Wary high-end retailers, including his early employer, Bergdorf Goodman, were fearful that the prestige of the Halston name was sullied by its presence on the racks of a mass-market merchandiser.

The JCPenney’s deal ultimately proved to be damaging for Halston. By the mid-1980s, industry insiders were suggesting that the garments were not selling as well as expected. While Halston contended it was immensely successful, claiming it generated $1 billion in sales, JCPenney’s executives were less enthusiastic. While high-end fashion designer Pierre Cardin pioneered this form of licensing in Europe, the project of pairing a high-fashion designer with a mass merchandiser best known for selling Levi’s, hardware and household goods was unusual in the United States. The Halston III line for JCPenney was the first by a high-end American fashion designer licensing his name. And with Halston International, the designer created “component” knit pieces – not outfits, but singular garments, turtlenecks, sweater sets, shirts and coats – that consumers could mix and match to their delight. Meanwhile, the Halston Originals boutique sold dresses to department stores across the country, with prices ranging from US$150 to over $1,000.

Located on New York City’s Madison Avenue, it catered to an exclusive list of private clientele that included film and television stars like Lauren Bacall, Greta Garbo, Liza Minelli and Elizabeth Taylor. His high-end line was Halston Ltd., a made-to-order, ready-to-wear business. The world-famous disco club became both a showroom for Halston’s designs and a stage for the man himself, and Halston was often accompanied by an entourage of beautiful women known as “ the Halstonettes.” Halston the businessmanĪs his stature grew, Halston always looked for ways to expand his fashion empire.Įarly in his career, he experimented with what’s known as “ brand diffusion” – which is companies’ use of the same brand name on items at varying price points. During his heyday, he was at “the top of the fashion show-biz heap,” as Women’s Wear Daily publisher John Fairchild once wrote.Īt the legendary Studio 54, he mingled with Bianca Jagger and Andy Warhol. In fact, the image of fashion design as a glamorous and exciting profession owes much to Halston. Yet the designer’s social life was the opposite of understated. A silk Halston evening dress, designed in the mid-1970s.

Halston and minelli