Ewan McGregor to Portray Iconic Designer Halston in Upcoming TV Series
Scottish actor Ewan McGregor will executive produce an upcoming TV series about iconic fashion designer Roy Halston Frowick, better known to the world as Halston. Telling the story of the rise and fall of America’s first real celebrity fashion designer, Simply Halston will also see McGregor take the lead role.
Written by Sharr White (The Affair) and to be directed by Dan Minahan (American Crime Story), Simply Halston tracks Halston as he leverages his single, invented name into a worldwide fashion empire that’s synonymous with luxury, sex, status and fame, literally defining the era he lives in, 1970s and ‘80s New York — until a hostile takeover forces him to battle for control of his most precious asset … the name Halston itself.
Halston was born in Iowa, later moved to Chicago and eventually landed in New York City in the late 1950s. While the head milliner for Bergdorf Goodman, he rose to real fame when he designed the pillbox hat Jackie Kennedy wore to her husband’s 1961 presidential inauguration.
He later moved to designing women’s wear, and launched his first ready-to-wear line, called Halston Limited, in 1969. His calling cards were minimalism, clean designs and luxe fabrics like cashmere and ultrasuede.
Halston was the designer of the mid-’70s disco era and is attributed with redefining American fashion. He was a regular fixture at Studio 54, where he enjoyed being photographed alongside his famous friends like Liza Minnelli, Diana Ross, Bianca Jagger and Andy Warhol. Other celebrity clients of Halston’s included disco darlings like Anjelica Huston and Margaux Hemingway.
Halston, who was openly gay, had a 10-year relationship with Venezuelan artist Victor Hugo, who later became his window dresser. The designer gradually lost control of his own company, which was acquired by Revlon in 1986, and died in 1990 from HIV-related complications. He was only 57.
No word yet on how much of the designer’s story Simply Halston will tell, or when the TV series will debut.
