Betsey: A Memoir

Fashion designer Johnson talks about clothes, romance, and owning a business in a breezy memoir co-written with former employee Vitulano, who captures Johnson’s spirited voice. Born in Connecticut in 1942, Johnson was a school-hating, boy-crazy kid with a “bubbly, oddball personality.” She attended Pratt Institute and Syracuse University, and moved to New York in the 1960s to work at Mademoiselle magazine. She got her start in fashion making sweaters in her apartment and selling them to co-workers before starting her own label and “living on tuna fish.” In this celebration of female entrepreneurship, Johnson writes about creating one’s own opportunities and blazing forward despite the odds. She discusses producing affordable clothing on a massive scale; inventively using the cotton-Lycra blend in streetwear; and selling her brand in 2010 to Steve Madden, whom she credits with saving her business. Along the way, she writes of being a single mother to daughter Lulu and being treated for breast cancer, and tells wild stories about her three brief marriages: to John Cale of the Velvet Underground; a burger flipper and drug addict named Joe; and a wealthy control freak (identity withheld) who bugged her apartment. “I’ve had great boyfriends but I chose to marry the bad ones,” she admits. Filled with nostalgic photos, this upbeat memoir captures the spirit and irreverence of Johnson’s colorful personality and clothing. [em](Apr.) [/em]