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  • 4/29/2025
From Iowa to Studio 54, this investigation into the rags-to-riches story of America’s first superstar designer uncover | dG1fWl9ucGdERVBRc00
Transcript
00:00Pictures meant everything to Halston.
00:03Life is like a picture, he used to say.
00:05I'm Halston.
00:06My name is Halston.
00:07The most successful single individual in the history of American fashion.
00:12Ladies and gentlemen, Halston.
00:16His clothes danced with you.
00:18You were free inside your clothes.
00:21The simplicity was really needed and it was all-American from an all-American boy.
00:27He came from nowhere.
00:30Were you the person who put the pillbox on Jackie Kennedy?
00:33Yes, I was.
00:34And he really saw the future.
00:38His front row was the most glamorous in New York.
00:40He was the first to really bring in movie stars.
00:43Brilliant marketing.
00:45You're a devotee of Studio 54.
00:47It's good for everybody on every level of society.
00:50Halston was at the top of his game.
00:52Sex, drugs, and rock and roll.
00:54A lot of those barriers just fell down.
00:57Is it tougher to get on top or to stay on top?
01:02He kept saying, I want to dress everybody in America.
01:06I am pleased to announce an association between Halston and J.C. Penney.
01:10Halston moved from class to mass.
01:13The reaction of the fashion world ranged from shock to outrage.
01:18I started getting all kinds of calls.
01:20Cutting back on orders.
01:22Did Bergdorf Goodman drop your line because you went to Penney's?
01:25That was pure hell after that.
01:29One time I came in and I think he had a panic session.
01:33He was screaming, yelling at the top of his lungs.
01:36He was out of control.
01:37Suddenly he was cast adrift.
01:39I said, you don't own your name, pal.
01:42We own your name.
01:43It was his company, his workers, everything he was fighting for.
01:50Success fun.
01:51Oh sure, it's fun and it's not fun.
01:53And as my mother says, it's the price you have to pay.
02:09Doesn't only have to pay you, look by Halston.
02:24You know, having trouble with those forces.
02:26Just have trouble with these caverns.
02:28Not uncomfortable with the neon…
02:30But the children should never drop in conditions.
02:33You know, you don't have to understand what happens.

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