30 Sunday,March 29, 2020 DAILY NEWSNYDailyNews.com
Life right now is shades of
gray accented with black.
To counter that, Betsey
Johnson’s memoir offers a
splash of hot pink.
The clothing designer ra-
diates whimsy and fun —
qualities, naturally, in short
supply now. While no one is
saying ignore the pandemic,
reading this is a welcome di-
version.
Johnson defines upbeat.
“Betsey,” written with Mark
Vi t u l a n o, i s re l e n t l e s s l y
sunny. She has no com-
pl a i n t s a b o u t a n i d y l l i c
childhood, and the bitchiest
she gets is refusing to name
one of her three ex-hus-
bands.
What comes across is a
talented optimist. Her busi-
ness plans would probably
give hives to MBAs, but
Johnson is a magnificent ex-
ample of what can happen
when your passion is fueled
with hard work.
If it sounds simple, maybe
it is. Maybe everyone makes
it too complicated, but the
axiom of listening to that
inner voice and staying true
to your talent has worked for
Johnson. A trendsetter in
the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s with
bright colors and cheerful
pa t t e r n s , Jo h n s o n t o o k
chances and had fans from
Julie Christie to Madonna.
Born in 1942 in Weth-
ersfield, Conn., she recalls
being fearful, likely a result
of being a toddler during
World War II. Her love of
design and sewing came
naturally as Johnson’s mom
made the family’s clothes.
Her mother didn’t like to
sew, but so many people
made their clothes then and
ha d f a r
sm a l l e r
wa r d -
robes.
“E v e r y
year she’d
ma k e
matching
ba c k- t o -
sc h o o l
dr e s s e s
fo r m e
an d m y
si s t e r.
Th e y
were always plaid
and had little puff sleeves
and sashes and bows. She
later also sewed all of my
da n c e c o s t u m e s , a n d I
started to help. I had no idea
that this would become my
life’s work.”
For all of the memoirs that
recount fathers who crept
into daughters’ rooms atnight, mothers who guzzled
booze and horrendous home
lives, Johnson’s story makes
“Father Knows Best” look
so r d i d. S o m e p e o p l e ,
th o u g h , d o h av e h a p p y
childhoods and love their
siblings. She grew up with
victory gardens and a white
picket fence.
Her biggest childhood
crime was pinching cherry
Li f e Save r s f ro m Wo o l -
worth’s. Even being part of
the hazy, crazy downtown
scene of the 1960s and 1970s,
Johnson presents a very
strait-laced person, albeit
one in starched crinolines,
st r i p e d t i g h t s a n d w i l d
prints.
It seemed as if Pratt Insti-
tute was perfect for her.
Johnson moved in for her
freshman year in 1960, but
discovered she wanted the
college experience of the
1 950s. She wanted to be a
cheerleader, in a sorority,and instead was with artsy
students in Brooklyn who
did not get her.
“These kids were so pre-
tentious and full of them-
selves that all of them were
convinced they were going
to be the next Picasso, and I
hated that. I just wanted to
do my art and hopefully
make a career of it someday.”
The best part of Pratt was
her roommate, a home econ-
omics major (this really was
1 9 6 0 ) w h o wo r ke d a s a
hooker by night. She was ex-
pelled, and Johnson trans-
ferred to Syracuse Uni-
versity, where she was hap-
pily a cheerleader and stud-
ie d f a b r i c d e s i g n a n d
illustration.
Her senior year led to a
crucial career break. A de-
voted reader of Mademoi-
selle, Johnson entered a
co n t e s t t o wo r k o n t h e
magazine’s college issue. Be-
sides traveling for the firsttime to London, Johnson
wound up working for an
editor who would become
an influential champion.
Admittedly, Johnson was
not thrilled with being as-
signed to the fabric depart-
ment. Yet she recognized it
was an opportunity. She
understood how important
materials and patterns were
then.
“People still did a lot of
home sewing back then, and
all of the major stores had
fabric departments as well.”
Among the lessons to take
from Johnson is that an as-
signment she didn’t want
turned out to be intrinsic to
her career. She learned to
tra c k d ow n i n f o r m a t i o n
ab o u t f a b r i c , i n c l u d i n g
where the Yankees bought
their pinstriped material.
In a fifth-floor railroad
apartment under the Brook-
lyn Bridge, Johnson began
sewing blouses as a way tosupplement her salary. Now
astaffer at Mademoiselle,
she was surrounded by oth-
ers who loved fashion.
Johnson found a material
she liked and created short-
sl e e v e d , b o d y - h u g g i n g
swe a t e r s w i t h a ve l ve t-
trimmed scoop neck.
“They were adorable, if I
do say so myself,” she wrote.
As soon as she wore one to
work, she had plenty of or-
ders. She would stay up all
night sewing. An editor took
afancy to Johnson’s crea-
tions and recommended her
for the critical next step. She
was in on the launch of what
would become one of the
fashion scenes of the 1960s.
Young as Johnson was,
she was a mainstay at Para-
phernalia, a boutique that
sold clothes for the current
season, breaking from the
tradition of selling ahead.
Her clothes were bold, femi-
nine and engendered excite-BY JACQUELINE CUTLER
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