Betsey Johnson
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| Betsey Johnson | |
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| File:Betsey Johnson, Red Dress Collection 2007.jpg
Johnson at the 2007 Red Dress Collection show for The Heart Truth campaign
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| Born | 10 August 1942 Wethersfield, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Occupation | Fashion designer |
| Spouse(s) | John Cale (1968–1969) |
| Children | 1 |
| Website | Official website |
Betsey Johnson (born August 10, 1942) is an American fashion designer best known for her feminine and whimsical designs. Many of her designs are considered "over the top" and embellished. She also is known for doing a cartwheel at the end of her fashion shows.[1]
Biography
Early life
Johnson is the second of three children born to Lena and John Johnson. She has an older sister, Sally, and a younger brother, Robert. Johnson took many dance classes, which inspired her love of costumes.[2]
Following her graduation from high school, Johnson studied at the Pratt Institute and then later graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Syracuse University[3] where she was a member of the Alpha Xi Delta women's sorority.[4] After graduation, she spent a summer as an intern at Mademoiselle magazine.[1]
Career
Johnson's fashion career started after she entered and won the Mademoiselle Guest Editor Contest. Within a year, she was the in-house designer for Manhattan boutique Paraphernalia. Johnson became part of both the youthquake fashion movement and Andy Warhol's underground scene, along with The Velvet Underground, Edie Sedgwick and Lou Reed. In 1969, she opened a boutique called Betsey Bunky Nini on New York's Upper East Side. Edie Sedgwick was her house model and Johnson designed the clothing Sedgwick wore on her last film, Ciao! Manhattan.[citation needed]
In the 1970s, Johnson took control of the fashion label "Alley Cat" which was popular with the rock 'n roll musicians of the day. In her first year, her debut collection for Alley Cat reportedly sold $5 million in volume.[5] In 1972 she won the Coty Award.
In 1978, Johnson started her own fashion line.[6] In contrast, her second collection did not sell well, leaving her with 3,000 pieces of spring clothing and insufficient funds to stage a 1981 fashion show to sell them and Johnson opened a retail store in the SoHo area of New York City.[3] She designed the dress that Lisa Loeb wore in the music video for her 1994 hit Stay (I Missed You).
In 2002, Johnson was inducted into the Fashion Walk of Fame. Her bronze plaque held one of her original sketches. In 2003, she expanded her line for 2004 to include handbags, accessories, hats, and scarves.[7]
In 2008, Johnson was a contributor to Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna's book Cherry Bomb.[8][9]
The National Arts Club awarded Johnson the 2009 Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement in Fashion.[10] She once described her style as a formula: "Take a leotard and add a skirt."[1] As of 2011, she has more than 65 stores worldwide.[citation needed]
On April 26, 2012, Betsey Johnson, LLC filed voluntarily for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[11]
On September 12, 2012, she celebrated 40 years of her brand with a retrospective fashion show with Cyndi Lauper performing.[12]
As of May 2013, Johnson and her daughter Lulu Johnson have a reality TV show that airs on the Style Network.[13]
On September 4, 2014, it was announced that Johnson would be one of the celebrities competing on the 19th season of Dancing with the Stars.[14] The couple was eliminated on Week 4, finishing in 10th place.[15]
Cancer
Johnson is a long-term breast cancer survivor.[16]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "Betsey Johnson Still Loves Cheerleaders and the Prom". New York Magazine, February 14, 2012.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
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External links
- Betsey Johnson
- Betsey Johnson at the Internet Movie Database
- Betsey Johnson at the Fashion Model Directory
- Betsey Johnson: America's 25 most Fascinating Entrepreneurs
- Betsey Johnson: New York Fashion Designer
- Women Making History: Betsey Johnson
- Articles with dead external links from October 2010
- Pages with broken file links
- Articles with hCards
- Articles with unsourced statements from September 2011
- Articles with unsourced statements from January 2012
- 1942 births
- Living people
- American fashion designers
- People from Wethersfield, Connecticut
- Syracuse University alumni
- American designers
- Breast cancer survivors
