Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

The Fashion Behind Halston': Bringing the Famed Designer's Clothes to Life

13/05/2021

Back to All News

The Fashion Behind Halston': Bringing the Famed Designer's Clothes to Life

Netflix Staff

Entertainment

13 May 2021

Global

A Halston. Back in the 70s and 80s, everyone knew what made a piece of clothing from the famed designer so distinct. So when costume designer Jeriana San Juan was tasked with recreating these signature looks - and so many more - for the limited series about Halston's meteoric rise and shocking fall, the pressure was on. Thankfully, the costume designer was more than ready for the assignment. Ahead of the May 14th release of Halston, starring Ewan McGregor in the title role, we spoke with San Juan about being a lifelong fan, working with Halston's personal tailor to recreate his wardrobe and how Halston's work is still influencing fashion today.

Were you familiar with Halston's story and work when you first got involved with the show?

Yes, I first connected with the project because I'm such a fan of Halston's work. In my initial meetings with Dan Minahan, our fearless director, I gushed about my experience studying Halston's work in fashion design school - pouring over images of his collections in the library at school and looking through archival footage. It was exciting to do something that married my costume design knowledge with my fashion design background.

How did you approach dressing Halston in the show?

In researching Halston, one of the most incredible things was finding people who had known him personally and who wanted to help this project because they wanted to help their friend. I came to know Halstons personal style very intimately, and that began when I found a tailor named Gino Balsamo who worked at Halston Limited. He was the tailor in the shop assigned to make Halstons personal clothes. Halston only wore his own designs, and he wanted to wear fabrics that did all the things for him that they did for women; created ease, effortless strength, and effortless beauty. Halston had unique nuances in his clothes - he created these pants with no side seam and specific pocket placements. Gino actually came to my shop and worked with us to create and pattern clothes the same way that he did for Halston.

How did you collaborate with Ewan McGregor on Halston's costuming?

We worked very closely together not just on his costuming, but on the design process. He would come to the shop just to observe the tailors, or watch me do a fitting, to get a better idea of how a designer works. It was a very unique experience - we worked on how to pin clothes properly, how clothes are constructed and assembled, how to move through a workroom, and I even walked him through where my eyes go when I'm designing so he could better track his eyeline when he's designing as Halston in the show.

How did you source the key costumes for the show?

Most of the pieces in our show on our main characters are created from scratch. I found vintage dealers from every corner of the world, but vintage clothes are often not in fantastic shape, and I wanted to make sure the costumes fit with the same ease and pristine effortless style that defines Halston. There are also many original Halston pieces in the show. Halston's entire archive was disassembled when he left the company, but I was able to find pieces that were tucked away. Lesley Frowick, Halston's niece, had gifted a great deal of his work to Lipscomb University. I worked with a company called Toray International, the original manufacturer of Ultrasuede fabric, and they gave me a ton of Ultrasuede that was the same quality Halston used in his designing. We also worked with Tiffany & Co. to obtain all of the original Elsa Peretti jewelry.

What about Halston's work as a fashion designer was so groundbreaking?

There's an ease, a suaveness to his clothing - and even in his early work as a milliner. But if you look at the architecture and practical building of all those pieces, theyre actually quite complicated. Halstons work is very much like sculpture; he treated fabrics as his medium and manipulated them like a true artist. He would pleat, wrap, and use textiles in a way that was unconventional and celebrated a woman's figure instead of creating rigid tailoring that bound it. It was all about ease and softness, and that approach is still influencing fashion today.

Halston premieres May 14 on Netflix.
LINK: https://about.netflix.com/en/news/the-fashion-behind-halston...
See more stories from netflix

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

10/08/2026

Apple to Bring Friday Night Baseball' Live to Apple Immersive on Vision Pro Beginning Aug. 28

Weekly immersive broadcasts will feature 8K 3D video, a 180-degree field of view...

10/08/2026

Raiju from fedDSP

Saturation plug-in free until 20 August 2026 fedDSP have announced the launch of Raiju, a new guitar pedal-style saturation plug-in that's capable of de...

