HALSTON TIMES 9
THE NETFLIX MINISERIES PEGS ITS DRAMATIC ARC AROUND KEY CREATIONS AND DEVELOPMENTS IN THE DESIGNER’S CAREER.
HALSTON, THE MONONYMOUS AMERICAN FASHION DESIGNER whose stripped-back, body-freeing take on luxury was a defining look of the ’70s, continues to fascinate. ¶ His career still feels so contemporary, both in terms of his aesthetic — when haven’t caftans been a thing? — and his business strategy. The dramatic arc of his career, from anonymity to high-flying celebrity designer to scandal-page fodder, is perennially ripe for exploration in books, documentaries and now a five-part miniseries.¶ “Halston,” now on Netflix, is a passion project for executive producer and director Dan Minahan, whose fascination with the New York scene inhabited by Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli, Halston and Victor Hugo came from reading Interview magazine and After Dark magazine as a gay kid in Connecticut’s suburbs. The genesis for “Halston” took shape years later, after he read Steven Gaines’ Vanity Fair article that became the book “Simply Halston.” ¶ “The hook for me,” Minahan said, “was this idea of someone coming to New York, creating this made-up name, building it into an empire and then being stripped of his name and company — he couldn’t be Halston anymore. It seemed like an archetypal American story.” ¶ Initially conceived as a feature film, it evolved into a limited series at the suggestion of Minahan’s producing partner, Christine Vachon. ¶ “My idea was to structure it around all the different collections or creations of Halston,” Minahan said, “to show his creative process and the maelstrom of the drama around him.” ¶ Many of Halston’s defining creations — most painstakingly reconstructed by costume designer Jeriana San Juan — get ample screen time. Here’s what you’ll see — and how it helped shape the brand, and the life, of the man portrayed in the miniseries by Ewan McGregor.
THE FIRST LADY’S PILLBOX HAT
Halston’s meteoric rise began in 1961 when Jacqueline Kennedy accessorized her Inauguration Day Oleg Cassini suit with a pillbox hat by Bergdorf Goodman milliner Roy Halston Frowick. The hat became a sartorial signature for the incoming first lady and spawned a copycat boom. Halston said a dent in the hat was the result of Mrs. Kennedy’s efforts to hold on to the hat on a windy day, noting that, “everybody who copied it put a dent in it.”
THE HALTER DRESS
Another ’70s look popularized by Halston was the halter dress. Fastening at the waist and around the neck, the backless, often-draped style afforded freedom of movement — which helped entrench it on disco-era dance floors, notably Studio 54. What the nightclubs didn’t do to sear the style into our collective memories, Liza Minnelli did — choosing a red, sequined micro-mini halter dress by Halston for Bob Fosse’s 1972 “Liza With a ‘Z’ ” concert film.
HALSTON III AT J.C. PENNEY
If there was a single downward turning point in the public-facing fortunes of the Halston brand, it would be the deal with J.C. Penney. After the more accessible (read, much less expensive) Halston III line was picked up by the department store chain in 1983, high-end retailers dropped his main line. The most notable of these was Bergdorf Goodman — his first retail champion.
THE ULTRASUEDE SHIRTDRESS
Halston first saw the lightweight polyester/polyurethane blend fabric with a suede-like feel at a 1971 cocktail party in Paris where designer Issey Miyake was wearing an Ultrasuede shirt. He used Ultrasuede for a stylish take on the trench coat, a hit. Then, reflecting the designer’s personal style, the shirtdress was introduced in fall 1972. The Ultrasuede garment model No. 704 lighted the fashion world on fire and became as synonymous with Halston as the fabric it was made out of.
COSTUMES FOR MARTHA GRAHAM’S ‘RITE OF SPRING’
The designer’s public life — and the miniseries — come to a close with the costumes he designed for “Rite of Spring” by longtime friend and supporter Martha Graham. Although far less known than his career-making looks, the draped costumes bore many of the hallmarks of his style. The show, with dancer George White, above, debuted February 1984. By fall of that year Halston would officially be gone from the label that bore his name.
THE HALSTON FRAGRANCE BOTTLE
The bottle was designed by Elsa Peretti, but it marked Halston’s first major brand extension. His insistence on the design — in conflict with the brand’s owner, Norton Simon Inc. — is recounted in the series. Minahan said there was a purpose in focusing on the packaging. “We see him making things, why he is who he is and then all the crazy people around him. You see [Elsa] find the shell on the beach and then see it become this bottle.”
LIZA MINNELLI
Halston had many celebrity champions — Babe Paley, Elizabeth Taylor, Bianca Jagger, Anjelica Huston — but none was as close as Liza Minnelli (Krysta Rodriguez in the Netflix series). Minnelli wore the designer for decades, but her support was on full display during important life moments. She accepted the 1973 lead actress Oscar for “Cabaret” in a gold Halston ensemble, and, as seen in the series, wore a custom butter-yellow pantsuit for her 1974 wedding to Jack Haley Jr.
HALSTON’S PERSONAL STYLE
The uniform Ewan McGregor’s Halston wears throughout the series (black cashmere turtleneck, slacks, mostly black and occasionally white jackets and sport coats, with dark sunglasses) wasn’t just personal branding. It was an aesthetic that reflected the simple, stripped-back luxe of his designs. It was also a savvy business decision. His Times 1990 obituary included this quote: “It’s traditional ... that the vendeur wears black so as not to compete with the client or the clothes.”
CAFTANS
There are a lot of free-floating fabrics to be had across the five episodes of the Netflix’s miniseries, a nod to the billowy caftans that were part of the designer’s oeuvre. The first episode re-creates the eureka moment with a royal-blue tie-dye caftan worn by Rebecca Dayan’s Elsa Peretti in a fashion show.