Betsey Johnson (Q3882)
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Betsey Johnson is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Betsey Johnson |
Betsey Johnson is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
1978
clothing designer
TheBetsey Johnsonshow is always an over-the-top extravaganza, an unhinged get-together, and a wild culmination of many inspirations. Today there was another raging party backstage—a clamor of models in sky-high heels and bass-thunking raps byAzealia Banks. But thoughJohnsonwas in her vivacious element, she still paid attention to some serious themes: the 73-year-old designer pulled out a tank top with an American flag on it that she designed in 2001. “It’s for 9/11. I’ve saved it all these years,” she said. “I’m going to wear it for the fireman.” After all, Johnson has seen a lot in her time as a designer—and today was also a celebration of her 50 years in the fashion industry. On top of that, there was a point person she had to thank, as well. Two hours before the show, Johnson arranged a car to pick up her 94-year-old dance instructor, Ann Pimm, to attend the show. “I’ve dedicated the show to her,” said Johnson. “I studied with her forever and she brought me to New York to study.”With dance as the theme, as well as her five decades of experience in the industry, Johnson squeezed half a century onto the runway. The first looks were set in the present, withNicki Minaj–esque pieces like a bubblegum corseted tutu dress on top of a neon blue net shirt. As for the ’90s, Johnson gave grunge a playful riff with rose-patterned tutu dresses fastened with blue corsets paired with cherry print tights. There was also the rock attitude of the ’80s, which included jumpsuits with punchy pinstripes, and a very cool plastic jacket outfitted with zippers on the sleeves.But it was the ’60s that introduced the most wearable looks. There was a strongTwiggyinfluence in a mod-style Mandarin-collar striped pantsuit, as well as a polka-dotted minidress with an oversize collar and sleeves. Baring some skin, there was a slinky violet dress with the naval-skimming décolletage opening bound by mini bows.The last looks, which hailed from the ’50s, were the most sentimental: Johnson designed the pieces based on her original dance costumes as a child. There were charming, nude leotards adorned with mini frills at the waist and striped with sequins, as well as a bedazzled red crop top and a pleated miniskirt. For the grand finale, before Johnson did her traditional cartwheel, she handed Pimm a bouquet of flowers. Then she was followed by models in leotards printed with American flags, proving that the designer always remembers the important things.
12 September 2015
"We make your dreams come true!"It's a phrase those who live in the New York City area are all too familiar with—the wonderfully infamous closing to the commercial for Brooklyn wedding venue Grand Prospect Hall. (Do yourself a favor and watch it on YouTube.)But even audience members not privy to the joke soon realized they were in for something matrimonial after Betsey Johnson blasted it over the loudspeakers at her Spring 2015 runway show. The designer's latest collection was an ode to her growing bridal business. "It started out slow and then it turned into something major," said Johnson, who starts her run as aDancing With the Starscontestant on September 15. "People love my wedding shoes!"Friends from all walks of life—includingReal Housewives of Beverly Hillsstar Camille Grammer, SoulCycle instructor Stacey Griffith, and Willam Belli fromRuPaul's Drag Race—marched the runway, which was filled with tiered cupcake dresses, tutus, and enough lingerie to fill a wedding trousseau. While the more jokey pieces got the crowd roaring—like a neoprene crop top encrusted with rhinestones that spelled out the day's theme, "Prenup"—there were some wearable gems in there, including a polka-dot shirtdress in lavender chiffon, a white-sequined tux, and a teal-lamé bridesmaid's dress. As for the actual wedding gowns? Johnson turned out plenty of pretty options, including an ankle-length number in textured silk with a full skirt and giant pearl buttons running up the back. The showstopper, though, was the big white finale gown, worn by Sharon Needles (anotherRuPaul's Drag Racefavorite), who threw her bouquet to a blushing audience member before carrying Johnson down the aisle and giving her a big kiss. Indeed, the designer's show-ending cartwheel was upstaged by wedded bliss.
