Teachers at $40K-a-year Brooklyn Montessori school go viral for chic designer duds but its not what it looks like
They’re dressed to impress.Teachers at a $40,000-a-year Montessori school for toddlers in Brooklyn went viral for wearing what appeared to be pricey designer duds better fit for the runway than the classroom.Ms.
Lam Montessori School in Williamsburg was thrust into the spotlight this week when an eagle-eyed local noticed the dapperly dressed educators, suggesting they could be sporting frocks from high fashion designer Issey Miyake, which can range in the thousands of dollars.“Does anyone know what the deal is Ms Lam Montessori on Berry + N8th and why all their employees wear Issey Miyake (a very expensive and distinct Japanese designer) every day? … Is it a uniform? I’m confused and a bit jealous,” the neighbor wrote on Reddit.The observation drew hundreds of eyes to the school’s online social media accounts — which are flooded with images and videos of the teachers wearing clothing from what seems to be the brand’s iconic Pleats Please collection.A pleated dress from that collection — similar to one Head of School Stephanie Woo is seen wearing in an Instagram video — retails for $730.Some commenters theorized the images were AI, but others were unsurprised, saying it’s par for the course when annual tuition for an elementary student at the school costs $43,500.“It’s the williamsburg gentrifier parents dream school,” one person wrote.But Ms.Lam Montessori, which has five locations across Brooklyn, set the record straight — emphasizing it wasn’t using the $40,000 annual tuition to fill their teachers’ colorful closets.The educators were actually wearing Yamasaki Takashi, a Taiwanese brand with strikingly similar shapes and silhouettes to the Japanese fashion house, Ms.
Lam’s said in a statement.A dress that Woo, the head of school, was seen wearing goes for $5,200 New Taiwan dollars — or $162 in the US.She splurged another $4,700 — or $147 US — for the matching coat.“In a Montessori classroom, the adult is part of the e...