The story of designer Betsey Johnson
Since the 1960s, New York designer Betsey Johnson has shaken up the fashion industry with her creativity and originality. Born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, Betsey spent her childhood in dance classes which influenced her designs and are still evident in her work. After high school, Johnson chose to attend the Pratt Institute and later graduated from Syracuse University as a member of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority.
Her fashion career officially began in 1964 when she won Miss “Guest Editors Contest” of the magazine. Just a year later, she was working as a senior designer for Paraphernalia, a boutique that housed the best designers in London. Her embellishment and uniqueness quickly caught her attention as she created form-fitting fabrics, hippie-inspired pieces, and sexy silhouettes. She also joined the “Youth Quake” fashion movement, joining Andy Warhol’s underground scene and meeting John Cale, hers now ex-husband, in The Velvet Underground.
In 1969, Betsey decided to go into retail and opened a boutique called Betsey Bunki Nini. Alvin Duskin immediately fell in love with her store and offered her a job, which she accepted, traveling to and from New York when she needed him. In the early 1970s, she gained control of a clothing brand, “Alley Cat”, and through it she began to set a stylistic wave for rock n’ roll with bohemian and ethnic styles. As her name began to grow in the fashion industry, her fellow designers soon began to take notice of her work, awarding her the coveted Coty Award as the youngest designer to receive it.
Betsey formed a partnership with Chantal Bacon in 1978 and started the Betsey Johnson label. Designing for herself gave her the ability to fully express her ideas, allowing her to finally unleash her incomparable style and artistic talent. They launched her first store in SoHo, and her success made her store one of the first located on Melrose Avenue. Now, it is found in more than fifty stores around the world, from London to Japan.
Recently inducted into the Fashion Walk of Fame and the recipient of two lifetime achievement awards, one from the Signature Awards and the other from the Accessories Council, Betsey is known for doing somersaults at the end of her shows to get the audience going. She has designed outfits for celebrities like Courtney Love, Cyndi Lauper, Minnie Driver, and Lil’ Kim. Unbeatable, Betsey is a breast cancer survivor and owner of a hotel in Mexico called Betseyville, proudly proclaiming her outlandish demeanor and upbeat attitude.