10 September 2014
Oh, Betsey. You always have to one-up yourself, don't you? For Fall, Johnson actually pared down her typically dramatic runway, save for a bit of theatrical smoke and some shirtless "firemen" at the end, who aptly illustrated the "hot, hot, hot" theme. But she went all out digitally. Indeed, Johnson chose to broadcast her collection live in Times Square, an ambition she's been harboring for several years. "I always want more people to see the show," the infamous cartwheeler said backstage before the models hit the runway. "This is an 'I can't believe my life' moment for me."The clothes, designed for "the rock 'n' roll girl in every one of us," were classic Betsey Johnson. That means a highlighter yellow lace catsuit paired with a fluorescent pink pleated skirt, electric blue satin pedal pushers worn under a (real) fur vest in lime green, and a sweetheart red party dress perfect for prom. Johnson, whose backer is the footwear mogul Steve Madden, was pushing accessories big time. And to be sure, the blue leopard-print lace-up booties and matching lady bags will please her teenybopper fan base.
11 February 2014
When you RSVP to Betsey Johnson, youre expecting theatrics. Last season, for instance, the designer asked her runway models to do an aerobics routine incorporating Champagne bottles. For Spring, Johnson focused a little less on the extravaganza and more on the fashion. Its as serious as I can get, she said backstage before the show. Its all about the clothes, which is very rare for me. When Johnson focuses on the actual garment, she tends to go with her greatest hits. She sketched out the collection of jumpsuits, bodysuits, and prom dresses in just one weekend, creating a wardrobe for any eighties-obsessed teenage girl along the way. (Arethere eighties-obsessed teenage girls?) The soundtrack, Pretty in Pink by the Psychedelic Furs, was really the only song that would have worked with the models cotton candy-colored curly wigs and silver lipstick—it helped the clothes along, too. There was nothing surprising here, but that doesnt mean it wasnt fun. A black cotton bodysuit with a silver zipper up the front, a sparkly silver dress with a massive tulle skirt, and the calico series—a pair of long shorts and a scoop-neck T-shirt dress in particular—were everything a girl longing for Betsey Johnson twenty-five years ago could want. Will girls want it now? Theres certainly a market. But as Johnson said, her real business is in licenses. Fashion shows are a time for her to haveatime. And that she did, ending things with her signature cartwheel. And a split.
10 September 2013
It's always a party at Betsey Johnson.The 70-year-old designer, currently filming a reality TV show, wasn't supposed to be at fashion week this season. But that wouldn't do. "It hit home that I wasn't showing and I got sad," she said backstage before the debut of Fall, a DJ spinning tunes behind her.Steven Madden, Johnson's backer, must have sympathized, because the always-extravagant show went on. To introduce her new activewear collection, Johnson joined her models for a workout. Leopard-print tights served as stretch bands, Champagne bottles as dumbbells, and fuchsia yoga mats emblazoned with "BJ Kicks A" made it easy to do sit-ups on the runway.It's never about the clothes, but in case you were curious: multiple dresses in flimsy printed fabrics will please Johnson's teenage followers, especially since they'll be more reasonably priced than her old collection. The best, done in aClueless-style yellow and black plaid, could be worn far beyond age 19. The workout clothes—leggings and tank tops in hot pink, black, and a pastel print resembling a home-dyed Easter egg—were cute enough.Will Johnson's latest incarnation stick? Does it really matter? It's not like she's going anywhere.
10 February 2013
Betsey Johnson has always been a girl who just wants to have fun with fashion, and for her 70th birthday the designer put on an epic bash to celebrate the occasion, as well as a career that has spanned five decades. Cyndi Lauper, who has been a Betsey fan since 1980, performed an energetic set of greatest hits (including, of course, "Girls Just Want to Have Fun") before Johnson sent her own greatest hits from the archive down the runway. Noteworthy throwbacks included a funky orange, wide-wale corduroy "Verushca" set from the sixties, 1980s punk mesh looks, and a Nirvana-era tapestry coat paired with a burnout velour slipdress.Those vintage numbers set the tone for Johnson's Spring collection, which, as usual, was more about promoting a confident, irreverent attitude than the clothes themselves. Models with teased-out, crimped hair hammed it up for the photo pit. Some waddled around in snorkel flippers and arm floaties, another pushed a toy stroller, and one girl even cradled a baby pig. Those antics put a quirky spin on Johnson's signature corset petticoat frocks and baby dolls. The final 30 looks (out of 90 total) belonged to a capsule of cupcake-sweet birthday "Princess" dresses. Johnson came out at the end and danced around onstage (she also did her seasonal gymnast split) to roaring applause from the crowd. The Betsey Johnson label may have filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year, but at 70, the designer who built her business around flipping the bird at fashion's conventions shows no sign of slowing down.
