Johnson Hartig is an American fashion designer. He co-founded Libertine and is the current CEO and Creative Director of the fashion line. Hartig's work has been featured in Vogue, The World of Interiors, New York Times, and has been worn by a number of celebrities. "The clothes are joyful, multimedia, collaged art pieces as likely to be worn by society matriarchs as twentysomething rock 'n' rollers,” according to Los Angeles Times. His book, Johnson Hartig/Libertine: The Creative Beauty, Humor, and Inspiration Behind the Cult Label, was published by Rizzoli in 2015.
Early life
Hartig was born in Whittier, California. As a youngster, he was taught to sew by his grandmother and the lady next door. Later, he traveled the world learning about different cultures because his father worked for an international oil company. Returning to the United States he attended California State University.
Libertine
Settling in Los Angeles, California, Hartig founded the Libertine clothing line in 2001 with DKNYgraphic designer Cindy Greene, a vocalist of electro-pop band Fischerspooner. Originally, his designs—vintage style with silk-screened art like skulls, 19th century portraits, and crystal beading—caught the attention of fashion designers like Karl Lagerfeld as well as artists such as Damien Hirst. In 2007, Hartig designed one of Target's Go International collaborations, and dissolved his partnership with Greene soon after. Hartig first met Vogue editor Anna Wintour, in 2003 and subsequently the magazine has featured his clothes several times. The following year Libertine was nominated as one of the 10 semi-finalists in the first CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund which was documented in the film directed by Douglass Keeve He became one of the first designers to create a line for the Wear LACMA project, which was sold to benefit the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. For the museum's 50th anniversary in 2015, Hartig was one of those who created new Wear LACMA pieces to mark the occasion. On September 22 of that same year, Rizzoli publishing released the book, Libertine: The Creative Beauty, Humor, and Inspiration Behind the Cult Label, which was written by Hartig, with a foreword by Thom Browne and Betty Halbreich. The book contains a history of the designer's clothing line, as well as documentation of some of his antics including the time Hartig took a bath in Karl Lagerfield's hotel room tub, swapping some of his clothing for original art pieces from Damien Hirst, and conning Cher into signing a note claiming he is her favorite designer. In November 2016, at an invite-only Libertine event at Neiman Marcus, former San Francisco mayorWillie Brown presented Hartig with a government proclamation signifying the key to the city. In 2019, Hartig created luxury-apparel line to honor Jimi Hendrix in honor of the 50th anniversary of the musician's Electic Ladyland album. Among the celebrities who wear Hartig's Libertine clothes include Mick Jagger, , , Martha Stewart, , , , Beyonce, , LL Cool J, Sting, Cher, Taylor Swift, P Diddy, Usher, Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Cyndi Lauper, Brandi Carlile, and Damien Hirst.
