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Feb 17, 2009
With Irina Pantaeva, Liam McMullan and Michael Musto.
Johnson snagged a spot on the fashion map in the sixties and seventies for helming culty brands and heading up chic boutiques. She started her eponymous line in 1978 with ex-model Chantal Bacon. The two opened a boutique in Soho and sold Johnson’s dancewear-inspired creations, tapping into a punk-cum-Warholian aesthetic. Decades later, she's still producing frilly retro dresses and kooky-sexy separates. While countless brands describe themselves as “flirty” or “sassy,” Betsey exemplifies both. The CFDA award-winner has licensed her name to watches, lingerie, and a Samsung cell phone, all of which can be found in more than 50 colorful, joie de vivre–filled boutiques.
“I do only two cartwheels a year,” she said. That would be at the finale of her spring and fall runway shows, where they are as much of a signature as the colorful jersey prints and sweaters, the laced-up corsets and frilly petticoats she finds new ways of showing every season.”—Anne-Marie Schiro New York Times
“Spiced with sweet sexuality and a strong dose of insanity.”—Michael Gross New York Times
“Tulle tutus, poufy petticoats, leopard spots and hearts—Johnson has come to own that genre of sweet tart, particularly at prom time.”—Jessica Iredale Women's Wear Daily
“The Sixties were the big new time and the last new time for fashion. I was one of those very lucky few to be among that very Uptown/Downtown scene of collaboration between artists, musicians, models, photographers.”—Betsey Johnson Women's Wear Daily
Betsey Johnson