Halston

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Roy Halston Frowick, also known as Halston (April 23, 1932–March 26, 1990) was an iconic clothing designer of the 1970s. His long dresses or copies of his style were popular fashion wear in mid-1970s discotheques.

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[edit] Biography

He was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He graduated from Bosse High School in Evansville, Indiana. He began his career as a milliner (designing the pillbox hat Jacqueline Kennedy wore to her husband's 1961 Presidential inauguration) and when he moved to designing women's wear, Newsweek dubbed him "the premier fashion designer of all America."[1] His designs were worn by Bianca Jagger, Liza Minnelli, Anjelica Huston, Lauren Bacall, Babe Paley, and Elizabeth Taylor,[2] setting a style that would be closely associated with the international jet set of the era.

Despite his achievements, his increasing drug use and failure to meet deadlines (he was reluctant to hire junior designers to design licensed products) undermined his success. In October of 1984 he was fired from his own company and lost the right to design and sell clothes under his own name. In 1990, he died of AIDS in San Francisco, California.[3] According to Salon.com, Halston was "the first international fashion superstar -- and possibly the best designer America has ever had."[4]

[edit] Influence

As "the first designer to realize the potential of licensing himself," his influence went beyond style to reshape the business of fashion. [1]. Through his licensing agreement with JC Penney, his designs were accessible to women at a variety of income levels. Although this practice is not uncommon today, it was a controversial move at the time[5] Halston, his perfume, was sold in a bottle designed by Elsa Peretti and was the second biggest selling perfume of all time.[6]

[edit] Airline uniform designs

Halston was very influential in airline uniform designs. His designs were more muted than the airline uniform designs of competitor Emilio Pucci. He made interchangeable separates in shades of bone, tan, taupe, and brown.[7]

[edit] References in popular culture

In the movie Tootsie (1982) Julie (played by Jessica Lange) asks Michael (played by Dustin Hoffman) if she can borrow his/Dorothy's Halston.

In the Sister Sledge disco hit "He's The Greatest Dancer" (Atlantic Records 1979) Halston is mentioned in a description of a well-dressed man: "Halston, Gucci, Fiorucci - he looks like a still, the man is dressed to kill"

The Billy Joel song "Big Shot" contains the lines: "And they were all impressed with your Halston dress/and the people that you knew at Elaine's."

[edit] References

  1. ^ "As Good As the People He Dressed", January Magazine. Accessed February 1, 2007
  2. ^ "Halston (Roy Halston Frowick) (1932-1990)" Obituary. Accessed February 1, 2007
  3. ^ http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,969773,00.html
  4. ^ "Fashion Victim" Accessed February 1, 2007
  5. ^ Bluttal, Steven and Patrica Mears: "Halston," unpaginated. Phaidon Press, 2001.
  6. ^ "Fashion Victim", Salon.com Accessed February 1, 2007
  7. ^ http://www.braniffinternational.org/image/halstonfashion.htm
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