I know that's running the world. Despite the struggles, the designer is not bitter. But no matter how the industry changes, you learn right off the bat, you're only as good as your last sale ," she said. You have to try and be creative and fresh, but it still has to sell. Right now I [focus] on doing what I believe in but applying that through the corporate sector. Addressing the ways of the industry, Johnson said she's okay to have her images mass-produced: she signs off on the creative side and is happy to take more of a backseat roll and have the Madden team deal with the business aspect.
I'll keep working as long as I'm happy, and I am very happy to work. I don't know where it needs to go, if it even needs to go anywhere, but I know that it needs to be fresh and it needs to say Betsey ," she said.
Cookie banner This site uses cookies. Op-Eds Essays Longform. Filed under: In Depth Longform. Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. Betsey Johnson, the legendary year-old fashion designer, speaks about the past, present and future. The label started in with Betsey Johnson, teaming up with supermodel Chantal Bacon. Since then Johnson, 69, has survived breast cancer and become an advocate for cancer research. The label expanded over the years to include accessories and fragrances, but it's the house's colourful, quirky designs, which among the sea of traditional American sportswear, always stand out.
Kelly Cutrone, owner of Fashion PR agency People's Revolution, who has known Betsey for years, remembers the early days of the label fondly. He was really great friends with John Cale [who Johnson was briefly married to] because they were on the Velvet Underground together.
I just remember going to her partner Chantal's house. Here were all these girls in that company who were working and making the money, and their husbands were helping raise the kids. It was really modern then.
She was a great prototype of the cool, rock and roll, super hip women in New York in the 70s and 80s making myths, legends and money. Or, at least, questioned. But, believe me, the reaction over the years has not been very accepting or good for me. She's right — it hasn't. In , Johnson filed for bankruptcy. After closing all 63 of her brick-and-mortar stores and firing almost every employee she had, Johnson, with the help of longtime friend and supporter Steve Madden, relaunched her line to include kids and eyewear — this time, at a lower price point across department stores like Macy's, Nordstrom, and Dillard's.
But, after championing practically every category out there especially accessories, which account for a good chunk of her business why has she never done menswear? Turns out she never had to. The men I liked would come to the showroom and wear my girls clothes. I know Jagger got my clothes from girls. I just never connected to collars, I guess. To start from scratch in her earlys, though, an age when most designers are retiring, was a testament to her physical and emotional stamina — and her commitment to creating clothing that glorifies all of the best parts of being a woman.
But eventually you figure it out, and in my own company, there was just way too much work. They're amazing. Do you think I got this far on self-confidence? There is no self-confidence behind this. There is now, I guess, but my fans — my girls, my people, my guys — have really made my career.
Now that she's years-old, is there anything that makes Johnson tick?
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