Forget influencers, let a Montessori teacher be your new style inspo. Last evening, an eagle-eyed Reddit user who goes by r/80jazzfunkgreats posed a niche question in the Williamsburg neighborhood sub-Reddit: “Hi all, 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.”
Ms. Lam’s is a Mandarin-immersion Montessori school with five locations in New York: three in Williamsburg, one in Brooklyn Heights, and another in Park Slope. Indeed, its Instagram account features smiling, elegantly dressed teachers in what appear to be Miyake’s signature pleats. Less than 24 hours after r/80jazzfunkgreat’s post, the (Brooklyn) internet was abuzz discussing this style mystery. Yes, annual tuition at Ms. Lam’s is around $40K a year, but was the school really making enough to supply its teachers with a closet of Pleats Please?
In an Instagram Story this morning, Ms. Lam’s clarified that the uniforms are not Issey Miyake but a far more affordable Japanese brand with a similar look: Yamasaki Takashi. In a follow-up post on Instagram, it added, “In a Montessori classroom, the adult is part of the environment we prepare for children, just like the shelves and the materials. Our teachers kneel, carry, pour, and move with children all day. These clothes don’t wrinkle, don’t stain, and still look good years later. And for our youngest children, there’s one more reason: they always know who they can turn to for help.”
What a beautiful reason. Case closed. Now let’s see if we can add “Issey for All” as an action item in Mayor Mamdani’s next round of public-school initiatives.
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