Ryan Murphy's miniseries "Halston" has been available since Friday on Netflix.
This fiction traces the rise and fall of American designer Roy Halston Frowick, unknown in France, star across the Atlantic.
The couturier Julien Fournié has agreed to watch two episodes of the series with us.
Sex, fashion and disco! After
The Assassination of Gianni Versace,
Ryan Murphy takes an interest in another fashion star, American and little known in France, Roy Halston Frowick. In
Halston
, a miniseries available since Friday on Netflix, the producer and screenwriter follows the rise and fall of the American stylist, played by Ewan McGregor, who has dressed Liza Minnelli, Bianca Jagger or Elizabeth Taylor. A pillar of the legendary Studio 54 alongside Andy Warhol, it symbolizes the hedonist disco culture of the time, multiplying parties, lovers and cocaine lines. The couturier Julien Fournié has agreed to watch the first two episodes with
20 Minutes
.
The series begins in 1938, aged 6, Roy Halston Frowick consoles his mother, victim of domestic violence, by making him pretty hats.
“Mr. Halston began his career in the 1950s as a milliner at Lilly Daché's workshop,” comments Julien Fournié.
"A response to the French supremacy of Haute Couture"
On January 20, 1961, on American television, Jackie Kennedy parade in an outfit signed Oleg Cassidi, "a good copy of Chanel", laughs Julien Fournié, wearing a fascinator signed Halston.
In the early 1960s, Halston became a hatter at Bergdorf Goodman, “that's where he got the idea to put that famous chef's hat on Jackie Kennedy's head.
"
New leap in time, New York, 1968. "When Jackie Kennedy decides to stop wearing it, the hat is over," notes the designer.
Halston wants to launch his claw.
" Why ?
It is a response to the French supremacy of Haute Couture, ”says Julien Fournié.
In the 1960s, American brands paid rights to copy the creations of Christian Dior, Pierre Cardin or Yves Saint Laurent.
The emergence of Halston also accompanies that of Pop art and Warhol.
With this designer, “it is the marketing universe that arrives” in fashion.
And Halston runs his life as a permanent advertising campaign.
“The Americans have taken what we knew best to do to make marketing and image,” comments the designer.
"Halston has surfed on the media image of the women he dresses"
The first Halston parade is a disaster. "He copies Cardin, we also feel the influence of Marc Bohan, the artistic director of Dior," said Julien Fournié. Halston must reinvent himself. “With the arrival of the hippie era and female liberation, he is looking for a new youth and is inspired a lot by the street. Halston is a trend book, analyzes the expert. It shows that you can be a phoenix in fashion. "
Liza Minnelli is introduced during an issue on
Say Liza,
a track in which Judy Garland's daughter complains that her first name is constantly scratched.
Halston is in charge of revamping the singer.
“This drape is pretty.
The sequence clearly shows the link between the designer and his muse, ”comments the couturier.
And to add: “The series shows how Halston has surfed the media image of the women he dresses.
"
"He talks about Haute Couture, but only does ready-to-wear"
December 1968, Halston opens a store on Madison Avenue in New York and launches a line.
“He talks about Haute Couture, but only does ready-to-wear.
And we must stop saying that Halston invented ready-to-wear, it was Pierre Cardin who invented it, ”recalls the expert.
Halston's creations, of great simplicity, are sometimes cut from a single fabric cut in the bias of the fabric.
“We sell poncho,” laughs Julien Fournié.
“Halston said to himself: 'we are going to make a stripped down, minimalist garment, which will not be very expensive, in more
cheap
materials
, which will affect everyone,” he explains.
And to add: “His team is desperate against Halston who has no guideline.
It reminds me of houses where I was able to work.
A creator must bring ideas!
», He hammers.
The Ultrasuede cabin dress “is a copy of Yves Saint Laurent.
It is paradoxical, he is launching because he no longer wants to make French copies, but he does recovery.
"
"The series does not give a good image of the fashion designer"
And to deplore that “the series does not give a good image of the fashion designer.
Ryan Murphy shoots his character at point blank range: Halston is presented as superficial and selfish.
He is everything I never wish to be ”.
Halston seems more concerned with communication and money than fashion.
“This is not how we create.
Money is a goal for him, while it is only a means, ”he laments.
And to annoy some sequences "drug on all floors".
“We must stop associating drugs and fashion.
Fashion designers get up and go to bed early and pay attention to their lifestyle.
Yes, it did exist, but it no longer exists.
"
"Aesthetically speaking, everything is beautiful"
The couturier praises the aesthetic qualities of the miniseries.
“The styling, the hairstyle, everything is magnificent.
It's documented and visually it works.
"
The reconstruction of The Battle of Versailles seduces the couturier.
"In fashion, you have to exist in France, otherwise, you don't exist," comments Julien Fournié.
Little known, on November 28, 1973, she saw five American designers (Halston, Oscar de la Renta, Anne Klein, Stephen Burrows and Bill Blass) compete against five French couturiers (Marc Bohan, Yves Saint Laurent, Emanuel Ungaro, Pierre Cardin and Hubert de Givenchy).
“The casting is perfect.
Oscar de la Renta is perfect, ”he rejoices.
And to appreciate that Ryan Murphy draws the parallel between the world of show business and that of the podiums where “we have to learn to manage the unpredictable.
"
On the American side, Liza Minelli opens the parade. "Ryan Murphy knows very well how to stage everything that is
show-off,
nods to Bob Fosse and musicals," greets the designer. The show, greeted by a standing ovation, caused a sensation, and allowed American fashion to gain prestige, and Halston, to enter legend. For Americans, “the history of fashion was born; its industry, forever transformed, ”analyzes Robin Givhan, fashion critic for the
Washington Post,
in his book
The Battle of Versailles
(2015).
An opposition between the spirit of American ready-to-wear
sportswear
and French haute couture, still relevant today.
“I appeal to Ryan Murphy.
I am a fan of his work, he is an
accomplished
visual artist
.
But I find it unfortunate that a true French fashion designer was not sought to stage, ”concludes Julien Fournié.
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