The Impossible Coversation.. Roy Halston Frowick aka HALSTON

It seems rather apropos that I conjured up the spirit of Halston at this time in fashion to have one of those “impossible conversations.” Fashion is most definitely in flux and rather rudderless in many ways but here was a man who saw what was coming and he was punished for it. 

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Roy Halston Frowick , a milliner, who catapulted into the fashion scene via Bergdorf Goodman and Jackie Kennedy and a host of socials but it wasn’t until he decided to leave BG and branch out into fashion that he, Halston, as he was soon to be known, became the designer of the moment and an “it boy” on the social scene. Not only was he a revelation with his designs but this corn fed boy was soon mixing with the high and mighty of the 70’s who represented society, entertainment, power brokers, politics and of course fashion. 

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As you will read, I wanted to know what he thought of today’s fashion as well as how he looked back upon his oeuvre and the decisions which were ultimately his downfall. It can be said that being too early is just as damaging as being too late.

He was haughty, he had presence, he was idiosyncratic, like referring to himself with the royal we, a naughty boy and not only was he was a great talent with cloth but equally talented when it came to promoting himself and his brand. He was one of the earliest to establish an American fashion empire and yet in the end all of it came crashing down on him like a ton of bricks.

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So with a little help from my friends (Fred Rottman & JB) we can hear about the rise and fall of a great American designer whose life and career became a sort of tragedy in the end but if you lived in that era you never can forget him or the grandiosity of it all so here Halston speaks one more time!........

Jeffrey Felner: How and what would you most like to be remembered for and why?

Halston: How would I like to be remembered? … Well, you know, it really is time the fashion industry understands what all the fuss was about with me among THE most fashionable ladies of my era ... the 70s. Many say we stood out as the premier “American“ designer because we designed Jackie Kennedy’s Pill Box hat, and some say Ultrasuede made me a household name. Then there are those people who insist the Lizas, the Biancas, the Nans, the Babes, and the Angelicas made me famous and lastly there is the dreaded Studio 54 stigma attached to me which made people think we only did drugs, had sex and stayed out all night ... every night. 

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We might guess all of these things contributed to my fame. We would however like to be remembered as the designer who recognized and understood the enormous change in women’s lifestyles that began emerging at the onset of the 1970s, especially in America. Women were becoming more independent, freer, and women were going to work to achieve serious careers. These women needed a whole new approach to dressing and we gave that to them and they came running to my door. We had an EMPIRE!

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I want people to understand that yes, the cuts and fit and my aesthetic were all very special and new but it was not the clothes themselves that were revolutionary…  It was my vision of a new modern American woman you see, and what we designed for her, that was revolutionary at the time.

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JF: What’s your take on so called designers like Demna Gvasalia (Vetements & Balenciaga), Hedi Slimane (YSL & Celine) and Maria Chiuri Grazia (Dior)?

H: And what do I think of today’s designers like Maria Chiuri Grazia, Hedi Slimane and Demna Gvasalia, well we don’t like to comment on other designers work but we do think it’s more challenging today especially if one lacks vision and real talent. These designers have to create modern clothes as well as wanting to find their own voice at a time when top tier fashion is less relevant. There are so many more distractions to focus on today and there are no real lifestyle revolutions or icons like those of the late 60’s and 70’s.

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JF: In hindsight are you regretful for what you initiated with JCP even though it was you who saw the future before anyone else? Do you feel there was an overreaction?

H: Regret the JCPenny decision?  That’s a tough question. We again saw the future but we were too early, a common practice of visionaries, and we certainly are not getting the credit we deserve for seeing it before it happened. Fashion tends to have a very short memory when it comes to the true visionaries such as myself! ... between us, Ira was a pussy!

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It was a natural for me and we thought it would be for women all across America. After all I, me,  we, was THE top American designer … a total break from French Couture!  My look was quite Democratic not aristocratic, so offering the Halston look at affordable prices, available to a mass market seemed the natural progression. We took a big chance, a big risk and we paid dearly.

He was a triple Taurus so that kept him attempting to control way too many aspects of his trajectory. So as a maverick in having so many diverse design projects  and trusting those  executives of a parent company to care, .when in fact they had little to no interest  in fashion… $$$$$ was their only interest.  The only thing I can remember that shocked me was when he asked me did I like the clothes....it was as if he had lost his confidence.  It felt like a punch in the gut.  As a model I knew I was there to serve his vision, not the other way round.  Alva Chinn

 

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JF: If you were designing today, what path do you think you would be following and would you still want to be designing and why? How do you think social media would play in your world?

H: Yes, we would like to design today and would follow the same formula starting with listening closely to my ladies. Like Chanel, my look is always somewhere in the air, even now because it still makes sense, it remains practical and it makes women look good. Yes, we think we could show the world where it all came from and how its validity has endured.

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JF: If you could produce a biopic of your career, would you want a sanitized version or would you also want the down and dirty gritty parts that most people choose not to write about and why?

H: If I would produce a biopic of my life we don’t see the point of getting into any of that down and dirty personal salacious stuff, after all that’s all in the past, what’s the point ....so people will run to see it for the specific purpose of drooling over innuendo, smut, gossip and assumption ... no thanks?
I was the great American designer that defined an era, I was a visionary, and I would focus on what we accomplished and leave the dirt to everyone’s imagination and to the Jackie Susanns of fashion writers! (MG)

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