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| Born | Roy Halston Frowick April 23, 1932 Des Moines, Iowa, United States |
| Died | March 26, 1990 (aged 57) San Francisco, California |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Fashion designer |
Roy Halston Frowick, also known as Halston (April 23, 1932 – March 26, 1990) was a 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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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.
As "the first designer to realize the potential of licensing himself," his influence went beyond style to reshape the business of fashion.[3] 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[4] Halston, his perfume, was sold in a bottle designed by Elsa Peretti and was the second biggest selling perfume of all time.[5]
Halston was very influential in airline uniform designs. His designs were featured on now defunct carrier Braniff. His designs were more muted than the airline's past uniform designs by Emilio Pucci. He made interchangeable separates in shades of bone, tan, taupe, and brown. He also designed the seat covers that were added on the aircraft and known as the "Ultra look".[6]
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 1984 he was fired from his own company and lost the right to design and sell clothes under his own name.
In 1990, Halston died of lung cancer from complications of AIDS in San Francisco, California.[7]
| Persondata | |
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| NAME | Halston |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Frowick, Roy Halston |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Fashion designer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 23, 1932 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Des Moines, Iowa, United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 26, 1990 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | San Francisco, California |