You might not know Betsy Johnson’s name but if you’ve been plugged in to a specific fashion niche, you’ve certainly seen her work. To name a few recognizable instances: she walked Balenciaga’s Summer 2022 red carpet, oversaw a memorably weird YEEZY GAP campaign, and snapped a mirror selfie that was immediately immortalized as a Playboi Carti album cover.
This is the kind of resume that’d make anyone a best-kept fashion secret but to Kanye “Ye” West and Carti’s rabid fanbases, Betsy Johnson has become a veritable influencer.
Desperate for insight on their reclusive idols, they track the British creative director’s every move (literally), sharing screengrabs of Instagram Stories and updates on every little goings-on.
As such, YEEZY fans were first to catch wind of the enigmatic PRODUCTS By Betsy Johnson line. Can’t say they don’t get results.
Intrigued by the proposition of a Betsy Johnson clothing brand, I reached out for context.
PRODUCTS was teased in a manner typical of Johnson’s oeuvre, with iPhone snapshot teasers lensed so casually as to appear incidental. PRODUCTS’, er, products were all presented bluntly, facile-free and rich in intrigue.
Even the brand name is unassuming. It’s barely a brand name, even! But that’s also the point: it’s a reminder that you’re paying up for material goods, not some frou-frou storytelling dreamed up by overpaid Madison Avenue marketers.
Johnson herself isn’t keen to get terribly specific about PRODUCTS’ output just yet, though she makes no bones about her intent.
“PRODUCTS aims to challenge how we communicate products and slow down pathological consumption,” Johnson told Highsnobiety.
“At the start of 2022, I had spent many years unpacking and observing the complexities of having a ‘brand’ and how launching a new project into the market was irresponsible,” she added.
“The best way to introduce new ways of doing things is with the support of existing infrastructures that exist in the market [and] need infiltrating, hence why…
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