10/08/2026

I/O Music release Talkback

New mix-comparison & feedback tool Independent Swedish record label I/O Music have recently released a handy new tool that provides artists, engineers, prod...

10/08/2026

Sound Radix launch Radical1 Solo

Additive soft synth gains free counterpart Sound Radix have just released a free monophonic additive software synth that's based on the same engine as t...

10/08/2026

Chroma integrates MXO oscilloscopes into ATS 8000 platform, rounding out its high-end power testing ecosystem

Chroma integrates MXO oscilloscopes into ATS 8000 platform, rounding out its hig...

10/08/2026

Former NAB Tech Exec Tom Keller Has Died

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/08/2026

Matthews Bows Monitor Stand III

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/08/2026

AES Elects David v.R. Bowles as President-Elect for 2027

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/08/2026

NUGEN Audio Helps SFCM Students Achieve Professional Mixe...

Students in the Technology and Applied Composition (TAC) program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) gain rare, real world experience in professio...

10/08/2026

FOR-A demonstrates new and practical solutions to real ch...

FOR-A is using its presence at IBC2026 (stand 2.B53, Amsterdam RAI, 11 14 September) to show how its products deliver the answers to the real challenges faced...

10/08/2026

Frontier EU brings broadcast-grade network resilience to...

Frontier EU, official Peplink distributor for Europe, will exhibit at IBC 2026 in Amsterdam from 11 to 14 September, presenting live demonstrations of how Pepli...

10/08/2026

Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage Premiere Pro

Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage Premiere Pro Michael Cioni August 10, 2026 0 Comments This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup...

10/08/2026

Stunning Pixelated ASCII Effect for Apple Motion

Stunning Pixelated ASCII Effect for Apple Motion Simon Ubsdell August 10, 2026 0 Comments Apple Motion is perfect for building this popular ASCII unic...

10/08/2026

New York Jets, CBS New York Extend Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

10/08/2026

Welcome to the Show: Sky Creative unites football fans with start of season campaign

Monday 10 August 2026 Welcome to the Show : Sky Creative unites football fans w...

10/08/2026

Red Seat Ventures' Speakeasy Brings Video to Apple Podcasts, Beginning with Surrounded

Red Seat Ventures' Speakeasy Brings Video to Apple Podcasts, Beginning with ...

10/08/2026

30% More Pumping Hours With Autonomous Frac Operations

A major unconventional operator increased monthly pumping hours by more than 30% by automating critical frac completion processes and eliminating common sources...

10/08/2026

Apple, MLB announce September \u201CFriday Night Baseball\u201D schedule - UPDATE - Posted on 10 August 2026

Today, Apple and Major League Baseball (MLB) unveiled the September schedule for...

09/08/2026

reFX introduce Rippler

Combines physical modelling with subtractive synthesis reFX, the company behind the popular Nexus and Vanguard2 soft synths have announced the launch of the...

09/08/2026

Dreamtonics tease upcoming release

Human nuance is not a switch Dreamtonics have built up a solid reputation off the back of their Synthesizer V Studio software, a powerful vocal-synthesis t...

09/08/2026

COW Jobs: Documentary Editor - Remote

COW Jobs: Documentary Editor - Remote Brie Clayton August 9, 2026 0 Comments Documentary Editor July 31, 2026COW Jobs: Lead Generation Representativ...

08/08/2026

IK Multimedia launch Tonex 2.0 beta

Enhanced ToneNET integration & 220 new Premium V2 Tone Models IK Multimedia have just launched a public beta of Tonex 2.0, a release which is said to repres...

08/08/2026

Roland celebrate 808 Day

Honouring the drum machine that redefined modern music Roland have announced their plans for this year's 808 Day, a day that was founded to celebrate th...

08/08/2026

Call for Entries Now Open for the 20th Annual South African Film & Television Awards (SAFTAs20)

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...

