Betsey Johnson Net Worth: How Rich is the Fashion Designer?

Betsey Johnson is an American fashion designer who is best known for her feminine and playful designs. She has been well-known in the fashion industry for her over-the-top and original designs since the 1960s. As of 2023, Betsey Johnson net worth is estimated to be around $50 million.

Who is Betsey Johnson?

Betsey Johnson is a fashion designer from Connecticut. She is best recognized for her circus-like fashion shows where she cartwheels on the runway wearing her riotously self-designed patterned clothes. Most of her designed clothes are considered embellished and over the top.

Betsey Johnson was born in August 1942 in Wethersfield, Connecticut. She was born as the second of three kids to her parents, John and Lena Johnson. Betsey has two siblings, a sister, Sally, and a brother, Robert. She spent her early childhood days in Terryville, Connecticut where she took many dance classes.

Johnson studied at the Pratt Institute and then joined Syracuse University. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Syracuse and there, she was also a member of Alpha Xi Delta women’s sorority. Soon after she held her graduation degree, she started working as an intern at Mademoiselle magazine. While working there, she was mentored by the Austrian-American magazine editor, Edie Locke.

Betsey Johnson Net Worth & Career

Betsey Johnson began her fashion career by competing and winning the Mademoiselle Guest Editor Contest. Then, she became the in-house fashion designer for the Manhattan boutique Paraphernalia within a year. Thereafter, she joined famous celebrities Edie Sedgwick, The Velvet Underground, Nico, and Lou Reed for Andy Warhol’s Underground scene and the youthquake fashion movement. Then, she started a boutique, Betsey Bunky Nini in 1969. She made the fashion model and actress, Edie Sedgwick her house model.

Betsey took responsibility for the fashion label, Alley Cat in the 1970s. Back then, the fashion label was more famous with the rock ‘n roll musicians. In fact, the Alley Cat sold $5 million in volume in her debut collection. Subsequently, she won the Coty Fashion Critics Award (a “Winnie) in September 1971.

Betsey initiated her own fashion line in 1978. She was left with 3,000 pieces of spring clothing after she was unable to sell her second collection well in the market. After that, she opened a retail store in the SoHo area of New York to sell the unsold collection in a 1981 fashion show. Betsey has also designed a fashionable dress for the singer-songwriter, Lisa Loeb. The famous singer wore the dress in the music video of the hit song, Stay (I Missed You).

Johns is the recipient of the 2009 Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement in Fashion. The award was presented to her by The National Arts Club. By the year 2011, she owned over 65 stores in the world. She expanded her fashion line in 2004 which included hats, handbags, accessories, and scarves. Johnson got into the limelight during her Spring/Summer 2011 Ready-to-Wear fashion show in September 2010.

In her Spring/Summer 2011 fashion, Johnson originally had instructed her models to come down the runway riding bicycles. Nonetheless, the plan was skipped later as it came out as too risky during the rehearsals. Instead of her original plan, she came up with another plan and asked model Kim Matulova to ride a skateboard instead of wearing open-toed platform heels. However, it didn’t work either as she fell to the ground and lost one of her shows.

Johnson appeared as one of the celebrities on the 19th season of Dancing with the Stars. However, she finished in tenth place in the dance reality series after being eliminated in Week 4. Johnson has also appeared as a guest judge on other TV shows such as “Sugar Rush” and “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars”. Additionally, she and her daughter have a reality show, XOX Betsey Johnson that premiers on the Style Network.

Betsey Johnson’s Husband and Personal Life

Betsey Johnson has been married three times. Her first husband, John Cale is a Welsh musician. She married John in 1968. Her first marriage lasted for a year until 1969. Then, she tied the knot with Jeffrey Oliveira. Unfortunately, her second marriage ended after three years in 1984.

Thereafter, she exchanged wedding vows with Brian Reynolds in 1997. Johnson has a daughter named Lulu Johnson, who has her own line of apparel and accessories. Betsey was diagnosed with breast cancer a long time back. She battled cancer for a long time and was able to earn her precious life back.

Betsey Johnson Net Worth

Betsey Johnson has earned an estimated net worth of $50 million as of 2023. Nearly a decade ago, she almost went bankrupt after struggling financially for several years. Due to her financial struggle, her company, Betsey Johnson was acquired by Steven Madden in 2010 for $27.5 million.