Betsey Johnson

American fashion designer · United States · On the map · Designers · Born 1942 · age 84

Betsey Johnson built a fashion empire on the idea that clothes should be fun - not understated, not minimal, just gleefully, unapologetically loud. The cartwheel-into-splits she throws at the end of every runway show is the aesthetic in motion.

Betsey Johnson is read about 245 times a day, in 20 languages.

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A life in dates

2020“Every time I went down the aisle, I was totally, 100 percent in love. I loved being in love. And the downside was, I really was attracted to men very opposite from myself.”In their wordsOn her three marriages in “Betsey Johnson Talks Fashion, Love And Motherhood In Self-Titled Memoir” in NPR (2020 Apr 19)Read the whole statement

“...On one side, there was super, super conservative, regular girl-next-door.”In their wordsOn the duality of her upbringing in “Betsey Johnson Talks Fashion, Love And Motherhood In Self-Titled Memoir” in NPR (2020 Apr 19)Read the whole statement

2015CFDA Lifetime Achievement AwardAward1942Born10 August 1942

People around Betsey

Family

Betsey Johnson

Partners

Former spouse John Cale

Child Lulu Johnson

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Also in Deutsch Français

Media & music

Photos 3

A yellow Betsey Johnson dress, 2006

Betsey Johnson jewelry, 2011

In their own words 2

Betsey Johnson

2 statements, newest first

I have my on and I have my off switch. I'm as exuberant and whatever else you want to call me; I'm very private. I usually go out to dinner here by myself, five o'clock.
On how she differs from her public persona in “Betsey Johnson also has a low-key, private side: ‘I'm too much for myself to live up to’” in, Own words
It took me quite a while to learn how to do the corporate dance. I was just too defensive. I just got involved with too much and I don't have to do that.
On approaching the business side of fashion in “Betsey Johnson also has a low-key, private side: ‘I'm too much for myself to live up to’”, Own words

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Awards

CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award2015

About this person

Born August 10, 1942, Johnson came up in an era when American fashion was learning to stop apologizing for not being Paris. She made her name with designs that were colorful, cute, whimsical, and loaded with embellishment - the kind of pieces that get called "over the top" by people who think that's an insult. The work never mellowed. In 2015 the CFDA gave her the Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award, a nod to decades of making exuberance a legitimate design language. She's also an artist, though the line between the two practices was never especially firm.

Country

United States