Halston F/W 08.09 NYC

[Mutterlein]

Originally Posted by Mutterlein

Thanks Alejandro for the posts.

It's good to see the clothes move, the suits are especially nice.

Still not sure how potent the appeal of these clothes are. It's difficult to imagine any of these things being so desirable that they eclipse the label's years of bad business and being kept in a dusty closet.

I agree with Cathy that the simplicity and practicality are right for the label but glamour, in my opinion, is just as essential. If they could bring back the concept of Halston as a frequenter of Studio 54, drinking champagne with Pat Cleveland, designing exquisite and expensive clothes for the stars, there's an appeal to it if done right.

Of course there's a danger with nostalgia of getting stuck in the past. Certainly there's a way to do glamour right and bring that old energy back, I suppose that's Rachel Zoe's job.

Halston is one of my American design heroes, if his name and his "spirit" can find a place for themselves in today's fashion it will mean a lot of good things for the future of New York fashion.

On second thought,

I'll take an understated collection over the gaudy monstrosity it could have easily been.

[ultramarine]

the pieces pay perfect respect to Halston and his house .... Id pay big bucks for some of the pieces ... the dresses are timeless ... some of the pieces may be a bit literal but if you mix em theyll SHINE!

Coolness! Im thrilled it didnt get Zoebot-ed!

[Boomer]

Originally Posted by Mutterlein

Halston is one of my American design heroes, if his name and his "spirit" can find a place for themselves in today's fashion it will mean a lot of good things for the future of New York fashion.

I couldn't agree more- I have worshiped him since 54 days... After the disappointments of the last few false starts, let us hope this is the dynamic new day we have all hoped for after so many years....There were many young fashion types who never even really knew of him until now- a shocking situation! With Harvey's money and a good design and marketing team, they should be able to grow the brand again (and, pray, not at JC Penney this time...) And take heart, oh ye of little faith- Karl was blasted after several shows when he first started righting the Chanel ship, so patience is a virtue...!!

[Boomer]

Oh, and btw, for anyone who may be interested in where this all began, there is some wonderful material here...

http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums...ton-37084.html

[softgrey]

seriously...

i think they should get over to elsa perretti's place and beg on their hands and knees for a collaboration...
because it just IS NOT halston without elsa perretti accessories!!!...

[Spike413]

^ YES!!!

Those square pendants just weren't cutting it.

[Nemova]

Originally Posted by Boomer

I couldn't agree more- I have worshiped him since 54 days... After the disappointments of the last few false starts, let us hope this is the dynamic new day we have all hoped for after so many years....There were many young fashion types who never even really knew of him until now- a shocking situation! With Harvey's money and a good design and marketing team, they should be able to grow the brand again (and, pray, not at JC Penney this time...) And take heart, oh ye of little faith- Karl was blasted after several shows when he first started righting the Chanel ship, so patience is a virtue...!!

I completely agree, Boomer. We should all understand that it takes time before a designer fully grasps the original concept of a brand, especially one like Halston. I have faith in Marco Zanini.

[Spike413]

Cothy Horyn's thoughts on the Halston/Net a Porter arrangement; nytimes.com

February 12, 2008, 7:48 pm

Fashion Test Drive

By Cathy Horyn

When Net-a-Porter announced it planned to sell two styles from the Halston runway the day after the show, I thought it would be interesting to test drive the concept. After all, this was the first time, to my knowledge, that a look from a designer runway would be immediately available to consumers. The plan was for Net-a-Porter to have two shirt dress styles, in chocolate brown or teal blue, and a draped silk jersey shift with a low back. The Halston show was last Monday, and Net-a-Porter planned to go live with its sale within 24 hours of the show. I felt like Betty Crocker, testing a new concept.

Not certain when the dresses would be posted on Tuesday, I started calling the Net-a-Porter order line at 8 a.m., in NYC, and was told by a British sales agent to check back later. Around 1 p.m., an agent told me the sale would start “imminently,” and I clicked to the site. Nothing. Finally, around 2:20 p.m., I noticed activity on the site. The sale had started. I clicked on the chocolate brown shirt dress, $1,495, and saw the smaller sizes were already sold out. Boy, that was fast. Using a friend’s credit card that was registered with Net-a-Porter, from a prior sale, I ordered the brown dress in size 44. This was a bit of a guess; I can be a size 40, 42 or 44, depending on the designer and the cut of the garment. My prime objective, though, was to get the dress—and get it delivered to the office the same day. But my friend and I had trouble processing the order, after punching in the information twice, and a telephone call was made to Net-a-Porter to see what the trouble was. Meanwhile, I didn’t think we would be able to meet the 3 p.m. deadline for NYC same-day delivery. Indeed, as I learned later from Natalie Massenet, the founder and chief executive of Net-a-Porter, there was a massive deluge of calls and orders for the Halston dresses, and same-day delivery was supposed to be extended beyond the normal cut-off time. It didn’t happen for my order.


