Betty Jackson is a British fashion design

Fashion design

Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Fashion design is influenced by cultural and social latitudes, and has varied over time and place. Fashion designers work in a number of ways in designing clothing and accessories....

er based in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. She was born a Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

. In 2007, her achievement within British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 fashion was honoured with a CBE

CBE

CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...

. She is also known for designing the outrageous costumes of Eddy and Patsy on the 1990s hit television comedy Absolutely Fabulous

Absolutely Fabulous

Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...

.

Background

Betty Jackson was born in Bacup, Lancashire on 24 June 1949. Her father, Arthur, owned a shoe factory and her mother, Phyllis, who shopped 'for the season' at Kendal Milne in Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

. She was educated at Bacup and Rawtenstall Grammar School. She studied fashion at the Birmingham College of Art

Birmingham School of Art

The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, its Grade I listed building on...

 under Zandra Rhodes

Zandra Rhodes

Zandra Rhodes, CBE, RDI, is an English fashion designer.Zandra Rhodes was introduced to the world of fashion by her mother, who was a fitter in a Paris fashion house and a teacher at Medway College of Art, now the University for the Creative Arts. Rhodes studied first at Medway and then at the...

, and started her fashion career as a fashion illustrator during her senior year (1971) at college. She learnt her trade in the later 1970s as a designer for the Quorum line of Ossie Clark

Ossie Clark

Raymond "Ossie" Clark was an English fashion designer who was a major figure in the Swinging Sixties scene in London and the fashion industry in that era...

.

In 1981, she met her French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Israeli-born husband, David Cohen, and they set up their company, Betty Jackson Ltd. They have worked together ever since.

Life

For much of her career, it was believed that Betty Jackson had lost a leg in a car accident in 1971, during her last year of college. However, on 27 August 2009, in the BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...

 programme No Triumph, No Tragedy, it was revealed that her leg was amputated at the age of six as it failed to grow following a dislocation during her birth. The car accident caused further complications and she has walked with a stick ever since.

She has two children. Her daughter, Pascale, works for a jewellery designer in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and her son, Oliver, is an actor who starred in Lark Rise to Candleford

Lark Rise to Candleford

Lark Rise to Candleford is a trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels about the countryside of north-east Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England, at the end of the 19th century. They were written by Flora Thompson and first published together in 1945...

and Faster

Faster (2010 film)

Faster is a 2010 American action film directed by George Tillman, Jr. It stars Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Carla Gugino, Moon Bloodgood, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Maggie Grace. It was released in the United States on November 24, 2010.-Plot:...

.

Career

In 1973, Jackson joined Wendy Dagworthy as her design assistant. She moved to further positions at Quorum, then Coopers, before setting up her own design company.

She introduced Betty Jackson for Men collection, 1986, and opened her flagship shop in the Brompton Road, London, 1991. In 2000, she launched the Autograph collection for Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer

Marks and Spencer plc is a British retailer headquartered in the City of Westminster, London, with over 700 stores in the United Kingdom and over 300 stores spread across more than 40 countries. It specialises in the selling of clothing and luxury food products...

 and now does Betty Jackson Black for Debenhams

Debenhams

Debenhams plc is a British retailer operating under a department store format in the UK, Ireland and Denmark, and franchise stores in other countries. The Company was founded in the eighteenth century as a single store in London and has now grown to around 160 shops...

.

More recently, as a member of an advisory panel to the British Fashion Council

British Fashion Council

The British Fashion Council is a non-profit trade group for British fashion designers founded in 1983.Based in London and currently chaired by Harold Tillman, who took over from friend Sir Stuart Rose, its main goal is to promote British fashion design across the world.-Main activities:The main...

's Model Health Inquiry, Jackson has been involved in the so-called 'size zero

Size Zero

Size 0 is a women's clothing size in the US catalog sizes system. Size 0 and 00 were invented due to the changing of clothing sizes over time , which has caused the adoption of lower numbers...

' debate. After the death in 2006 of two models suffering from eating disorders, media attention was drawn to the health and size of the girls. Jackson agreed to join the panel.

In 2008, Jackson was asked by the Lord Chief Justice, Nicholas Phillips

Nicholas Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers

Nicholas Addison Phillips, Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers, KG PC is the President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. Before 1 October 2009 his title was Senior Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. He was Master of the Rolls from 2000 to 2005 and Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales from 2005...

, for help with modernising the gowns of the civil judiciary.

Awards

Woman Magazine

Woman Magazine

Woman Magazine may refer to:* Woman , published from 1934 to 1954* Woman , published currently...

 Separates Designer of the Year award, London, 1981, 1983;
Cotton Institute Cotton Designer of the Year award, 1983;
Bath Museum of Costume Dress of the Year award, 1984;
British Designer of the Year award, 1985;
Harvey Nichols

Harvey Nichols

Harvey Nichols, founded in 1813, is an upmarket department store chain. Its original store is in London. Founded in 1813 as a linen shop, it sells many international brands of clothing for women and men, fashion accessories, beauty products, wine and food...

 award, 1985;
International Linen Council Fil d'Or award, 1985, 1989; Viyella award, 1987;
Member of the British Empire, 1987;
Honorary Fellow, Royal College of Art

Royal College of Art

The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...

, London, 1989; Fellow, Birmingham Polytechnic, 1989;
Honorary Fellow, University of Central Lancashire

University of Central Lancashire

The University of Central Lancashire is a university based in Preston, Lancashire, England.The university has its roots in The Institution For The Diffusion Of Useful Knowledge which was founded in 1828. In 1992 it was granted University status by the Privy Council...

, 1992; Designer of the Year, 1999.

External links