During the 1970's, American fashion designer Roy Halston Frowick, aka Halston, was the epitome of ingenuity and glamor. And in a new trailer for Netflix's upcoming limited series about the designer's life, we finally get a glimpse of the events that led to the icon's rise — and eventual downfall.
Created by Ryan Murphy and directed by Daniel Minahan, Halston is a five-part series that details the designer's journey as he creates a worldwide fashion empire which, as Netflix describes, was "synonymous with luxury, sex, status and fame, literally defining the era he lived in, 1970’s and ‘80’s New York." However, his hard-partying, addiction to drugs, and then-controversial decision to bring his high fashion line to the masses with a $1 billion JCPenney deal, among other factors, soon led Halston to have to battle for control of his own company and name.
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In the debut trailer for the limited series, released on May 3, Halston, played by Ewan McGregor, proclaims "I have a vision. I'm going to change the face of American fashion."
The scenes that follow — which seem to be soundtracked by McGregor's own cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy The Silence" — see the designer honing his iconic simple yet luxurious aesthetic, frequenting Studio 54 and going out with his entourage of famous friends: namely singer and actress Liza Minnelli (Krysta Rodriguez), jewelry designer Elsa Peretti (Rebecca Dayan), and Halston's partner and artist Victor Hugo (Gian Franco Rodriguez). However, things slowly but surely start to unravel.
"Do you ever feel like everything you have could disappear in an instant?" McGregor says in the final scene as he looks out at New York City through a window.
McGregor, who is straight, initially received backlash for playing the gay public figure, but explained that he feels it works because Halston doesn't just focus on the late designer's personal life, but his business life as well. Murphy maintains that the actor was the right choice. "He was, to us, the only choice," Murphy told Vogue. "The thing that Ewan got about Halston was that Halston had a vision in his mind of who he wanted to be in life. He was self-created....Ewan really connected with the pain of Halston and the longing of Halston, and how confusing it is to have to be an artist and a businessman at the same time."
Watch the trailer for Halston, premiering on Netflix on May 14.