Daily Style Phile: Betsey Johnson Cartwheels Her Way Into Our Hearts

[Betsey Johnson at her Fall '08 show last spring. Photo by Getty]

Betsey Johnson's show has just ended, backstage, the designer was heard instructing her runway models:

"I want you to flyyyy like Tinkerbell! Fly out the window! Wave your arrrrrms!"

The 66 year old, who is celebrating her collection's 30th birthday, has flown her way into my own heart, reminding me that age is just a number, and that it's absolutely possible to make money doing whatever it is you love.  She has cartwheeled her way to success, surprising many creating a profitable business out of tutus and lace, and she's looked good doing it.

More photos and story below:

"Still a textbook workaholic at age 60, Johnson has no plans to retire, but she's finally ready to smell the roses. To that end, she spends one week a month working from Betseyville, her Mexican vacation home, where she spends two hours each afternoon sunbathing on the shores of the Pacific. Looking back, Johnson is happy that she never attracted big investors or became part of a huge company. "We're not brilliant, big-boy garmento movers and groovers," she says, "but we've had a wonderful, enjoyable, panicked, crazy, happy time over the past 25 years--all because we own it."--Nadine Heintz for Inc.com