11 September 2012
Betsey Johnson's show opened with an early sixties-era video clip of girls screaming on the tarmac as they awaited the arrival of the Fab Four. What followed on the runway was a high-speed tour of Carnaby Street's golden age, with skinny herringbone suits, boyish coats, and miniskirts eventually giving way to psychedelic prints, maxi dresses, and fluffy faux fur trim. Johnson toggled between being literal with her reference and dropping it entirely—a strapless gold wallpaper-print minidress with a bouffant skirt was nothing other than vintage Johnson. And even the most straightforwardly mod looks were idiomatically Betsey; her looks favored a neon palette and the show-opening herringbone suit, for instance, included a pair of pants that were legging-tight.As usual, the collection was pretty over-the-top, though it did boast a few down-to-earth pieces, like a cropped motorcycle jacket made from pink-flecked ivory bouclé and a pair of wide-leg, low-rise trousers. Moreover, Johnson's show affirmed the growing suspicion that the key look of New York fashion week will prove to be the extra-long black duster coat: When designers as different as Betsey Johnson and VPL's Victoria Bartlett both show a version of a duster, you'd be well advised to make room for one in your closet.
12 February 2012
Sexuality is a vexed issue in fashion, to say the least. Rare is the young woman who dresses to seem drab and sexless; on the other hand, tight, revealing clothes come with a host of dicey connotations attached. What most women want, really, is to find a way to dress that asserts a sexuality that they themselves own and control. When people say a woman looks "slutty," what they're really intimating is that she's ceded authority over the way she looks, and is dressing for men. Such issues are worth unpacking a little because tonight's Betsey Johnson show brought them to the fore. There was nothing vexed about Johnson's take on sex this season—she got her inspiration from burlesque; the invitation to her show featured an illustration of tits and ass; and the collection itself was presented with her usual crazy exuberance. But it was the lack of vexed-ness that made the show interesting, because what Johnson posited was a kind of power-slut look. All of the provocation, none of the self-victimization.Erotic Capitalauthor Catherine Hakim would be proud.The clothes themselves weren't particularly complicated: There were a lot of lingerie-inspired looks, many of them quite sheer, at least for the runway; a lot of corset lacing and hot pants; and a lot of skintight things, like a landscape-print unitard. Johnson tweaked her traditional tulle-girded tutu dress by making versions with sculptured bubble skirts, and she sent out a series of dazzling, dangerous-looking, stud-encrusted pieces that will be the hot desire of pretty much every 16-year-old girl raised on a steady diet of Katy Perry and Beyoncé. The whole thing was so va-va-voom, it was silly, which was definitely the intention.Backstage after the show, Johnson elaborated on her inspiration this season, saying she was especially proud to see her daughter, Lulu, back on the runway. "After ten years and two kids," Johnson noted, "she's voluptuous and fabulous. And I just wanted, you know, to express this attitude of pride and confidence in your body." A cartwheel-worthy sentiment, for sure.
11 September 2011
Boy, oh boy, does Betsey Johnson know how to put on a show. Her spectacle on Valentine's Day, themed He Loves Me/He Loves Me Not, provided a much needed shot of energy midway through NYFW. The big news here was the launch of her lower-priced Pink Patch line, which is basically a reprisal of Johnson's greatest hits—full petticoated prom dresses, cabbage rose and skull-print leggings and tees, Victorian corset blazers—all priced under $100. "I've been wanting to do this forever, but I had to do it my way and not partnered with a big-box store," she said in a phone interview the day before. "It started with the airline stewardesses who would buy my bags or perfume but couldn't spend a paycheck on a dress," she continued. This means that Johnson can now take her original Black Tag label to new editorial heights, "getting crazier than my price point has permitted." So this collection was darker than usual. Beat-up, baggy leather jodhpurs and a peplum blazer with exaggerated sleeves seemed edgier than looks from recent seasons. Johnson had 50 employees and friends strut in her Pink Patch designs before she closed the show by cartwheeling down the runway and dancing with Patricia Field to Cher. If only all fashion were this fun.
