hay said, “Post-COVID, I’ve never done anything that felt as grown-up, so I kind of looked back to where I started, and largely I am still using the same shapes, but they look completely different because I’ve changed proportions, I’ve changed fabrics.” She added, “I wanted to make it like it was me, but also kind of unrecognizable.”
A 1980s pastel upholstery fabric left over from Hay’s home re-decorating was used in an oversized blazer worn over sparkly mesh trousers and a matching bikini top. Elsewhere there were a few gowns that may not have fit into her demand for more skin, but were attractive in the confidence of their shape: a spaghetti strap dress made from a pink with black polka dots taffetta fabric was cinched at the waist like a cummerbund, and overflowing at the bust with ruffles. Another came in a purple iridescent fabric with a slight sweetheart neckline and a big bow at the waist, and a high-low overlay over a column skirt. It was Dynasty, it was over-the-top, and it was unmistakably Batsheva.
