Batsheva Hay Weathers Fashion Week With Epic Walks and Breakfast Ice Cream

“There’s no delivery system that works like a regular glass of milk,” says Batsheva Hay, an anchor in a sea of shifting alt-dairy preferences. Does that make her a proverbial “hot girl”? “Yes, 25 people sent that to me. It’s so funny. I really do love whole milk!” The designer speaks from a place of pragmatism (“I’m trying to keep my bones strong”) and understanding (“Total respect to everyone who doesn’t consume any animal product or can’t absorb the milk”). But when it comes to her own coffee—homemade pour-over or bodega cup—there is nothing therein made from pea or oat or pistachio. The New Yorker abides by tradition, except for when she doesn’t.

Hay founded her namesake label, Batsheva, in 2016, transitioning from a law career to one making puff-sleeved dresses for thinking women (and sometimes their kids). Margaret Qualley, Aidy Bryant, and Jordan Casteel are fans; those outside the fashion fold got the memo at this year’s inauguration, when Ella Emhoff wore a custom Batsheva number with clompy boots. However much the word prairie is associated with the label, you’re just as likely to recognize an homage to early Cindy Sherman film stills in the brand images (with the designer playing muse to her photographer husband, Alexei Hay); a recent look book features New York nightlife icon Susanne Bartsch in a scene of twisted domesticity. 

That duality is part of Batsheva’s appeal. There’s the self-awareness, the Instagram savvy, the unexpected subversions. (Witness the plasticine red dress that Jemima Kirke recently wore to the Sex Education premiere.) And then there’s the Batsheva of universal nostalgia and pious living. This three-day wellness diary, which charts the run-up to the spring 2022 Batsheva show, covers all that ground. The quirk comes in through her runway playlist: Ministry, a cover from The Fantasticks, Charles Bukowski’s poem “Style.” There’s religious observation too, as she swears off technology during Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat. How on earth does one manage that in the last gasp before a fashion show? “I mean, it’s selfish. Sometimes it’s good to be selfish with your time and with your mental energy,” Hay says, putting in a word for a well-planned auto-reply email, for delegating tasks to a competent team.

That means Hay waited a full day to read the reviews; instead she focused on soaking it all in. “The whole thing of a fashion show—it’s so extravagant to put so much time and money into something that lasts 10 minutes. It’s like you’re throwing a wedding for your dresses, you know?” Hay says. “There are people who are so stressed out the whole time. And then there’s the occasional bride who’s like, ‘I had the best time.’” 

Wednesday, September 8

8:45 a.m.: Wake up. It’s Rosh Hashanah, so I stayed up late eating too much cake, challah, rugelach. I usually love cooking—it’s a meditative kind of thing I get into. But this time I only went to other people’s meals. I was just along for the ride as far as the food went. Waking up after 8 a.m. feels late, but I’m not working all day. I’m just spending time walking with my family. I drink two iced coffees with whole milk—some sort of cold brew from a nice glass bottle. 

9:30 a.m.: I have two young kids (my daughter is 8 and my son is 6), and they play really well on their own. I often take a nice seat in a big comfy chair and sit in the corner of one of their rooms while they play together. The kids and I eat ice cream today for breakfast, which feels okay somehow. I convince myself that full-fat vanilla ice cream is kind of healthy, in its purity of ingredients.

11:30 a.m.: I take a four-hour walk alone—all the way downtown and all the way back up. This is exactly what I need after working so hard for the past few weeks. I have no phone, no wallet, no money on me. I weave through the streets on the way down and pop into a cocktail event at Spring Studios for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund. I realize I don’t even have my ID, so I’m standing out there in my PVC dress for quite some time before they can get somebody to let me in. I walk all the way up the river on the way back up. I observe these Jewish holidays strictly, and it makes me feel very sane to disconnect from the world. Also, it is fashion week, and I have a show in two days.

4 p.m.: I get home and drink a ton of water, have some snacks, and hang out with my family. We spend the next few hours kind of resting and waiting for the two-day holiday to be over at nightfall.

8 p.m.: I’m back in the world, and I frantically check my phone, emails, Instagram, everything. I make scrambled eggs, take a nice warm bath, and shower. I have very sensitive skin, so I don’t like bath products with fragrance or anything funky in it, but I sometimes use Epsom salts. Tomorrow is going to be the only day before my runway show, so I am just mentally preparing for all the last-minute pieces. I go to sleep a little before midnight. I used to have such insomnia when I was in my 20s, and since I’ve had kids, I need sleep in a very, very real way, always. 

