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CareerHe was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He graduated from Bosse High School in Evansville, Indiana. He began his career as a milliner (designing the pillbox hat Jacqueline Kennedy wore to her husband's 1961 Presidential inauguration) and when he moved to designing women's wear, Newsweek dubbed him "the premier fashion designer of all America." His designs were worn by Bianca Jagger, Liza Minnelli, Anjelica Huston, Lauren Bacall, Babe Paley, and Elizabeth Taylor, setting a style that would be closely associated with the international jet set of the era. Despite his achievements, his increasing drug use and failure to meet deadlines (he was reluctant to hire junior designers to design licensed products) undermined his success. In October of 1984 he was fired from his own company and lost the right to design and sell clothes under his own name. In 1990, he died of AIDS in San Francisco, California. According to Salon.com, Halston was "the first international fashion superstar -- and possibly the best designer America has ever had."
InfluenceAs "the first designer to realize the potential of licensing himself," his influence went beyond style to reshape the business of fashion. . Through his licensing agreement with JC Penny, his designs were accessable to women at a variety of income levels. Although this practice is not uncommon today, it was a controversial move at the time Halston, his perfume, was sold in a bottle designed by Elsa Peretti and was the second biggest selling perfume of all time.
Braniff uniformsIn 1977 Halston changed airline uniforms forever, when he was commissioned by Braniff Airlines to create a new look for them, he was to design new uniforms for the employees as well as interiors and public spaces. Company executives wanted a look that conveyed the urbane sophistication of the late Seventies and early Eighties. In stark contrast to Emilio Pucci's bold exuberant style, Halston's minimalist style and spare color palette was incorporated harmoniously into flight and ground crew uniforms, airplane interiors, and terminal spaces in elegant simplicity. His minimalist, softly draped, figure-enhancing clothes were the embodiment of the decade. For Braniff, Halston reworked the earth-tone color palette of the era into something both sensuous and functional. He produced a collection of interchangeable components in softly draping jersey, cardigan knits, and his signature synthetic fabric, Ultra-suede. The uniforms were coordinating shades of tan, bone, taupe, and brown printed with Halston's signature "H" print. Hostesses could choose from three-piece gabardine pant suits, tunic tops, shirt dresses, skirts, and cardigan knit sweaters all topped with Ultra-suede topcoats or trench coats with matching hats and umbrellas.
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