13 February 2011
Betsey Johnson's latest infatuation? Cyclists. Kitted out in bright spandex and funny headgear…always having the right of way (at least according to themselves)—it should really be no surprise they have tickled the always-energetic, ever-colorful designer's fancy. Le Tour de Betsey carried us sartorially from uptown to downtown, while a runway backdrop showed video footage from the designer's own citywide spin.Models wore bicycle-chain necklaces, utility belts, and mechanic's jackets emblazoned with the words "Ride Me." Acid-hued bodysuits and striped thigh-highs sashayed out. One girl attempted to ride a skateboard in stripper heels (the kind with extra room for dollar bills); when she tripped, she picked herself up with House of Betsey aplomb. On the Upper East Side end of the cycle trip, museum-hoppers in black and white knits provided polish, while farther south, Fleet Week was celebrated by smartly dressed ladies in natty sailor suits. The crinoline-poufed ball gowns finished with puff paint and glitter that came out last would only look appropriate in one place: Times Square, where the tour took its victory lap.Despite turning as mean a cartwheel as ever at the night's end, Johnson confessed a hatred for bike riding herself. "It's such hard work!" she said. "It kills my thighs!"
12 September 2010
Betsey returned to the runway and—to prove her performance skills hadn't dulled—made sure all the high-camp high jinks of old were in place. Kelly Osbourne, looking model thin, came out first, walking on a hay-strewn surface. She exuberantly tore off the bandanna covering her face, and…yee-haw! We found ourselves in the Wild Wild West.Johnson's inspiration this season was, modestly, 45 years' worth of her own archives. "I'm working on my stuff, being very true-blue Betsey," she said. Her signature gun prints were there in spades, accessorized with candy-bright plastic pistols; there were striped bodysuits and tutus. The models sashayed along in groups with monikers like Banditos, Madames, and Brothelettes, usually with one among their number clad in a sweater so long it required a union suit-clad male escort to carry it.Lots of buy-now, wear-now Spring looks were added to the Fall catwalk lineup. "We're not in seasons anymore, anyway," Johnson said. "We'll show a little bit of now and a lot of later." She's always been a crowd-pleaser, above all else, and is canny enough to know that her most important audience is not so much the fashion editors and buyers in attendance, but the Betsey faithful around the globe.
13 February 2010
Betsey Johnson, uptown girl?She is, patently, the quintessential downtown designer; Edie Sedgwick was even her fit model at one time. But lately Johnson's commuting to work on Seventh Avenue from a new abode on the Upper East Side.Accordingly, she held her Spring presentation in the Palm Court at the Plaza. It turns out that she is redesigning Eloise's Room at the famed hotel. Aside from one model dressed in a sex-kitten version of Eloise's pinafore, the clothes weren't actually inspired by the messy imp—but their designer was as irreverent as the impertinent 6-year-old, titling the show Betsey's One Night Stand. (Pouring water down mail chutes isn't the only hanky-panky that goes on in fine hotels; have you heard about the more adult antics at the Standard?)The lineup was a bit posher than usual. Georgia Jagger worked a white skirtsuit, while Ida Maria (whose song "Oh My God" was featured in promos forGossip Girl) performed. "I think the psychological and visual elegance of the Plaza helped move us in a new direction," Johnson said. She didn't ditch the bodysuits and leopard prints, but she offered them in neater, more refined silhouettes. A little jersey number was made up in a Liberty-style floral, while pretty red-and-white party dresses—with crinis, of course—featured an almost traditional toile. If you looked closely, you could make out the skulls hidden among the foliage and fauna.
14 September 2009
There were no cartwheels from Betsey Johnson for the first time in what feels like forever…because there was no catwalk. Instead, she invited a smaller crowd to "Betsey Crocker's Kitchen" in her showroom. Yes, folks, the designer who played Peter Pan for Spring reinvented herself as Julia Child. "It's a happy, eating/drinking show with hot waiter guys," Johnson said with typical zaniness.Fashion's most playful designer (who recently sold part of her company and is working with some new people) is having a moment. A new generation, too young to have Betseyed in the nineties, much less the eighties, is discovering her charms. There were rumors aloft that she might do a collaboration with Target, and it's known for sure that she is about to debut an archive collection with Opening Ceremony (the groovy store/showroom/gallery) this fall.Looking either like extras from a raunchy Ellen von Unwerth shoot or like Cyndi Lauper, the models wore rose prints, lace, and petticoats. Forced to think more commercially, too—as are most of her colleagues—Johnson also showed T-shirts from her soon-to-launch tee line as well as sweat suit separates. "It's artsy yet very real," she said, unsinkably, in a preshow interview. "It's a trip, trip, trip, trip." Some girls, come what may, will always just want to have fun.
