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Betsey Johnson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Betsey Johnson (born August 10, 1942 in Wethersfield, Connecticut) is a fashion designer best known for her feminine and whimsical designs. She also is known for doing a cartwheel at the end of her fashion shows. She took many dance classes as a child and adolescent which inspired her love of costumes. After high school, Johnson studied at the Pratt Institute and then later graduated from Syracuse University where she was a member of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority.
In 1967 she married Velvet Underground's John Cale. They divorced later in the year. She had a daughter, Lulu, in 1975 who now works with her.
She is a survivor of breast cancer and is a breast cancer awareness advocate.
She resides in New York but once a week each month she spends time in her house in Mexico, which she has dubbed "Villa Betsey". Betsey also converted an old, small hotel in Mexico into a house which she rents out to interested people; this is called "Betseyville", and can accommodate 8–10 people.
Johnson's fashion career started when she entered and won the Mademoiselle Guest Editor Contest. Within a year she was the in-house designer for the 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 up her very own boutique called Betsey Bunki Nini in 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.
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 1972 she won the Coty Award. In 1978, Johnson started her own fashion line and then opened up her first retail store in Soho. Today, there are over forty-five of her stores worldwide.
In 2002, Johnson was inducted into the Fashion Walk of Fame. Then, in 2003, she expanded her line for 2004 to include handbags, accessories, hats, and scarves.
Johnson has designed for many celebrities including but not limited to: Courtney Love, Sarah McLachlan, Minnie Driver, Paris Hilton, Salma Hayek, Heather Graham, and Helena Bonham Carter.