HALSTON AND LIZA MINELLI SERIES

Acknowledging the Halston design she was wearing that night, she told the New York Times, “It’s Halston vintage, 1975-and I think it is great to celebrate the first designer who put American fashion on the map.” We just wanted to let you know we were thinking of you.”Įighteen years after his death, when Halston’s brand was revived for a 2008 show in New York, Minnelli sat in the front row, cheered on the designs, and raved to the press about her late friend.

I’ll miss him always.” Looking up towards the sky, Minnelli said, “Thanks, pal. “It’s not Thanksgiving? We’ll make it Thanksgiving.” In her closing words, Minnelli remembered Halston as “tender always, courageous always, challenging always, daring me to be better than I ever thought I could be. “He had that kind of a spirit,” she said. A little get-together where she complained and he cheered her up. In her short speech, she talked about the last time she ever saw him-at a fake Thanksgiving they had together before he left to enjoy the holiday with his family. You can watch the real Minnelli speak about Halston just after his death at a Lincoln Center tribute in a clip on YouTube. In later years, after Halston was removed from Halston Limited for a combination of drug addiction, business frustration and other ongoing disputes, Minnelli remained his fiercest defender, and he continued to design her costumes up until his death in 1990 due to complications from AIDS. Halston dressed Minnelli for everything, and she supported him both behind the scenes and in the front row at his fashion shows. The pair were inseparable in the 1970s and most of the ’80s-he in all-black ensembles and sunglasses, she in his shimmering designs. She really did go to the Battle of Versailles designer showdown in France in 1973 to support him, and he did custom design the butter-yellow pantsuit for her 1974 wedding to Jack Haley Jr., as well as design almost all of her concert looks throughout the years. Yes, he really did do uncredited costume work behind the scenes to make Minnelli feel more comfortable for her role in Cabaret (1972), and he did design the gold dress she wore the following year to accept her Oscar for playing Berlin nightclub singer Sally Bowles. It is true that by rebranding Minnelli, Halston was able to rebrand himself. “When I met Halston, I just remember him talking and me listening.… He’d say, ‘Alright, I got it.’ He put on you,” Minnelli recalled in 2019.

HALSTON AND LIZA MINELLI SERIES

Their initial meeting in the Netflix series might have been exaggerated for dramatic effect, but the on-screen depiction of their friendship is pretty accurate.

(Halston is unable to escape the legacy of Kennedy’s pillbox hat, while Minnelli is unable to escape the shadow of her mother, Judy Garland.) However, in real life the two simply met during an appointment at the designer’s New York studio that was set up by Minnelli’s godmother, Kay Thompson. In the five-episode Netflix series, Halston meets Minnelli, played by Krysta Rodriguez, after watching her perform “Say Liza (Liza With A ‘Z’),” and they become fast friends, bonding over the artistic shadows that hang over both of them. Later, in the ’70s, he carved out a name for himself by creating Ultrasuede shirtdresses and billowy caftans while partying it up at Studio 54 with his clan of celebrity friends, including Andy Warhol, Anjelica Huston, Truman Capote, Elizabeth Taylor, Bianca Jagger and, of course, Minnelli. But one thing that the just-released series, based on the Steven Gaines biography Simply Halston, doesn’t exaggerate is the sartorial legend’s relationship with Hollywood icon Liza Minnelli.īorn Roy Halston Frowick, the designer first made waves when First Lady Jackie Kennedy wore his iconic pillbox hat to John F. Halston, Ryan Murphy’s eponymous new limited Netflix series starring Ewan McGregor in the title role, takes a lot of liberties with the life and times of fashion designer Roy Halston.

Warning: potential spoilers ahead for Netflix’s new limited series, Halston

Halston and liza minelli