15 February 2009
"This is the grandma show of all time!" enthused Betsey Johnson, who welcomed Ella, granddaughter number two, into the family fold this year. The show had a seemingly tyke-friendly theme of pirates-meets-Peter Pan, but—needless to say—Betsey is no ordinary Grams, and although it was a romp, this was noRomper Room.Johnny Depp, a.k.a. the drunken Captain Jack Sparrow, was another inspiration behind the collection; it seems he and Johnson have formed a mutual admiration society. (Hey, they both wear ribbons in their hair, don't they?) The models, even when sporting strangely attractive hoop-skirted dresses in kiddie-nursery prints, didn't G-rate their sex appeal. And the final "Robbed Royalty" section of the show, which involved handcuffed brides, kept Ellen von Unwerth's flashbulb popping.Johnson herself, who took her traditional runway cartwheel dressed as Peter Pan, conceded that some of the show clothes were "over-the-top." (They will, of course, be adapted for retail.) That said, she really is focusing on broadening her label's appeal. Victorian jackets, bathing suits, intarsia sweaters, va-va-voom corsets, and tie-dyed maxi dresses added an accessibly trendy Tinker Bell flash to the zany proceedings. Clap your hands if you believe in magic!
8 September 2008
The physical location of Betsey Johnson's beatnik romp was Bryant Park, but the imaginary setting was a dark and smoky joint in the Village like the Bottom Line or the Bitter End. Johnson went all out (no surprise there): Her set had bare lightbulbs and tables topped with straw-covered Chianti bottles and copies ofOn the Road. There were even three bongo players in striped shirts at the end of the runway smoking faux Gauloises. "I've got to have an environment that you can enter into because I get so terrified of showing clothes," Johnson admitted.The show, which opened with a great fringed leather jacket, featured viable mix-and-match pieces like a twill blazer, a suede wrap skirt, a zebra cardigan, Lurex leopard leggings, and a sexy stretch-denim catsuit that would be great for layering. "This collection is a real flip for me, in that I'm going very dark, beatnik, black, bold, slim-lined, and leotardic," the ever-bumptious designer said. "It's kick-ass with a harder hard edge, in a Joan Jett kind of way."Johnson is celebrating 30 years in the business, and she closed the show with an anniversary march of archival pieces sourced from vintage dealers. The parallels between Fall and the looks in the retrospective were unexpectedly clear. "It's interesting," she said, sounding surprised herself. "You see there's a timelessness to this stuff."
3 February 2008
“Life is just a prom. No matter what she’s wearing, she can’t get out of her prom state of mind!” Thus did Betsey Johnson explain the giddy mindset of her quintessential “girl.”The invitation featured Johnson’s own 1958 prom-night photo from Terryville High School in Connecticut, and the show was organized decade by decade, from the fifties (huge crinolines) through the sixties and seventies (Empire waists and daisies) to now. It consisted almost exclusively of petticoated party dresses dashed with decorations like sprinkles on a cupcake (sequins, hearts, laces, and lamé).This was a deliberate act of indulgence. Johnson may have stores to fill, but most of the range didn’t come down the runway. A controlling interest in the company was sold to Castanea Partners just three weeks ago, and Johnson, never needing much of an excuse to kick up her heels, was in a real party mood. “We can get slammed,” she told Style.com, “but I have to do this show.”Held on the sixth anniversary of 9/11, it closed with looks representing the mood of the country today. There was a red-white-and-blue “Miss America” dress, and flowered headbands with paper flags stuck in them. For a surprise finale, four models came out and took off their shirts. Each had a letter on her back, together spelling out V-O-T-E.
10 September 2007
Sending out invitations slipped into pairs of white gloves and lining her runway with tables set for tea, Betsey Johnson established a "School of Charm" for her latest show. Could this really be the same designer whose cheeky antics have included those "GUYS ♥ B.J." tees? Apparently so. "Fall is more elegant, refined—more grown-up," the perennial teenager said. "We have to be more about the cake than the icing."Of course, Betsey wanted to have her cake and eat it, too. Her prototypical sex-bomb baby still strode the catwalk in a suit with pinup short shorts, and any number of blowsy (okay, to be frank, tarty) dresses. Meanwhile, the more mature—if not strictly demure—minx dressed the part in formfitting frocks with a whisper of Dietrich, and a really pretty brown blouse with white polka dots, paired with a suspendered pinstripe skirt in a length that Johnson evocatively described as "longer, leaner, and more swayable."
