When Kelly Osbourne, Katy Perry and Selena Gomez want to have fun with fashion, they turn to none other than famed designer Betsey Johnson to deliver a head-turning ensemble. Now, the cartwheel-loving Johnson, 70, known for her bright, sparkly clothes (“clothes that get boyfriends,” she beams) is opening up about her creative process in her new Style Network series, XOX, Betsey Johnson.
Teaming with her daughter, Lulu, for the series, Johnson will take viewers into her showroom and behind the scenes, offering her best style advice along the way. “You know me: ‘Girls just want to have fun.’ Just enjoy getting dressed,” Betsey reasons ahead of her show’s May 12 premiere. “I dressed to entertain myself. Life’s too short. Dressing should be like cooking and traveling and decorating: Fun.”
When Style Network cameras aren’t following Betsey, they’ll tag along with Lulu, who parted ways with her mother’s company to start her own eponymous fashion line. Though the pair have admittedly navigated a strenuous mother-daughter relationship, they’re on better terms and Betsey currently lives with single mom Lulu and her two granddaughters Lela and Ella in New York City.
As Lulu candidly told reporters ahead of her show’s premiere, life as Betsey’s daughter wasn’t always easy. “I used to walk on the opposite side of the street from her,” admits the newly-minted reality star. “As a teenager, you just want to fit in with the rest of your girlfriends, and my mom would pick me up from school with purple hair with leopard spots. I just wanted her to show in slacks and pearls, like all the other moms.”
“It was hard, because she does really steal the show a lot of the time,” says Lulu. “I’ve always admired her more than anything. And I’m so grateful and thankful that I have had someone so unique in my life, and have just soaked up and admired how much people are just in amazement and in love with her. “It’s been a trip.”
For more on Betsey and Lulu’s bond — and how Betsey is rebounding after filing for bankruptcy — watch the video above now. XOX, Betsey Johnson premieres Sunday, May 12 at 8 p.m. (EST) on the Style Network.
