Halston Women's Fashion Brand

Roy Halston Frowick, known simply as Halston, was an American fashion designer who rose to international fame in the 1970s. His minimalist, clean designs, often made of cashmere or ultrasuede, were popular fashion wear in mid-1970s discotheques and redefined American fashion. Three elements define the record: a single-name American designer, a minimalist hand in two named luxury materials, and a decade - the 1970s - whose nightlife his clothes came to dress. A women's shopper should read the profile as a design argument before it is a shopping list.

An American designer, Halston was well known for creating a style for 'American Women', and from his point of view the 'American Woman' was about having a relaxed urban lifestyle. He created a new phenomenon in the 1970s, and believed that women can wear the same clothing for the entire day on any occasion. That day-long claim is the practical heart of the brand: a minimalist cashmere or ultrasuede piece cut cleanly enough for daytime and fluidly enough for evening removes the costume change from a woman's schedule, and the discotheque popularity is that idea succeeding after dark.

The Heritage Return to Madison Avenue

The new HALSTON HERITAGE is carried by some of the world's most formidable retailers including Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, Net-A-Porter and Harvey Nichols, and as of Spring 2013 the first HALSTON HERITAGE stores opened. That retailer list is a positioning statement a researcher can use: the heritage line was placed at the top of American and international luxury retail, beside the stores that defined the founder's own era, rather than diffused downward - the revival aimed at the founder's original altitude.

HALSTON's premier flagship opened in March 2013 on New York City's Madison Avenue, marking the brand's return to the iconic street 45 years after founder Roy Halston Frowick opened his first store there in 1968, with additional stores in key markets across the country subsequently opening and the brand's first digital flagship launched in October 2013. Do the arithmetic: 1968 to 2013 is a 45-year return, and a flagship on the founder's own street is a heritage claim made in real estate - the brand literally went back to where its founder began.

Shopping the Halston Women's Line

Shop the label by the founder's own test: can this piece honestly be worn the entire day, on any occasion? That means judging drape and movement over embellishment - cashmere knits that fall cleanly, ultrasuede-style pieces with a smooth, even hand, silhouettes with nothing attached that dates or restricts them. Minimalist clothing exposes construction, because there is no decoration to hide behind: check that hems lie flat, seams are clean, and knit gauges are even, and choose the neutral, fluid end of the line for the day-to-evening versatility the founder designed for.

Care follows the two named materials: cashmere wants rest days between wearings, folded storage and gentle cleaning, and suede-type fabrics want protection from water and abrasion and specialist cleaning when marked. The brand's official site is carried in References. An American designer who redefined his country's fashion in the 1970s with clean cashmere and ultrasuede, and a heritage line that returned to Madison Avenue 45 years after he first opened there: Halston shops best as its founder intended - one relaxed, elegant piece, worn all day, anywhere.

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