5 February 2007
A year ago, Betsey Johnson was in a reflective mood; she’d just turned 60 and, with a new vacation home in Mexico to tempt her, was hinting that she might be ready to step back from the day-to-day fashion grind. Yeah, right. In the intervening twelve months, Johnson has launched a secondary label called Betseyville; signed a deal to license her name for pajamas, loungewear, and lingerie; and continued full tilt with her schedule of raucous, fashion-show-as-entertainment presentations.This season, the designer configured her show space as a cabaret, setting up tables and chairs and serving drinks to create the right giddy mood. The clothes showed her usual mix of influences: a little bubblegum, a little bondage, a little punk, and a lot of ruffles. There were baby-doll dresses, skinny jeans and cropped tops, tiny T-shirts, minis and slip dresses. But even by Johnson’s cheeky standards, items like a little nightie that said “Fluffer,” and T-shirts printed with the slogan “Guys love B.J.” ratcheted up the raunch factor just a little too high.
14 September 2003
A little bubblegum, a little bondage, a lot of cheerfully trashy clothes—yes, Betsey Johnson is back. After an extended break following her 60th birthday last summer, the designer has banished all thoughts of retirement and instead redoubled her efforts, launching a new line called Betseyville.Johnson recently bought a vacation house in Mexico, and fiesta is clearly on her mind. She opened the show by sending out a group of twirling models wearing sweeping tiered skirts and tiny tourist T-shirts, and she followed these with another 80 or so outfits that ranged from biker looks to first-communion dresses. Showing women's and men's wear and both her lines (Betseyville is primarily denims and T-shirts) in a color palette that could only be described as kaleidoscopic, Johnson offered up something for good-humored consumers of every stripe. Granted, not every girl will be able to wear the bikini top no bigger than a headband, or the teeny denim minis, but a flowery crocheted sweater or a floaty chiffon dress will certainly bring a breath of fresh air to a moribund closet. Among the best pieces: crocheted sweaters, skinny cigarette jeans, chevron-striped sweater dresses and the aforementioned chiffons.
9 February 2003
Betsey Johnson's spring 2003 collection was titled "My Blue Heaven," but it could just as well have been called "Infectious Enthusiasm." For Johnson, festive dressing is an everyday affair, andjoie de vivrea driving principle.This season, though, there were a few changes in the routine: Johnson showed the collection on August 10 at her East Hampton home, as the centerpiece of a daylong party that also celebrated her 60th birthday and her company's 24th year in business. The poolside show featured some reworkings of her greatest hits: tight jersey dresses printed with big, cheerful cabbage roses, corset tops and candy-colored lacy tulle petticoats, as well as a few punkette slashed pieces for the bad girls. Everything was tight, sheer or micro-short—the bathing suits could have embarrassed a Brazilian—but under Johnson's guidance, good cheer overwhelmed any whiff of potential sluttiness.Johnson claims she's hit a milestone in her life and that now is the time to step back and let daughter Lulu take over much of the daily business. Whether that really happens remains to be seen, but one thing is inevitable: Wherever she ends up, Johnson will be spreading the love.
9 August 2002
Betsey Johnson has the three things that most designers struggle for their entire lives: a signature look, a solid business and a legion of devoted customers. All of which allows her to kick back at her fashion shows and concentrate on entertaining the troops—and herself. This season, the show was in her workroom, the theme was "Sisters" and the cutting table was her runway.Johnson had 22 of her staff members model the collection; you'll be shocked to discover that she hires a lot of extroverts. Everyone from Jill in PR to Marcy the receptionist to Rebecca the patternmaker worked the runway like pros, shimmying to a bluesy soundtrack and eliciting big smiles from the audience—not to mention wolf whistles from the photographers. The clothes helped. There were clingy bias-cut satin ombré dresses, shirred chiffons, flapper-fringe skirts, sheer crocheted tops and an occasional pair of army-green knickers. The palette was relatively subdued; this season, Johnson's big on blues, pinks, peaches, brown and bronze, and fabrics like chiffon, charmeuse and matte jersey.Johnson's clothes are overtly sexy, with plenty of boudoir influences—eyelet, lingerie ribbons, cleavage-enhancing lace and so forth—but always with a good-time Mae West spirit. Her sister act, while not for everyone, can be hard to resist.
