Halston is Netflix’s five-part miniseries that packs a countless dose of explosive ingredients: glamor, sex, parties, hard drugs, fashion, celebrities, 1970s New York, Ewan McGregor and the life of iconic designer Roy Halston Frowick, known “simply” as Halston.
For several weeks the series featured in the Top 10 of the most popular titles in our country on the platform streaming (Something not easy to achieve with the huge amount of news that they present daily). To this we add that McGregor’s wonderful work has led him to win the award for best leading actor in a miniseries at the 2021 Emmy Awards, as we read in Espinof.
But far from fiction Who really is halston? We unravel the different stages of his life to find out what made Roy one of the proper names with capital letters in the history of fashion.
Birth to a middle-class family in Iowa
At the height of the Great Depression, specifically on April 23, 1932, Halston came into the world in the heart of a middle-class family in Des Moines, Iowa. A place far from the spotlight and the chic. Together with two brothers and a sister, Evansville, Indiana, grew up, a corner that did not enjoy the charm of action-packed cities like New York, we discovered in Radio Times.
The studios, in Chicago
In 1952 Roy decided to take the leap and move to a city more suited to his needs, Chicago. In the city he began his studies at the University of Chicago, but after only one semester he left his career to bet on his true passion, drawing. So his next stop was School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
The definitive change, his landing in New York
The lights of New York were the main target of Halston’s ambition and in 1957 he moved to the Big Apple. The milliner Lilly Daché was his first destination, a place that soon after was replaced by the Bergdorf Goodman department store. Among Goodman’s wealthy clients was Jackie Kennedy.
Her first boom professional reminds us of one of the most significant moments in the history of the United States: the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy on January 20, 1961. For the occasion, Jackie wore a hat pillbox designed by Halston, milestone that achieved that the name of Roy was on the lips of all high society.
Goodbye to the hat shop, hello to the garments
Despite the success of their hats, society was immersed in a profound change and the new times left behind this formal complement. In view of the decline, Halston had to reinvent himself and in 1966 he created his first clothing line for the store where he worked.
Just two years later he opened his own boutique on Madison Avenue and marked a before and after in fashion history. Halston achieved a combo of timelessness and effectiveness at the same time adhered to the trends of a time that found joy in nighttime settings. He eliminated zippers, reverted to Vionnet’s beige cut, and minimized seams to celebrate feminine curves in a fusion of flowing fabrics and vibrant disco colors.
One of the regular figures at Studio 54
Who does not know the anecdotes that surround the Studio 54? The most mythical club in New York was the place where celebrities, bohemians and rich people danced every night between disco music, drugs of all colors and even race horses.
Such was Halston’s influence that his muses became the Halstonettes and he was in charge of organizing the party in honor of Bianca Jagger in 1977 at the legendary club. The nights were long, the addictions were out of his control and it seemed that his invincible empire would never stop generating millions everywhere, but nothing (or almost nothing) is forever.
A life where speed and ambition took their toll
Halston’s rise and fall were meteoric. During the early years of his firm’s growth, Halston enjoyed international fame, but nothing seemed to be enough. Greta Garbo, Lauren Bacall, Liza Minnelli and Elizabeth Taylor were some of her faithful advocates and friends. and the looks Nocturnal ones bore his recognizable signature.
Seeking further growth, Halston sold the brand and its licenses in 1973 to Norton Simon, Inc, although he continued as a designer, as we read on Oprah Daily. A first step towards the precipice although there were still years of glory.
In 1978 he moved his store to the Olympic Tower. On the 21st floor of the building, he enjoyed the views of the city that saw his creativity grow and his life lost little by little.
Those were years of endless parties, luxury without measure and the occasional controversy related to his irascible temperament, a combination of high voltage elements that advanced a tragic end.
In 1983 he took a wrong step and allied himself with the low-cost chain JCPenney in order to offer their creations to the general public. This step was misunderstood by the industry and Halston’s numbers met the color red. Thus, in 1984 he was stripped of his company.
The sad end, as a family
At the very bottom of his professional career it became known that the designer had HIV, the pandemic that hit a whole generation. Sick and unbranded, he left everything in New York to spend his last days with his family in California confirmed in the Daily Mail, where he would die as one of the most important designers in fashion history on March 26, 1990.
More than 30 years have passed since the death of the American, but his legacy is so solid that neither the passage of time nor the arrival of new generations can make us forget the beauty of his designs and his imposing character.
Photographs | Gtres