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No gym? She fixed it

When we locked down last March many Orthodox women found their usual exercise routine wasn't possible, as they didn't have suitable clothes for running outside. Batsheva Netzer set out to design a solution.

January 14, 2021 13:59
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4 min read

For most women, figuring out what to wear for a run in the park is not a problem thanks to the explosion of fashionable active wear brands. But it’s a dilemma for many Orthodox women, who won’t wear tight-fitting tops and lycra leggings.

When the gyms closed during the first lockdown, Batsheva Netzer, a nutritionist who is Orthodox, panicked. Going to the gym daily had become her lifeline since her father passed away five years ago. And then in March her father’s younger brother died suddenly, throwing her life into further turmoil, when she needed exercise more than ever. How would she cope, without being able to exercise outdoors? So she decided to develop her own brand of modest sportswear, including a “weightless” sports skirt to be worn over leggings.

“It was always in my head to do this, as I thought ‘why isn’t there anything out there?’ but I never really did anything about it till lockdown,” she says. “I got used to a level of active wear from Nike and Lululemon [for the gym] so I knew exactly what I was looking for.”