Entertainment

Ewan McGregor transforms into American party animal fashion designer for Netflix series


With a fedora tipped at the perfect angle, giant leather lapels and a cigarette permanently attached to his fingers or lips, Ewan McGregor is channelling American fashion designer Halston.

Playing the role for a forthcoming Netflix series, the Perth-born actor looks every bit the wild party animal who defined the New York’s debauched disco scene in the 70s.

His decadent kaftans and sexy shirt dresses were worn by everyone from Elizabeth Taylor to Liza Minnelli. He was such a fixture that his friend Andy Warhol advised anyone trying to get into Club 54: “Always go with Halston or in Halston.”

The new drama will tell the story of a young milliner who arrived in New York from Des Moines, Iowa, in 1958.

Halston with Liza Minnelli

Roy Halston Frowick dropped his first and last names and became simply Halston. Soon he was Bergdof Goodman’s go-to guy for hats.

Diana Vreeland, the terrifying editor of Harper’s Bazaar was a fan. He made the first lady, Jackie Kennedy, the pillbox she wore to her husband’s inauguration.

When the 60s began swinging and ladies stopped wearing hats, Halston moved into women’s fashion. He took some of the easy shapes of the decade and made them clean and luxurious in suede or silk.

Suddenly, smart ladies could be comfortable as well as fashionable. His pantsuits, which were revolutionary at the time, were worn by society types as well as film stars. Halston became the first celebrity designer.

The A-listers who had bought his hats from the department store now looked to him for their entire wardrobe. Catherine Deneuve, Bianca Jagger, Ali MacGraw, Liza Minnelli, Raquel Welch, Jackie Onassis and the Baronne de Rothschild were private customers at his Manhattan salon. The new First Lady, Pat Nixon, joined them.

Halston knew exactly how to play the rich, bored wives of millionaires and politicians. The salon closed from
12.30-2pm and select clients would be invited for a private lunch. Halston would hold court from zebra-striped banquette, stroking his Pekingese dog Linda. After salad and white wine, a couple of models would waft in wearing outfits he thought might appeal to these particular ladies.

Halston practised what is now known as vanity sizing, shaving a couple of numbers off the figure on the label to give customers the impression they could get into a smaller dress. He was close to Andy Warhol, another gay man from middle America who made New York his own.

Warhol did Halston’s portrait, designed some of his fashion shows and, once he moved into menswear, wore his clothes.

The pair were fixtures on the city’s louche social circuit. At Studio 54, Halston would wear sunglasses to disguise his glazed eyes and be surrounded by the glamorous women who wore his dresses.

Taylor and Minnelli became close friends.

Halston partying with Betty Ford, Elizabeth Taylor and Liza Minnelli

Then there was a wider circle, known as the Halstonettes, who were models and party girls in the studio and at Halston events.

But it wasn’t all champagne and other stimulants. Halston was a huge commercial success, feted by the industry and – more importantly – bought by the general public.

By 1973, he was grossing $30million in sales and sold the company for $12million, remaining in creative control.

Halston became a brand, licensing his name to put on luggage as well as clothing, accessories and perfume. He continued designing for his high-end customers, to the same level of acclaim, but became difficult and diva-like.

Halston will Elizabeth Taylor in New York

In 1983, the company that had bought him out sold up.

Suddenly, he found himself a very small part of the International Playtex conglomerate, fighting for attention among mass market bras and girdles. In 1984, he stormed out.

The last years of his life were not the happiest, as the man who once declared he was only as good as the people he dressed ended up not dressing anyone. He died of an Aids-related cancer in 1990, aged 57.

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There were several attempts to revive the name, and the label, after his death. Sarah Jessica Parker wore two dresses from the Halston Heritage label in Sex and the City 2, and fronted the company for a couple of years.

But Halston was a product of a unique time and place. Over to McGregor to capture that.





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