In recent weeks, Batsheva Hay has stopped women outside dance studios, on the subway and in supermarkets. He snuck into strangers' text messages.
you are pretty He told them in his warmest, most “this is not a scam” voice. Do you want to become a model?
Hay is a fashion designer in New York. Here's how she made it: casting for her New York Fashion Week show. that much fetish Street photography is nothing new. This is the fashion world's way of finding new faces, drawn from real life rather than modeling agencies.
What's unusual is that Hay only targeted women who appeared to be over 40 years old.
Why 40?
“I’m 42 years old.” Hey said. And he has mixed feelings about it. “Aging is a big concern for me and my friends. “It’s uncomfortable territory for her in fashion,” she said.
The discomfort surprised her when she turned 40. Everything that was suddenly trendy seemed “too young,” she said. She changed her relationship with her clothes, which was quite surprising for someone who does tailoring for a living. She realized that she was old enough to be the mother of many of the models she saw on the catwalk or in advertising campaigns. Hay said that in her own social circle, “everyone is talking about whether they should start doing something with their faces.”
It's not uncommon to see women over 40 on the catwalk. Last year, Vogue called their presence an “invasion” (in a good way). But typically there is only one person in a group of 30, 50, or 80 people, and perhaps no more than three. The older model is given the same iconic treatment as the plus-size model. Brands use them and appear more inclusive.
Model Birgitt Doss, 67, said: “I want to see more.” “I want to see them in their underwear.” At that moment, her underwear was revealed through her lace Bathsheva dress. She didn't care. “really good.” Doss said. “I feel much freer now. At 25, you're like, 'No!'
Dawes worked as a model in the 1980s, but said she was unable to find work when she turned 30. She Then In 2018, she attended the open casting for Eckhaus Latta. His career resumed. Since then, she has modeled for Lemaire, Rachel Comey, Collina Strada, and others.
On a Wednesday night in late January, Doss was trying on dresses for a show at Batsheva's studio in midtown Manhattan. Hay was doing fittings. Her job was to combine models and suits and adjust their sizes.
In the fashion show workflow, normally fairly routine tasks have become a kind of messy group sharing.
“I’ve had a lot of friends say, ‘I’m in a phase of being invisible now,’” said Racquel Chevremont, 52, an art consultant with experience as a model. Hay discovered Chevremont on Instagram while browsing the account of a woman he met on a train.
“There’s one thing I realized when I stopped a woman.” Hey said. “They said, ‘Me?’ Because there is a feeling of being invisible or unseen; huh that much Look, I was really surprised.”
The first dress Chevremont wore was made from a tablecloth that Hay found at a hardware store in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.
“I never thought of a plastic dress,” Chevremont said.
“It seems a bit futuristic to you.” Hay said.
This is Batsheva's aesthetics. Hay is urbane Laura Ashley (the two brands have collaborated). Best known for its demure yet slightly twisted peasant-style dresses. Hay said she was intrigued by the idea of her invisibility even before she turned 40. If she dresses neatly, she may feel unnoticed.
“There is this freedom,” he said. “No one is looking at you.”
Not all the women in Batsheva's cast have walked before. Vanessa Place is a friend of the Hay staff. She also had a lot of practice in front of crowds as a poet and criminal appellate lawyer.
“For me, it’s just like any other performance,” she said when asked about her runway debut. “More than anything, it’s about presence.”
“I don’t think there’s a wrong way to walk,” says Gwen DeVoe, 65, a human resources expert who specializes in acting and modeling for “platinum” models over 50. She tried on a leopard print faux fur cape. Hay recorded her own measurements and made them match her pants.
The place I was reading again Antigone While waiting for the fitting to start, she tried on a hooded dress.
“I’ve made a lot of hoods,” Hay said. He said he designed the collection with his anxiety about aging in mind, experimenting with 'sag' and 'sag'. She also created oversized ribbons that could be worn like turbans, inspired by the odd-looking older women she saw on the Upper West Side.
Hay said she plans to keep the models' faces relatively clean for the show. In the past she used more theatrical hairstyles and makeup.
“Here you go. I don’t want anyone to feel like they’re trying to look younger,” he said.
Jessica Testa I am a TIME reporter covering the world of style and fashion. See more works by Jessica Testa