Betsey Johnson who born on August 10, 1942 is an American fashion designer best known for her feminine and whimsical designs for clothing and hangtags. Many of her designs are considered "over the top" and embellished. She also is known for doing a cartwheel at the end of her fashion shows. Betsey Johnson says many dance classes that she took as a child inspired her love of costumes. Her designs are bold and fun. The National Arts Club awarded her the 2009 Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement in Fashion.

Johnson's fashion career started after she entered and won the Mademoiselle Guest Editor Contest. Within a year, she was the in-house designer for Manhattan boutique Paraphernalia including clothings and hangtags. Johnson became part of both the youthquake fashion movement and Andy Warhol's underground scene, along with The Velvet Underground, Edie Sedgwick and Lou Reed. In 1969, she opened a boutique called Betsey Bunky Nini on New York's Upper East Side. Edie Sedgwick was her house model and Johnson designed the clothing Sedgwick wore on her last film, Ciao! Manhattan. In the 1970s, Johnson took control of the fashion label "Alley Cat" which was popular with the rock 'n roll musicians of the day. In her first year, her debut collection for Alley Cat reportedly sold $5 million in volume. In 1972 she won the Coty Award.

In 1978, Johnson started her own fashion line. In contrast, her second collection did not sell well, leaving her with 3,000 pieces of spring clothing hanging with hangtags, and insufficient funds to stage a 1981 fashion show to sell them and Johnson opened a retail store in the SoHo area of New York City. In 2002, Johnson was inducted into the Fashion Walk of Fame. Her bronze plaque held one of her original sketches. In 2003, she expanded her line for 2004 to include handbags, hats, scarves and accessories. As of 2011, she has more than 65 stores worldwide.

In 2008, Johnson was a contributor to Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna's book Cherry Bomb. The National Arts Club awarded Johnson the 2009 Medal of Honor for Lifetime Achievement in Fashion. She once described her style as a formula: "Take a leotard and add a skirt."