Working at the Betsey Johnson brand was (and still is) a life time dream for me. To just have a moment to be in the presence of the most fierce woman in fashion, would mean the world. My current aspirations were to franchise one of her boutiques here in Asia. I’ve always felt such a connection to Betsey and the brand. Even my VERY first post for this blog was about the Betsey Johnson Trunk show I attended! In college I did my Brand Marketing final on her. I remember my male fashion instructor being quite frightened and non understanding of what made Betsey so special. He preferred more of the classic Tom Ford style: suits. cardigans, sweaters, scarves, so seeing me so estatic in presenting Betsey Johnson was not something he knew was coming. After seeing my enthusiastic presentation he then understood what made the BJ aesthetic so captivating.
I feel so connected to Betsey because she is me at 60. When I’m her age I want to be doing cartwheels and running back and forth to showrooms. She didn’t let cancer stop her from reaching her dreams. I will truly miss the Betsey Johnson brand. Though the runway will now longer be, the BJ licensing agreements will continue.
So with this whole bankruptcy thing, apparently investors didn’t like the idea of making the brand mass market. Now I agree with this but I don’t feel its any different than what’s happening with many of the ongoing BJ licensing agreements now. BJ can be bought at Marshals….MARSHALS! Maybe the investors weren’t aware of this but taking the brand mass market wouldn’t be anything new.
I am all for keeping the BJ runway brand exclusive because as we’ve seen with many clothing lines, as soon as it gets mainstream the exclusivity and quality goes down. If everyone is walking down the street with BJ, how is it unique and special anymore? Though I agree with keeping the line in the Contemporary to Better price market, I don’t agree with letting the brand go all together. I’m pretty sure an agreement could have been made.
A great idea would have been creating a secondary line like Marc by Marc Jacobs or DKNY. She already had Betseyville selling bags and accessories, they could have easily explanded the line to clothing. Everyone loves Betsey and it would have been a hit. Another route that a lot of designers have been taking is joining forces with fast fashion retails like H&M and Top Shop to create exclusive lines that appeal to the public in look AND price. Now I will exclude the Versace for H&M line. I saw a studded jacket in there for $800, That price didn’t appeal to me, it SCARED me. Lol
So in honor of the most abitious and fearless woman in fashion, here are my favorite current Betsey Johnson pieces. Also head on over to http://www.betseyjohnson.com/home/index.jsp for the going out of business sale!
WE LOVE YOU BETSEY! LONG LIVE BETSEY!
April Jay is a style and travel content creator who loves sewing, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and rocking out to coldrain.
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AW 🙁 This makes me sad, I could never afford her stuff, but I loved her stuff 🙁 this isn't cool… this isn't cool at all…
Wow, where I have I been, I had no idea! I've always loved Betsy Johnson, but I know her clothes because I lived in NYC for a while and the selection in the NYC boutiques were always great. I think what happened now was the failure to sell or even be introduced to 'mainstream' America – this is why we're finding designers in everyday stores. Anyway, Betsy Johnson lives on!
Hi,
Cheer up! Betsy is back from bankruptcy…Read all about it here:
http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2012/09/13/betseys-back-from-bankruptcy/
One can file for bankruptcy as the automobile industry should have been allowed to do which in that order of business allows for contracts to be renegotiated in order to stay in business overall. Does not necessarily mean job loss. The auto industry lost jobs/dealerships/infamous plant "on idle". Miss Johnson did it the legal eithical way to work on business debt etc whereas the auto industry paid off unions-pensions/political donors/ with taxpayers losing. Lesson on Bankruptcy 101 learned in comparison.
I was just at a gas station,here in my home town,Chesapeake.Va.,when a lady said to me "you look just like Betsey Johnson",the clothes designer, has any one every told you that?,the only difference is she has blonde hair,mine is,…Red,my reply was "no",who is that? sorry Betsey! So she pulled her up on her phone,and to my surprise Today I do look like her. Kinda wild. Best of luck Bet,wish I could send a pic! Barb : )
Hi, thanks for the article! My mom had called me not to long ago and was like, "She's back!" So now I must do a welcome back BJ post lol
Thanks 🙂
OMG just saw this! (Seems blogger hasn't been showing me all your updates, Que super sad face 🙁 Betsey is one of my absolute FAVORITE designers! I remember the first time I saw her sporting a controversy causing "Everybody loves BJs!" top. I was shocked, intrigued and hooked!
Reading this I was I was so scared! Then saw that she is back so THANK GOODNESS!
I can not afford her stuff but I'd like to have the chance to someday, I can't do that if she leaves the market! 🙁