08/08/2026

Star Wars Hyperspeed Tutorial: The No-Echo Method in After Effects

Star Wars Hyperspeed Tutorial: The No-Echo Method in After Effects Graham Quince August 8, 2026 0 Comments The Echo Effect to create long streaks is n...

08/08/2026

Chyron Releases AXIS 4.0 With Expanded News Workflows and Richer Map Storytelling

Chyron Releases AXIS 4.0 With Expanded News Workflows and Richer Map Storytellin...

08/08/2026

Nielsen to Acquire DoubleVerify for $2.15 Billion

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/08/2026

FCC Chair Carr Announces New Legal Advisor

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/08/2026

Trump Nominates Danielle Thumann Severs to FCC Commission Seat

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/08/2026

New York Jets, CBS New York Extends Deal with New York Jets

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

08/08/2026

Foundry Unlocks Professional-Grade AI for VFX with Griptape Enterprise; Appoints Kyle Roche as Chief AI Officer

Foundry Unlocks Professional-Grade AI for VFX with Griptape Enterprise; Appoints...

08/08/2026

Award Winning New Horror Film Shot Using Blackmagic Camera App

Award Winning New Horror Film Shot Using Blackmagic Camera App Brie Clayton August 7, 2026 0 Comments Fire Alive, shot using the Blackmagic Camera i...

08/08/2026

Firebird Launches CIS Region's Largest AI Factory in Armenia

The global buildout of AI infrastructure reached a new milestone today - Firebird, an emerging AI cloud, launched the CIS region's largest AI factory in Arm...

07/08/2026

Diversified Appoints Pete Emminger as Global Chief Technology Officer

Diversified has appointed industry veteran Pete Emminger as global chief technology officer. Emminger will lead the company's global go-to-market technology...

07/08/2026

Release Rundown: What to Watch in August, From American Doctor to Idiots

O'Shea Jackson Jr., Dave Franco, and Mason Thames appear in Idiots by Macon Blair, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of ...

07/08/2026

Sonuscore release The Sculpture

An instrument made for the adventurous composer Described as an instrument made for the adventurous composer , Sonuscore's latest sample library has b...

07/08/2026

Synchron Solo Violin 2 & Viola (sordino) join VSL line-up

Latest solo Synchron libraries arrive VSL have just released the final two instalments in their range of muted solo string libraries. Recorded in the large ...

07/08/2026

GC Audio's new Producer Channel

Channel strip offers plug-in control & recall Along with some new additions to their Inherit modular preamp system, GC Audio's announcements for NAMM 20...

07/08/2026

Opening Statement: Public hearing of the Inquiry into Racism, Hate and Violence Directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People

Opening Statement: Public hearing of the Inquiry into Racism, Hate and Violence ...

07/08/2026

Nielsen to Acquire DoubleVerify, Creating a Leading, Independent Media Intelligence Platform

DoubleVerify Shareholders to Receive $13.60 Per Share in Cash, Representing a 30...

07/08/2026

Lawo To Highlight Dynamic Media Facility Support At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/08/2026

MediaKind To Feature Unified Product Portfolio At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/08/2026

ACT Entertainment Honored with Neutrik Group Americas Par...

The Award Recognizes ACT's Outstanding Sales Performance, Marketing Collaboration and Long-standing Commitment to the NEUTRIK Brand ACT Entertainment, one ...

07/08/2026

Beamr Brings NVIDIA Video Super Resolution to Live Sports...

Beamr Imaging Ltd. (Nasdaq: BMR), a leader in video optimization technology and solutions, today announced it is bringing AI upscaling to live sports, broadcast...

07/08/2026

Berklee City Music Presents Nine Scholarships and Awards at Annual Concert

Berklee City Music Presents Nine Scholarships and Awards at Annual Concert Student recipients from seven states and Canada received scholarships, housing awar...

07/08/2026

Lawo To Highlights Dynamic Media Facility Support At IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

07/08/2026

Kevin Trueblood to Return as SBE President

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...