Batsheva Hay

Summary

American fashion designer Batsheva Hay established her label, Batsheva, in 2016. Her designs are modest yet whimsical with stiff collars, tiered skirts. Popular with the A-list set.. her designs were featured in Vogue “How to Wear Fall’s Least Sexy Trends from Clogs to Corduroys”. In 2018 Hay was a finalist for the CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund and was awarded $150,000. That year she was part of New York Fashion Week. Hay is also a Council of Fashion Designers of America member since 2019.

Vision

New York-base fashion label Batsheva’s vision is rooted in a desire to reinterpret traditional feminine styles through a modern, playful lens, blending nostalgia with contemporary sensibilities. Known for her high-neck, ruffled dresses that evoke Victorian and prairie influences, Hay’s approach to fashion is deeply personal, drawing inspiration from historical aesthetics while challenging conventional ideas about modern femininity. Her vision celebrates the juxtaposition of the past and present, creating garments that feel both familiar and fresh, reflecting a timeless elegance that resonates with today’s wearer. By playing with modest silhouettes, rich fabrics, and unexpected details, she redefines traditional femininity, offering women a way to express themselves through clothing that is both whimsical and empowering.

At the heart of Batsheva’s vision is the idea of reclaiming and transforming traditional women’s fashion into something relevant for the modern era. Her collections often reference domestic, religious, and historical dress codes, but they are imbued with a sense of humor and irreverence that makes them distinctly contemporary. Hay’s vision extends beyond mere aesthetics; it’s about offering women a sense of freedom and individuality in how they present themselves. By taking old-world designs and modernizing them with bold prints, exaggerated silhouettes, and unexpected combinations, she provides a platform for women to express both strength and playfulness in their personal style. Her pieces are meant to be worn as acts of self-expression, allowing the wearer to challenge societal norms around beauty and femininity.

Moreover, Batsheva Hay’s vision transcends the boundaries of traditional fashion by embracing the idea of timelessness and versatility in her designs. Rather than following seasonal trends, her garments are meant to have longevity and to be worn in diverse settings—from the casual to the formal, the everyday to the avant-garde. Hay’s work speaks to women who appreciate fashion as an art form and as a means of storytelling, where clothing becomes a way to explore identity and personal narrative. Through her vision, she encourages a dialogue between the past and the present, where fashion is not just about following trends but about wearing pieces that reflect history, individuality, and a sense of adventure.

Mission Statement

Batsheva Hay’s company mission is centered around the reinvention of traditional feminine fashion, offering womenswear that combines historical references with modern-day relevance. Her goal is to create garments that empower women by allowing them to embrace both modesty and individuality through distinctive, artful designs.

The mission of the luxury fashion brand is to provide women with apparel and accessories that defy fashion trends, focusing instead on timeless pieces that offer both creativity and durability. By drawing on styles from past eras—such as Victorian, prairie, and vintage influences—Hay seeks to make fashion that transcends time, giving women the ability to express their unique sense of self through garments that are rich in history yet forward-thinking in execution.

Another key element of Batsheva’s mission is to challenge societal norms around femininity and beauty. Through her designs, she aims to provide an alternative to the often oversexualized and minimalist trends in women’s fashion, offering a bold and unapologetic take on what it means to dress as a modern woman. Her mission includes celebrating individuality and creativity, encouraging women to explore fashion as a form of personal expression rather than conforming to conventional standards. By creating clothing that is playful, eccentric, and deeply personal, Batsheva Hay’s mission is to inspire women to take ownership of their style, promoting empowerment and confidence through fashion that honors both tradition and innovation.

History

Born and bred in a in a Jewish household in Queens, New York, Batsheva Hay has a B.A. from Stanford University, M.A. in psychology and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. In 2011 she met photographer Alexei Hay. A wedding and two children later, Batsheva Hay devoted herself to her new family life in line with Orthodox Jewish traditions.

Shortly, she decided to follow the dream, fashion design, and retired from her prolific legal career to debut her ready-to-wear label in 2016 with a line of prairie dresses featuring high collars, low hems and tight corsets. Interestingly, the collection took shape as a birthday present to herself. Hay wanted a wardrobe transformation from legal suits to apparel she could identify with so she hired a dress maker to craft dresses with a vintage aesthetic.

