If you thought Betsey Johnson would disappear into obscurity after she filed for bankruptcy back in April, you're mistaken. While the designer has kept a relatively low profile over the last few months, she's actually be hard at work planning her next project.
Her big comeback effort starts with a new collection of dresses that she's created in partnership with The Levy Group. 'I'm back!! Doing my dress thing. Pretty and punk, sweet and sexy, always rock 'n' roll,' she said in a statement yesterday. The collection will be priced between $99 to $249 and luckily for us, we won't have long to wait to see it because the range will be officially unveiled at a retrospective fashion show next month during New York Fashion Week.
We all knew it was coming but today the time came for Betsey Johnson bosses to start liquidating the company's assets. Yesterday a judge approved the bankruptcy proceedings to begin and Gordon Brothers Group Inc, and Hilco Merchang Resources will take control of the process.
As we knew, almost all of the boutiques are set to close and just about everything from lighting to furniture will be sold to pay off creditors. The only saving grace is that Steve Madden, who bought the brand from Johnson back in 2007, will continue to make sure that the affordable range will be available in department stores.
The past few weeks has been a sad one for brands. Last week Aquascutumannounced that they are going into liquidation and today the company that owns Betsey Johnson's boutiques confirmed that they have gone bankrupt.
In a statement released today the company said that the last few months have been dedicated to 'rigorously pursuing alternative restructuring arrangements to address Betsey Johnson LLC's cash flow problems,' but the efforts failed to change anything. 'After exhausting our resources and possibilities, it became apparent that neither a restructuring arrangement with a new equity investor nor a sale of the business enterprise as a going concern outside of bankruptcy was to be forthcoming.'
Betsey Johnson LLC controls 63 of the designers boutiques internationally meaning that almost 350 people will be made redundant when the stores close. Johnson won't be out of a job though, as she will stay on board as creative director of her lower-priced label sold in department stores. The closure of her boutiques will not prevent deliveries to the boutiques stocking her mainline, not will it affect the e-commerce site.
UPDATE:
Today Betsey Johnson spoke to WWD about the news. 'I feel so sad for my store people and my pink girls,' she said. 'They live and die for me. But I need to be better. I really need to work well and be more efficient.' When asked about the problems with her lower priced line, Johnson blamed the copy-cat nature of the high street. 'The compeition - the H&Ms, Topshop, Century 21 and the knockoff ability is unbelievable,' she commented. 'Within three days of something being on the Internet, they have seen it, they copy it and they price-beat it.' Initially the company gave the impression that the mainline would run as normal but an anonymous source told Elle that we should not expect a runway show this season as the line is definitely in a dire situation.
Last night the Nokia Theatre in L.A. played host to the 2011 People's Choice. Jennifer Aniston presented Adam Sandler with the award for favourite comedy actor and Jackie Chan was awarded the title as favourite action star, which went to Johnny Depp last year. As expected, 'Twilight' was the big winner of the night receiving three awards and Kristen Stewart walked away with the big favourite actress gong.
I feel born again. I miss my partner Chantal, but she is off having a very happy life. Of course that makes me wonder, ‘Do I want to go there?’ But I don’t. It feels like the gold ole days, starting fresh and free. For everyone, it has been a rough couple of years. Now we can finally fly.
It looks like Kelly Osbourne has been paying serious attention to the spring/summer shows and picked up that florals are everywhere. She sported this heavily printed floral dress in this season's midi length to attend the Betsey Johnson show yesterday.
