Halston who grow up in Indiana (US) come from a humble family and go to the top of the design world, maybe because he has a vision in his mind of whom he wanted to be in life as a self-created artist man. At the time, if you cared about design you couldn’t be aware about him.
In his beginning, he did his first ready-to-wear collection but it was not a success. His career launched when Halston designed the iconic pillbox hat worn by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961 at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. Later, his brilliant innovations, as he did the Ultrasuede dress, the halter dress and the luggage for Hartmann. Also he was one of the first to demand African-American models in all of his shows which at the time it was not done.
But while his clothes were minimal, his life was anything but.
Other artist was moved by Halston. Indeed, Tom Ford was influenced by Halston in his work in the mid-‘90s. He did these white, very simple dresses with cut-outs in different parts of your body. Tom Ford was to architecture school being for him Mies Van der Rohe a God. The think about Halston is he gets to have not only the severity of the minimalism but also a tactile luxe. The result in Ford aesthetic is that ‘70s look which is very glamourous, slick, and glossy, like a luxurious minimalism.
Later Tom Ford copied Halston sofas and chairs since he was a Gucci to his own Gucci stores.
He was an fashion designer, and when you are one, the world tells you temptations. Everyone is telling you that you are amazing. A lot of fashion designers do not survive that. Like yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And then, suddenly, he had a real hard no, falling in the abys, including drugs and the lost of his business brand.
Let’s hope we never get that hard no. Never.
First Lady Jackie Kennedy put Halston on the map when she wore his pillbox hat to John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961. © Los Angeles Time
Halston became synonymous with the material known as Ultrasuede — in part because of this blockbuster shirtdress. © Los Angeles Time
Another ‘70s look popularized by Halston was the halter dress. © Los Angeles Time.