Stockton-  Betsey Johnson is a well known designer in the fashion industry that doesn’t receive enough credit for her work.  Known for her kooky and unique designs, Betsey managed to stick out in the industry by doing something nobody has done before. How did her unique style help pave the way for more creative and ingenuitive styles?

Born in Connecticut Betsey’s background of taking dance classes in school was the spark that inspired her later career in fashion design. After graduating high school and college she took a summer job as an intern for the Mademoiselle Magazine.

Following the internship at Mademoiselle, Betsey’s fashion career started off when she won the Mademoiselle Guest Editor Contest 1965. In the same year she would become a house designer for a boutique in Manhattan and became a member for the youthquake fashion movement. The youthquake fashion movement was an era where younger designers were the mail influence of the fashion industry.  (Image from Wikipedia) In 1969 Betsey opened her own boutique in New York named Betsey Bunky Nini where she scored a job with record label ‘Ally Cat’ and sold almost $5 million for her designs. Unfortunately when starting her own fashion line, Betsey wasn’t so successful, but she continued to follow her passion and opened another retail store in New York. In 2002 one of her looks was featured on the Fashion Walk of Fame and her garment was a crowd favorite. Betsy has grown as a fashion icon and paved the way for more unique designs.

Bestey’s career is proof to follow your passion no matter your performance. Her designs are amongst the most creative and unique from her time. Her fashion and personality is so notable it won her jobs for designing for people like Lisa Loeb in 1994, and even won her a position as a guest judge on popular show RuPauls Drag Race (season 18) where the runway category was an homage to her career.