Betsey Johnson Essay

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Betsey Johnson was born August 10th 1942 (age 70) she is still alive and loving life. Johnson is the second of three children born to Lena and John Johnson. She has an older sister, Sally, and a younger brother, Robert. In 1968, Johnson married John Cale, but divorced him less than a year later. Following her split from Cale, she relocated to San Francisco, California and New York City. In 1975, Johnson gave birth to her only child, a daughter named Lulu. Lulu was born immediately after Johnson did a children's wear collection show. In 2006, Johnson's granddaughter, Layla, was born to Lulu. Johnson took many dance classes, which inspired her love of costumes. Johnson's fashion career started after she entered and won the Mademoiselle Guest Editor Contest. Within a year, she was the in-house designer for Manhattan boutique Paraphernalia. Johnson became part of both the ‘youthquake’ fashion movement and Andy Warhol's underground scene. In 1969, she opened a boutique called Betsey Bunky Nini on New York's Upper East Side. In the 1970s, Johnson took control of the fashion label "Alley Cat" which was popular for rock 'n roll musicians of the day. In her first year, her debut collection for Alley Cat reportedly sold $5 million in volume. In 1972 she won the Coty Award. In 1978, Johnson started her own fashion line. Her second collection did not sell well, leaving her with 3,000 pieces of spring clothing and insufficient funds to stage a 1981 fashion show to sell them and Johnson opened a retail store in the SoHo area of New York City. As of 2011, she has more than 65 stores worldwide. In 2002, Johnson was diagnosed with breast cancer. Ultimately, she underwent a lumpectomy and radiation treatment. Betsey continues to be strong in the fight against the disease, making public appearances, participating in numerous fund raising events and creating one-of-a-kind items

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