Betsey Johnson is ready for her close-up.
The iconic fashion designer (and free spirit) is adding reality star to her resume, with the launch of her new show XOX Betsey Johnson, which follows Johnson and her daughter as they try to pick up the pieces following her company's bankruptcy filing last April.
The timing of the show couldn't have come at a more interesting time for the two. For one, Betsey's daughter Lulu was also going through a rough patch.
"Both of our lives were kind of falling apart. We both didn't know what was going to happen next," Lulu says in a recent visit to the THR Cover Lounge. "My mother's company was going through some major changes. I was going through some major changes as well, my marriage was on the fritz, if you will."
VIDEO: Betsey Johnson Reality Series' First Trailer Debuts
For Betsey, it was decision time after she closed all of her stores. "I had to decide: 'Do I continue or do I stop?'" she says. "It was like I rejoined [the industry]. I'm always a crazy optimist, but at the end of the day, it was fantastic."
XOX Betsey Johnson will also give an inside look at life as Betsey's daughter, who has often been in her mother's shadow, and their rather unique dynamic. In the premiere episode, it's revealed that the two attend couples therapy to work out the kinks. "I unzippered my soul and was completely exposing myself to the world for the first time," Lulu says.
Other issues that will be explored are of the more dramatic variety, including Lulu's struggles about not having a relationship with her father and Lulu's attempts at following in her mother's footsteps to start her own clothing line.
"I'm so happy the Style show gives us a chance for my girlfriends to see me and get to know me, they can see Lulu and get to know her," Betsey says.
Watch the uncensored 30-minute interview below.
XOX Betsey Johnson debuts at 8 p.m. Sunday on Style Network.
E-mail: Philiana.Ng@thr.com
Twitter: @insidethetube
