Boogie Nights Are Back

By Belinda Luscombe

Roy Frowick Halston was the first fashion superstar, a huge personality who was the embodiment of '70s glamour, excess and hyperactive nightlife, the dresser of such gorgeous creatures as Elizabeth Taylor, Liza Minnelli, Lauren Bacall and Jacqueline Kennedy (he even created her pink pillbox hat). But as a designer, he was all minimalist chic. His simple, elegant lines, his use of sensual, clinging fabrics like jersey and cashmere and practical ones like Ultrasuede and his disavowal of the extraneous made him the quintessential American designer. But a businessman he was not. Long before he died in 1990, at the age of 57, he had lost control of his name, and his label was in tatters.

Hang on to your pillbox: Halston may be back. Under the guidance of designer Randolph Duke and managing director Carmine Porcelli, the Halston label is getting hotter than a mink stole in August. Geena Davis and Minnie Driver triggered a volley of flashbulbs when they wore Halston to the Oscars in March. Exclusive department stores are stocking Halston again. After three well-received fashion shows, naysayers who clucked that the label was best consigned to history are beginning to hold their tongue. Just as folks are fondly looking back on the old Halston haunt Studio 54, with two movies in production and a book out, so they're turning their eyes again to the label that the elite wore there.

But has all the success come too fast? Just last week Catterton Partners, an investment firm with no real experience in fashion, bought the Halston label from current owners Tropic Tex International, a clothing importer and marketer. Tropic Tex was so dogged by production, delivery and cash-flow problems that many retailers had declined to stock Halston again. Catterton stepped in to provide a desperately needed infusion of capital, and the company vows that all current orders will be filled. But it is unclear whether the private venture-capitalist outfit will be able to meet the needs of a white-hot clothing line in the future. And if money gets tight again, who knows if Duke and Porcelli, the architects of Halston's current success, will want to stay around?

Were Halston alive today, he would probably sense a chilling deja vu in all this business uncertainty. His label's demise was precipitated by the launching of the Halston III line he created for J.C. Penney in 1983. Not only were sales disappointing, but upscale establishments like Bergdorf Goodman, spurning a line that was also available in middle-class department stores, pulled the whole label off their racks. After that debacle Halston's empire collapsed, and he eventually lost control of his name. The label remained dormant until three years ago, when Tropic Tex decided to start it up again and recruited Porcelli, who hired Duke.

The Las Vegas-born designer, 40, got his start designing swimsuits for Anne Cole and had his own line of sports clothes for several years. He boasts that he once sold 5,000 five-piece matching outfits with their own carry bag in five minutes on QVC. "They were $79.95," says Duke. "You couldn't even walk into a store and get two pieces for that." With the same optimistic exuberance, Duke picked up a phone and sold himself for the job at Halston after reading in the papers that the label was being resurrected.

Other people called to offer their services, including former Halston staff members. "We met with them and eventually hired some," says Duke. "I knew it would either be great or not so great, but they really took me under their wing. I learned a lot from them. They learned a few new tricks from me." Five former Halston employees, including the head draper and the head seamstress, now work with Duke, providing a sense of continuity between the old and new Halston houses. But Duke insists that he is not trying to be the designer reincarnated. "I'm so completely different from Halston," he says. "We are not reinventing the man. We are resurrecting the brand."

Happily, Duke's aesthetic dovetails with Halston's. Like his predecessor, Duke is comfortable with knits and fabrics that drape the body in what he calls a "neo-Grecian look." His clothes are glamorous and luxurious but not outre. They have an American smartness and good sense about them without being dowdy or frumpy. His fall '98 collection featured intricately beaded gowns, skirts and tops, often paired with a coat or sweater of the same color in a softer fabric. It's a look in which almost anyone shines. Marin Hopper, fashion director of Elle, thinks Duke has it all sewn up. "He understands both worlds of really wanting to bare your soul on one hand," she says, "and on the other to have a silhouette that shows your curves but not all your skin."

Assuming Catterton can keep the cash flowing, Halston's prospects look bright. The company has an impressive lineup of licensees, the press and retailers love the clothes, and the label enjoys sterling-silver brand-name recognition. But only time will tell whether Halston's future is as good as its seams.

--With reporting by Georgia Harbison/New York

With reporting by Georgia Harbison/New York