“It’s an interesting moment,” Batsheva Hay said during an appointment at her midtown studio. “I’ve gone completely black.” It’s true that almost every piece in her resort collection is black, white, or gray (and sometimes also silver, bringing major drama to a slim column dress and a very ’50s dress with a blouson bodice and flowing skirt with pockets. She added, “I get uncomfortable when there are too many things in the collection that aren’t pieces that I love. So I’ve really tried to make it what I want to wear now.” Proving her point, she was wearing a version of the ’50s dress, done in black and white cotton.
In recent seasons Hay has been experimenting with various directions she can take her brand—and her customers—without completely abandoning what has made her successful in the first place. For resort that meant new silhouettes and barely any printed cotton. “It’s really all about different fabrics,” she said. Highlights included a black velvet long sleeve dress with a white lace-up detail running from bust to shoulder; a streamlined maxi dress with flared sleeves and a slight mockneck in shiny black sequins, and a long ruched body-con velvet dress in a dark wine color (one of three colorful pieces in the collection) with a high neck and a slightly padded shoulder.
Hay may be queen of the dress, but she loves a matching set, and she had some great options, including a black high waist a-line skirt and button-down with a “funny firework embroidery” in sequins; a four-button jacket with dramatic ruffled sleeves and a matching maxi skirt in an abstracted floral silk jacquard; and a black taffeta button-down and matching cropped bootcut trousers decorated with all-over rhinestones. Though it skews more serious than her usual offerings, resort still bears her off-beat charm. “This one is very Wednesday Addams,” she said at one point, describing a black dress with lace ruffles on the skirt, though Wednesday would likely find more than just one piece she loved in this collection.
