For official purposes, the Batsheva Spring 2025 show took place at her store on Elizabeth Street. But in real life, Batsheva Hay and her cohort of models and co-conspirators took over Elizabeth Street entirely. They waited for a red light, blocked the crosswalk, and then out came a violinist, performing Shania Twain’s “You’re Still the One,” along with her group of 16 models, all carrying little paddle boards with numbers on them like they used to do in the early days of fashion shows. They did this a number of times in a span of two hours.
It turns out the city denied Hay a block party permit, but she’s always been a bit of a punk at heart. Hay opened her store in March of this year, and it’s obvious that it’s become a major creative driver for her. Her friend, the artist Tim Snell, painted the floors of the store in an abstract animal-esque print in shades of tan and brown and blue that Hay said she wanted to turn into a fabric. She made good on that promise, opening the show with an easy knee-length belted dress with puffy sleeves, and a sports bra and flared yoga pant set—made from spandex for actually working out—both in that very same print.
As for the rest, she was feeling a very “back to school vibe,” with lots of plaid flannel, denim separates, and kilts that joined the stable of core Batsheva dresses. A highlight of the collection was a trench coat with a kind of ruffle running down from the shoulders that Hay described as “very Madame Bovary-esque and work appropriate,” made in both denim and a dark mossy green twill. If passerby saw something they really liked, they could make note of the number then walk into the store and buy it. There are sure to be a lot of Batsheva shopping bags floating around the city today.
“Usually for a show I am trying to find a place to build a world,” Hay explained outside her store among a throng of well-wishers. “Now I have a world, and I’m very close to this world, I spend a lot of hours in this world,” she said, referring to the store. “I didn’t need to create a world elsewhere. This show is about the people who support me in every way.” She combed through her Instagram to look at the people who had tagged her on their ’fit pics and messaged them to see if they’d like to be in the show—a few of them even flew in from out of state.
As the last model finished her walk, a man in his 40s or 50s riding a motorcycle pulled up. I overheard him say, “I’ve lived in New York all my life,” and was unsure about where he’d be going with it. But he continued, “and as a born and bred New Yorker, this is exactly the kind of shit I live for. You’re just going about your day and then boom, you stumble onto something special like a fashion show. It’s so beautiful. Congratulations.” Then just as quickly, he sped away.
