Halston Designer Death

Roy Halston Frowick, known mononymously 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 a new phenomenon in the mid-1970s discotheques and redefined American fashion. Halston was known for creating a relaxed urban lifestyle for American women. He was frequently photographed at Studio 54 with his close friends Liza Minnelli, Bianca Jagger, and Andy Warhol.

In the early 1950s, while attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Halston began a business designing and making women’s hats. He garnered a well-known clientele and opened a store on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile in 1957. He later became the head milliner for high-end New York City department store Bergdorf Goodman. His fame rose when he designed the pillbox, Jacqueline Kennedy wore to the inauguration of her husband, President John F. Kennedy, in 1961. In the late 1960s, Halston made the transition to women’s clothing, opening a boutique on Madison Avenue in New York and started a ready-to-wear line. After several ill-advised business decisions, Halston eventually lost control of his fashion house in the 1980s. He died of AIDS-related cancer in 1990 at the age of 57.

Halston’s on-again-off-again lover was Venezuelan-born artist Victor Hugo. The two met while Hugo was working as a makeup artist in 1972. The two began a relationship and Hugo lived on and off in Halston’s home. Halston soon hired Hugo to work as his window dresser. Their on-and-off relationship lasted a little over ten years.

According to The New York Times, Halston was known to have had an affair with fashion designer Luis Estevez.

Halston Designer Death,

In 1988, Halston tested positive for HIV. After his health began to fail, he moved to San Francisco, where he was cared for by his family. On March 26, 1990, he died of Kaposi’s sarcoma, an AIDS-defining illness, at the Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center in San Francisco. His remains were cremated.

New Netflix series Halston is all about the rise and fall of the iconic fashion designer in 1970s New York. At the height of his career Halston was the best of the best, but he then lost control of his spending, lifestyle, and most importantly – his brand. It was in 1990 that Halston would die, and the Netflix series looks at how his fashion house was in a battle over its control and the designer’s spending and lifestyle had caught up with him.

Halston was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 23rd 1932. He is thought to have had an interest in fashion very early on and during his life, Halston became one of the most sought after designers for the rich and famous, with the first Lady Jackie Kennedy, Liza Minnelli and Lauren Bacall among his clients. Here’s what we know about his tragic death.