©François Goizé
Daring, provocative and boundary-defying, Betony Vernon is an American-born designer, sexual anthropologist and author based in Paris.
She holds a Bachelors degree in Art History with a minor in Metalsmithing from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a Masters degree in Industrial Design from Domus Academy, Milan.
Her design work has been included in a number of International exhibitions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, The Triennale Design Museum in Milan and the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. She has designed for several brands, including Missoni, Gianfranco Ferré, Alexander Wang and Fornasetti. In 2002, her own collection “Paradise Found - Fine Erotic Jewelry” became her primary focus and the interface for what she describes as her mission - to empower women and men to enjoy and share greater pleasure.
She speaks for educational institutions like The European Institute of Design and Domus Academy in Milan. She also teaches ”Sexual Well-Being” and “Bettering Your Sexual Skills” Salons for individuals, couples and groups. Through the experience of private consulting and public speaking, she realized that she must reach a wider public with the intent to broaden self-esteem, health and well-being, especially around the issues of body acceptance and the pleasures of sex. In 2008 she co-produced and presented “le Boudoir” which comprised 7 didactic cameos for MTV, Italy. In 2016 Betony trained the lead actors and featured in the French film Iris (Universal Pictures) by Jalil Lespert with Charlotte Le Bon, Romain Duris.
Rizzoli International published Vernon’s first book The Boudoir Bible, The Uninhibited Sex Guide for Today in February 2013. The tome is currently available in 7 languages. A re-edition of the French version published by Robert Laffont was released in November 2016 after reaching bestseller status.
Vernon designed the Origin Chair, a functional sculpture carved in statuary marble from Monte Altissima,Italy. It was unveiled in December 2012 at The Triennale Museum of Design and has since traveled to MUDAC - Museum of Design and Contemporary Art, Lausanne. In November 2015 the work was exhibited in Vernon’s carte blanche for the Gewerbemuseum, Winterthur.
A selection of Betony’s Paradise Found Fine Erotic Jewelry Collection was selected for Exhibition BODY, a curation of over 30 designers whose works revolve around the human body that opened on September 15th 2016 in Wroclaw, Poland. The exhibition was realized as part of the project Human of the Anthropocene – European Capital of Culture 2016.
In 2017 Vernon’s Boudoir Box was revealed to the general public for the first time since its creation in 1999 at the Museum of Modern Art, Paris in the exhibition Medusa – Bijoux et Tabous.
In September 2017, Vernon’s latest work, the Theta Frequency Session #1, was presented in the prestigious Salle Dufy of the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. It is the result of over 20 years of research on the effects of constraint and partial or total suspension of the human body and mind.
Vernon’s ultimate goal, both as author and designer, is to “dismantle the pleasure taboo.”