Betty Jackson
Betty Jackson, CBE (born 24 June 1949) is an English fashion designer based in London, England. She was born in Lancashire. In 2007, her achievement within British fashion was recognised with first a MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours 1987 and later with a CBE for "services to the fashion industry".[1] She is also known for designing many of the outrageous costumes worn by Edina and Patsy on the 1990s hit television comedy Absolutely Fabulous.[2]
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Early life
Betty Jackson was born in Bacup, Lancashire on 24 June 1949. Her father, Arthur, owned a shoe factory and her mother, Phyllis shopped 'for the season' at Kendal Milne in Manchester. Her leg was amputated at the age of six as it failed to grow following a dislocation during her birth. A car accident caused further complications and she has walked with a stick ever since.[3]
She was educated at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School. She studied fashion at the Birmingham College of Art under Zandra Rhodes, and started her fashion career as a fashion illustrator during her senior year (1971) at college. She learnt her trade in the later 1970s as a designer for the Quorum line of Ossie Clark.[4]
Career
In 1973, Jackson joined Wendy Dagworthy as her design assistant. She moved to further positions at Quorum, then Coopers, before setting up her own design company.[4]
She introduced Betty Jackson for Men collection, 1986, and opened her flagship shop in the Brompton Road, London, 1991. In 2000, she launched the Autograph collection for Marks & Spencer and now works on the Betty Jackson Black label for Debenhams.[4]
As a member of an advisory panel to the British Fashion Council's Model Health Inquiry, Jackson has been involved in the 'size zero' debate. After the death in 2006 of two models suffering from eating disorders, media attention was drawn to the health and size of the girls. Jackson agreed to join the panel.[5]
In 2008, Jackson worked as design consultant alongside a panel of judges, designing new gowns for High Court and Court of Appeal judges.[6]
Philanthropy
She has volunteered for Dress for Success, a non-profit organisation which gives free clothes and advice about job interviews to women who are unemployed.[7]
Politics
In August 2014, Jackson was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.[8]
Personal life
In 1981, she met her French, Israeli-born husband, David Cohen, and they set up their company, Betty Jackson Ltd. They have worked together ever since. They have two children. Her daughter, Pascale, works for a jewellery designer in New York and her son, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, is an actor.[9]
Awards
- Woman Magazine Separates Designer of the Year award, London, 1981, 1983;
- Cotton Institute Cotton Designer of the Year award, 1983;
- Bath Museum of Costume Dress of the Year award, 1984;
- British Designer of the Year award, 1985;
- Harvey Nichols award, 1985;
- International Linen Council Fil d'Or award, 1985, 1989; Viyella award, 1987;
- MBE, 1987;
- Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Art, London, 1989
- Fellow, Birmingham Polytechnic, 1989;
- Honorary Fellow, University of Central Lancashire, 1992
- Designer of the Year, 1999[10]
- CBE, 2007
- Honorary Doctor, University of Huddersfield, 2011[11]
References
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- ↑ Emma Barnett, Dress for Success: the charity quietly getting British women back into work, The Daily Telegraph, 18 October 2012
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External links
- EngvarB from January 2014
- Use dmy dates from January 2014
- 1949 births
- Alumni of Birmingham Institute of Art and Design
- Living people
- British fashion designers
- People from Bacup
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- People educated at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School
- English amputees