Left, wool jersey Halston dress; right, Halston satin shirt dress. Both dresses were styled at Halston. (Evan Sung for The New York Times)

The dress arrived Wednesday afternoon at the office. The delay didn’t really bother me. What’s one day compared to waiting five or six months, as you normally would for a fall 2008 dress. But I was disappointed with the dress. Although Net-a-Porter had clearly described the dress as wool jersey, I had seen the style in the show—and it was in sleek silk satin and a warmer tone. Further, the dress didn’t seem to be worth $1,495. Unlike the thousands of women who logged into Net-a-Porter, I had had the advantage of seeing the collection in the studio and on the runway, and the clothes had seemed more substantial to me. I was also having trouble seeing what distinguished this wool jersey dress from another designer make, and, frankly, I had been seduced by the silk version on the runway. It looked cooler. Also, the dress didn’t fit—that was my fault. I should have gone for the 42—or, anyway, something smaller. I looked a little schlumpfy, if you know what I mean.

Was this a case of bait and switch? Was the wool jersey shirt dress part of the runway collection or was it a so-called commercial look done specially for Net-a-Porter’s Halston sale?


The Halston’s wool jersey dress that Ms. Horyn ordered, size 44, from Net-a-porter. (Evan Sung for The New York Times)

A day or so later, I learned that the wool jersey dress was supposed to be on the runway—it’s listed, in fact, on the run-of-show—but at the last minute Marco Zanini, the Halston designer, had pulled it and substituted the satin shirt-dress. Zanini told me yesterday that he had switched dresses because there was already a lot of wool jersey on the runway—one of the long, draw-string evening dresses is in the same fabric, as is a teal gown.
I also telephoned Bonnie Takhar, the chief executive of Halston, and shared my consumerist misgivings about the dress. She was concerned. She said the dress came from the same factory that had made the samples, so the quality should be identical. (Neither Takhar nor Massenet will say how large the initial Net-a-Porter was, but production and delivery of the garments from the factory took about 30 days, which Takhar said was normal.)
Anyway, I said to Takhar that, apart from the size, maybe the problem was the dress didn’t seem in the same stylish company as the other runway pieces, and not as flattering (to my eye) as the satin shirt dress. Obviously it would have helped if BOTH styles, the low-back draped shift and the jersey shirt dress, had been on the runway, given all the ballyhoo about the runway-to-consumer concept. Takhar agreed. She then offered to have my dress styled as it would have appeared on the runway.

Which Zanini did yesterday, using a size-44 model and pairing the dress with a sleeveless cashmere turtleneck and high suede boots. In Halston’s defense, it looked great—and better, I think, without the sash belt that comes with each dress. Net-a-Porter has sold out of the brown shirt dress, though it still has a size left in the teal, and Massenet told me last Friday that she had not heard any displeasure from customers.


The runway version of the satin Halston shirt dress. (Stephanie Colgan for The New York Times)

In the end, I think that the retail concept was successful, apart from the delays and overload at the Net-a-Porter site. Retail companies, in partnership with design houses, have to take risks. But though I had always planned to return the dress after the test drive, I wasn’t tempted to keep it. And I don’t think my mind would have been changed by having the proper size. I wanted to see more bang for my buck, and it wasn’t to be found with this particular garment. This is not to say the other Halston garments I saw aren’t up to snuff—they are, inside and out. But a style as basic as a shirt dress had better measure up in fabric, color and shape, all the components, if it’s going to hang as a luxury label—and meet a critical gaze.

[Bidwell]

Better luck next time, IF there is one. One never knows these days.
He'll have to concentrate much more on details but it is obviously a work in progress and only the first trial.
I think the revival of a house is only as good as its contemporary equivalent. I do think his work was radical at the time but has since then been absorbed by SO many designers since that its relevance is too widespread to be singular again.
Whatever he attempts may well venture to close to the pieces done by Donna Karan and Ford already.

[happyguy]

i wish him all the best. this has loots of potential. especially for the brand to be what it once was. i am alreay excited by the next fashion week show. i want to see which direction he takes Halston in.

[LUXXX]

Loves these looks SO much...




catwalking.com