Thursday, September 9

6:30 a.m.: I wake up ready to go. I make a pour-over coffee with my Zabar’s Vienna Blend grounds, add some whole milk (whole milk only, always), and get ready to go. I just got this Augustinus Bader Rich Cream and I slather it on—it is thick but really amazing. I’ve been told you’ve got to have just-wet skin when you put on your cream. My husband is taking the kids to school today, since I need to just bolt and get going. I walk to the office every day that I can, including today. It’s 2.7 miles to the garment district, and it gives me a chance to listen to The Daily or Crime Junkie or whatever other silly podcast I’m in the mood for. I am a big walker. I sometimes walk home too.

7:30 a.m.: I stop for another coffee around the office—this time, the bodega downstairs. I like getting in before everyone else does so I can take care of things at my own speed. 

9 a.m.: My team arrives, along with my stylist, Natasha Royt. We have last-minute fittings for the show tomorrow, as one of the models had to get cut because she hasn’t had her second dose of vaccine yet. One model arrives at 9:30 a.m., and she is perfect. We spend a lot of the day bagging things up to be transported tomorrow and getting all the extra shoes and odds and ends we need on hand for the show. It is very detail-oriented and kind of mentally taxing. 

11 a.m.: Francelle [Daly] and Brent [Lawler] arrive for the hair and makeup test, along with another model. The whole thing is coming together so beautifully. Brent has made big bouffant wigs, and Francelle has a makeup line, Love+Craft+Beauty, that is kind of fabulous goth makeup. She does an amazing cat eye. I ask her partner Andrew [D’Angelo] if he can do one on me, and he puts the best long cat-eye liner on me that I’ve ever had in my life. It made the rest of my day so much better. Instant boost.

2 p.m.: We order pizza and all talk through what we need to do for the rest of the day. Mostly labeling and printing out things and just organizing. The next few hours are very boring but important.

7 p.m.: We all drink champagne and have one of those rare giggling office moments where we realize we have a lot of funny inside jokes and know a lot of weird cool stuff about each other. We are all excited for tomorrow. 

Friday, September 10 

6:30 a.m.: I wake up a bit before the kids and head out again. Zabar’s pour-over before I leave. Same walk to work, same bodega coffee before I get to the office.

8:30 a.m.: Everyone arrives at the office and we start transporting stuff to the venue, Serendipity 3. It’s an old NYC ice cream place that I’ve gone to since I was a kid. I remember taking the bus in from Queens; the Q60 would drop off right on the block of Serendipity. It was just this perfect spot. Both my husband and I had birthday parties there. Everyone was like, “Oh, the second floor.” For us, it felt like that was the 40/40 Club.  

On the way there, I remember to put on these eye masks from 111Skin. They’re in the gift bag for the show, and they gave me a whole beautiful package with a bazillion. Wearing them in the car—I didn’t realize how freaky that was!

10 a.m.: Hair and makeup and stylist arrive. I go over the music for the show with the producers. I had one of my favorite musicians, Cecile McLorin Salvant, learn and record herself singing my favorite song from The Fantasticks. The words—”Try to remember that time in September”—seem really apt and interesting right now. We are all trying to remember how to do a real September like we used to. We are pulling from our nostalgia for all the fun fashion week stuff, but it’s so different now. The Covid protocol at the backstage and venue is pretty hardcore. Everyone’s in masks. I spend most of the morning nervously eating snacks and downing coffee and trying to drink water. I look for a breath mint for what seems like hours and finally one is located. 

11:30 a.m.: All of the models are here, so that is a big relief. The cast is amazing: Busy Philipps and her kid, three SNL ladies (Ego Nwodim, Heidi Gardner, Chloe Fineman), Rory Culkin, Lauren Servidio, Alok Menon, and some models. Veronica Webb, she’s done my shows before. She lives in my neighborhood.

2 p.m.: The show is about to start. I can see all the guests come in. The dressing area is the third-floor office of Serendipity, which has become a madhouse of final styling and last-minute touch-ups. When the music finally starts, everything feels so calm and magical. The hair and makeup are amazing. Everything looks great. All the models walk out, and I do my wave and just start chilling with everyone. It’s a big release.

4:30 p.m.: My team and I all go to the nearest outdoor dining place and start ordering martinis and margaritas; some salads and pizzas too. It’s really nice. Everyone worked so hard, and we feel really proud. I actually have to rush home by 6 p.m. because it’s almost Shabbat, and once the sun goes down, I turn my phone off again and just hang out with my family until the next night.

6:30 p.m.: Finally home, I take my makeup off, hop into the shower, and light my candles. The rest of my night is extremely relaxed and happy.

Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream

111Skin Celestial Black Diamond Eye Masks

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