Vogue reports that after only one year as the creative head of Halston, Marco Zanini is already being replaced. I think it is perhaps the hardest role any designer can choose to undertake - that of taking a company that is legendary in vintage circles and trying to revamp it.
Its not an easy task. The problem lies in the fact that a lot of the women who buy it already own an original or have been lusting for the original. Sure you are going to be able to capture women outside of this circle as new and uneducated consumers, but in my opinion if you do try to capture the hearts of the girls who love the original you will miss the boat every time.
For the new designer there is always going to be that fine line of trying to recapture the original look and feel and adding your own personal stamp to the line. And quite frankly, there may be a lot of designers out there but how many truly talented ones are there? Anyone looking to relaunch a defunct but legendary label has a lot of the deck already stacked up against them.
I had (and still do have) extremely high hopes for Halston. Tamara Melon is at the helm and she knows good clothes - the woman (who has long been one of my mentors whether she has realized it or not) is a Mecca of all things fabulous and I have seen her photographed in vintage Halston gowns countless times. They brought on Rachel Zoe as a creative consultant, who, whether you choose to love or hate her, is still one of the most innately stylish women and again all her roots lie in vintage.
What these two glamazons need to do is follow their instincts.
Forget what the designer brings to the table in terms of resume. Forget what bullshit he (or she) gives them about his vision. Listen to how he talks about the original. Listen to what he thinks about how a Halston gown sits and moves on a body. Listen to his answer of why a gown that is nothing more then 2 swaths of fabric has the effect it does on a girl and can still capture women’s hearts decades later.
Tamara, when you hear that answer..... if your heart stops just for a second and you are swept back to a moment when you wore your favourite vintage Halston and felt like the most beuatufl woman in the room...... hire that person.
Hire them and let them create.
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