Per Jerusalem Post she explains: “I fell in love with finding fabrics for new versions, and then I wanted to make another dress, and my daughter wanted a matching one and then just really slowly, over a year, it grew into a business.”

Batsheva works from a studio on the Upper West Side which she shares with her husband and mother-in-law. Her design aesthetic is steeped in retooling modest dressing of her Jewish roots and making it relevant. Batsheva extracts the strong, beautiful aspects of tho styles while rejecting the antiquated notions of feminity. But whereas other designers might add modern elements to conservative designs.. Hay uses cotton.

Her looks have stiff collars and feminine prints including florals, strawberries and even Teddy bears. She plays with elements of restraint and repression like high collars, voluminous sleeves and skirts… and gives them a unique inflection. So, it is no wonder that the label has became a favourite among celebrities Celine Dion, Courtney Love and others. In 2018, Hay was finalist at CFDA—Vogue Fashion Fund and was awarded $150,000.

”Trying to understand the business side of things is hard. For me, it comes really natural to just follow my instincts and make stuff that I want, but realising that what I want to wear for myself isn’t what everyone else wants to wear gets really, is tricky,” Hay told CDFA. ”That’s where all the work comes in. Everything else doesn’t feel like work, but building a business does.”

Hay participated in New York Fashion Week in September 2018 and Vogue critiqued it as “Hay’s work, with its modesty, frill, and super-saccharine femininity, can be read as regressive. So how to classify or categorise these pieces, which are in fact beloved by New York’s most fiercely intellectual and politically minded women? It’s about the freedom to choose and the freedom to reclaim notions of girlishness and prettiness to represent strength. You have to ask yourself when wearing a Batsheva dress, ”Do I dare to wear a ruffle?”

In recent times Hay opened her flagship at 179 Grand Street. Alongside archival collections from past seasons and one-of-a-kind garments, there is homeware, art, oven mitts and aprons.. limited-edition sweatshirts and masks. Her collections continue to be loved by fashion editors and consumers alike.

Per Vogue, “The breadth of this season’s offering [Batsheva Resort 2022] 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.”

Key Team

Founder Batsheva Hay, who has a B.A. from Stanford University, M.A. in psychology and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, decided to follow the dream, fashion design, and retired from her legal career to debut her ready-to-wear label in 2016.

Products and Services

Batsheva Hay’s products are known for their distinct combination of historical inspiration and modernity, offering womenswear that challenges conventional fashion while celebrating individuality. Her most iconic pieces include high-necked, ruffled dresses with Victorian and prairie-style influences, often featuring bold prints, floral patterns, and rich textures like velvet and cotton.

These dresses, with their modest silhouettes and exaggerated details, are designed to be both nostalgic and avant-garde, giving women the option to embrace timeless elegance with a contemporary twist. In addition to her signature dresses, Batsheva’s collections also include skirts, blouses, and outerwear that share the same ethos of reimagining traditional styles for the modern woman. Each piece is crafted with attention to detail and made to last, reflecting Hay’s commitment to sustainability and slow fashion.

Awards and Recognition

Finalist at CFDA—Vogue Fashion Fund where she was awarded $150,000.

References

• Official Website Batsheva Hay
• The Woman Behind All the Prairie Dresses at New York Fashion Week The Cut
• Batsheva Hay pre-Fall 2024 Vogue
• Batsheva Hay: “Old people are way more punk” The Guardian
• LinkedIn profile of Batsheva Hay LinkedIn
• Batsheva Hay CDFA
• Batsheva Hay SS24 Vogue
• The Rise and Rise of Batsheva Hay Town and Country
• Facebook profile of Batsheva Hay Facebook
• How Ella Emhoff and Batsheva Hay Came Up With an Inauguration-Worthy Dress Vogue
• Batsheva Hay Resort 2024 Vogue
• Shopping for Hanukkah Vogue
• Instagram profile of Batsheva Hay Instagram
• Brand history Batsheva Hay
• Batsheva Hay Fall 2024 Vogue
• Jewish modest fashion designer Batsheva Hay grabs celebrity attention Jerusalem Post
• Wikipedia profile of Batsheva Hay Wikipedia
• The chosen ones Table
• Batsheva Hay Is Redefining Sexy—With Prairie Dresses Glamour