Betsy johnson biography fashion designer

She also continued to reimagine her brand and, in , Johnson expanded her label into a lifestyle brand, bringing her signature prints and flair to products such as handbags, footwear, swimwear and jewelry. Once a young newcomer pioneering new trends in the s, Johnson is now a firmly established veteran in the fashion industry. Asked what continues to motivate such an accomplished designer after four decades in the industry, Johnson replied, "I like the everyday process and the people, the pressure, the surprise of seeing the work come alive walking and dancing around on strangers.

Like red lipstick on the mouth, my products wake up and brighten and bring the wearer to life, drawing attention to her beauty and specialness, her moods and movements, her dreams and fantasies. Betsey Johnson has been married three times, first to Velvet Underground musician John Cale, from to She then married Jeffrey Oliviere in and, following a second divorce, she married Brian Reynolds in Johnson and Reynolds have since separated.

Johnson has one daughter, Lulu, born in We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Melania Trump. Kanye West. Karl Lagerfeld. Kal Ruttenstein, Bloomingdale's fashion director, recognizes Johnson's enduring style: "Betsey reinvents herself," Ruttenstein says. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

January 8, Retrieved January 08, from Encyclopedia. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia. Betsey Johnson born ca.

Betsy johnson biography fashion designer

Fashion designer Betsey Johnson, with her red hair and perpetual ear-to-ear grin, was a colorful burst of energy in the fashion world. She first exploded onto the style scene in the swinging s, a turbulent time when fashion designers were considered stuffy, pretentious, and totally out-of-touch with the growing wave of street-inspired chic and the unmistakable influence of British rock and roll on American youth culture.

During this decade, Johnson helped launch the American fashion revolution with her space age silvery sci-fi dresses, see-through plastic shifts with discreet stick-on cover-ups, a "noise dress" with metal grommets at the hem that went clink-clank when the wearer moved, elephant bell-bottoms, and inch metal micro-miniskirts. In those years her designs were worn by style setters such as actresses Julie Christie and Brigitte Bardot, model Twiggy, and first lady Jackie Kennedy.

Over the ensuing decades Johnson continued to be an energetic leader in fashion design. As Susie Billingsley of Vogue magazine wrote: "She got on the street fashion wagon before anyone. She's always been way ahead of what's hip. Born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, Johnson graduated from Syracuse University magna cum laude in She landed a coveted position as a guest editor at Mademoiselle, a young women's fashion and lifestyle magazine.

The short-term guest editorship led her to a permanent position in the magazine's art department. Soon she was sent by the magazine to London in the heyday of the Beatles, bell-bottoms, and belly-baring knit tops. There Carnaby Street was the eye of the style storm. Johnson was so inspired that when she returned to New York she began designing wacky wear for New York 's clothing boutique, Paraphernalia.

She pioneered the now commonplace use of avant garde fabrics: car interior lining and shower curtain dresses. She imported a wool pinstripe material used for the original New York Yankee's baseball uniform for her "gangster suits. She married Velvet Underground bassist John Cale but they divorced in For three years she was involved with a sculptor, a relationship that produced her daughter, Lulu, later her top runway and print model.

In the s she married again. They feature unique hairstyles, openly exposed parts of the models' bodies, abundance of lurex, corsets, fishnet stockings, brightly colored shiny pointed-toe shoes, and many other distinctive elements that constitute Betsey Johnson's fashion. Contact About Privacy. Oleg Cassini. Adam Kimmel. Phillip Lim. In , Johnson was inducted into the Fashion Walk of Fame.

Her bronze plaque held one of her original sketches. In , she expanded her line for to include handbags , accessories , hats , and scarves. She ended up falling to the ground and losing one of her shoes, and she had to get off and shoulder her skateboard all the way back up the catwalk. On September 12, , she celebrated 40 years of her brand with a retrospective fashion show with Cyndi Lauper performing.

On September 4, , it was announced that Johnson would be one of the celebrities competing on the 19th season of Dancing with the Stars. Johnson is a long-term breast cancer survivor. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikidata item.

American fashion designer. For the American politician from Oregon, see Betsy Johnson. This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. October