10 February 2002
The gilded, mirrored, wallpapered and chandelier-laden salon of Manhattan’s Tavern on the Green formed the over-the-top setting for "Muñequita," as Betsey Johnson dubbed her Latin-themed extravaganza.Here is Johnson’s vision for Spring, from the bottom up. Start with cork-spike heels of vertigo-inducing heights, complete with iridescent straps; set them off with ankle-length fishnets and an ankle bracelet with a dangling cross. If you must insist on underwear, go for a demi-bra bikini set in neon colors and make sure it peeks out at all times. Next, throw on a multitiered fiesta minidress, a metallic lace-and-ribbon teddy or a cha-cha top with turquoise hot pants. Now top it all off with a jangle of gold bangles; enormous hoop earrings; an oversize "BJ" ring (that stands for Betsey Johnson, lest there be any confusion); shimmering makeup; hot-pink mesh gloves with the tips cut off; a tattoo or three; and a net bandanna worn over a floppy Panama hat.Not quite enough for you? Then you might as well throw in a traditional mantilla, too—after receiving the Johnson treatment, they manage to look positively decadent.
9 September 2001
With an old key that dangled from a strand of pink ribbon, Betsey Johnson opened wide the doors to her closet for all the world to see. Out from Pandora's box sprang an array of mini-Betseys: All Johnson's models wore assorted hair extensions, a lightning-bolt tattoo on their chests, and plenty of lace teddies, net tutus in neon colors, striped Clamdiggers, Lurex-knit mini-tops and an abundance of corsets.In Johnson's universe, a party dress is printed with pterodactyls and sweeping birds; sweaters have different-colored sleeves, and velveteen coats are thrown over camouflage wool-knit dresses. Trousers for a pantsuit are cut low enough to allow a sliver of acid-green underwear to peek out, and jackets are snapped as close to the body as possible. Modern-day cancan girls cavort in emerald, sapphire and fuchsia brassiere tops, layered transparencies, and glittering heels that are partWizard of Ozand part Times Square after dark."These are clothes that I love," said Johnson simply. "I wanted to create a whole new wardrobe for myself—and hopefully, for many others as well!"
12 February 2001
Forget about carbohydrate-phobic supermodels: A wild pack of Playboy bunnies, complete with glittering furry ears, triple-F cups and skyscraper heels stormed the tents at Bryant Park today. It was all part of neon-haired and notoriously outrageous designer Betsey Johnson's playful Spring fashion romp.Johnson's 80-plus looks were divided into 12 segments—one for each month of the year. Real-life Playboy Playmates cruised the catwalk wearing barely there georgette dresses, rhinestone-encrusted bikinis, sequined tube tops and "bunny belle" strapless dresses. There were also voluminous (but always short) layered tulle skirts, flamenco dresses, and festive paisley wraps in all shades of fuchsia. Johnson even showed her version of a bridal outfit—a skimpy white satin corsetlike suit accessorized with a little bow tie, a trail of scandalous bridesmaids and not much else.
18 September 2000
Betsey Johnson is one designer who consistently puts fun in fashion, and she never disappoints. Manhattan's Lot 61 was converted into a nightclub for her presentation—complete with strobe lights, disco balls, blaring music and scantily clad rock chicks, motorcycle vixens and disco bunnies. Looks included plasticized cat suits, hot-pink biker ensembles, micro shorts with zipper sides, Lurex "Ziggy Stardust" minidresses, technicolor lizard-print hipsters and provocative eyelet leather pants. For the finale, Johnson showed mini-tutus in neon colors paired with lace tees, bras and halter tops; her wedding gown consisted of a lace puff top with diamond mini-pouf skirt.
7 February 2000
"Freedom Girls" was the theme for Betsey Johnson's rambunctious, colorful presentation, set to DJ Mark Ronson's funky beats. And true to theme, the real-life models, ranging in age from ten years old to fifty something, who stalked the makeshift runway in Johnson's Seventh Avenue neon-pink and yellow showroom did radiate a sense of fashion, liberation. Johnson's signature playful prints showed up in sexy baby doll halters, micro-cardigans, peasant skirts, and simple sheath dresses. "Farm girl" looks mingled with western ensembles of flared jeans with ruffles, and middle eastern-inspired shawls and skirts. "This is a celebration of personal style," declared Johnson, who also served as the show's emcee.
12 September 1999