A new film and collection boost former star designer's reputation

DOES anyone define the 1970s in all their hedonistic, high-octane excess better than Roy Halston Frowick? As much a fixture at Studio 54 as the mirror balls and the drug-taking, his wild partying was legendary.

But if his rise to fame – from Chicago milliner to "best designer in America" – was impressive, his fall from grace was equally spectacular.

Within four years of setting up his eponymous label, he had sold it on, then was fired a decade later and eventually died of Aids-related causes in 1990, aged just 57.

His obituary in The New York Times read: "The designer personified American fashion in the 1970s. What would Studio 54 have been without Liza Minnelli and Bianca Jagger doing The Bump in their Halston jumpsuits and jersey halters?"

That atmosphere – at a time when the likes of Liz Taylor, Martha Graham, Bianca Jagger and Candice Bergen would slug it out for front row seats at his shows – is now captured in Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston, showing at the Glasgow Film Festival.

But while the label's past is a story in itself, so too is its revival, after no fewer than eight owners, thanks to the film mogul Harvey Weinstein and Tamara Mellon of the Jimmy Choo empire. When they bought the brand in 2008, they brought on board celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe – famous for dressing the likes of Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan. More recently, Sarah Jessica Parker joined as creative advisor on the Heritage diffusion line.

So, with the film set to raise the label's profile even further, could Halston finally be dusted down for a return to its heady disco days of the 1970s?

Roy Halston Frowick was born on 23 April, 1932, in the US state of Iowa. Studies at Indiana University and the Art Institute of Chicago led to his opening a millinery in Chicago's Ambassador Hotel in the 1950s, where he quickly became a favourite among celebrities such as Kim Novak, Hedda Hopper and Deborah Kerr.

His most famous customer was probably Jacqueline Kennedy, who wore one of his pillbox hats the day her husband was inaugurated as president.

By 1957 he had moved to New York and was working in Bergdorf Goodman.

But fashions were changing, big hair was replacing big hats and Halston, anticipating a drop in demand, moved almost seamlessly into clothing instead.

He set up his womenswear label in 1968 and his elegant, minimalist designs were embraced as a refreshing antidote to the tie-dye and fringing of the hippy era. One of his most celebrated creations was Ultrasuede – a fabric the designer referred to as "leatherette" – an imitation leather he made into shirt dresses that sold by the bucketload. But he was best known for dressing celebrities.

"I had the good fortune of having the most fashionable women in the world come to me," he said at the time. "Together we changed the mood of fashion."

But his relentless expansion, combined with a frenetic lifestyle – the drink, the drugs and the discos – began to take their toll. Where once he would have arrived at his New York offices at 8am and stayed on until midnight, he began to party at Studio 54 until 5am and arrive for work around lunchtime.

The business began to disintegrate and he eventually lost control of the company in the early 1980s.

Nevertheless, his influence on other designers should not be underestimated. His themes can still be seen in the work of Donna Karan, Calvin Klein and Narciso Rodriguez today, while jumpsuits on the spring/summer 2011 catwalks for Gucci, YSL and Celine give more than a nod to the luxuriously understated chic of Halston in his heyday.

"He really was a great artist," says Whitney Sudler-Smith, the director of Ultrasuede.

"He had these movie-star good looks, this swagger; he was incredibly chic. Celebrities trusted him because he was a bit of a movie star himself."

He was also one of the first high-end designers to work on the high street; nowadays, of course, everyone''s at it, from Lanvin for H&M to Barbara Hulanicki for George at Asda.

But Halston was, perhaps, simply ahead of his time. His collaboration with JC Penney was blamed for his downfall, and the company that still bears his name remained in the doldrums until Weinstein and his team came on board, installing Marco Zanini, previously of Versace, as designer.

Both Rachel Zoe and Zanini have since disappeared from the picture, following a lukewarm response to the first runway collection. But interest remains high, particularly with the installation of London-based Marios Schwab in the design chair at the end of last year.

News that Sarah Jessica Parker had joined the team last month was met with muted enthusiasm, however, particularly following Lindsay Lohan's disastrous turn at Ungaro.

"It took me a long time to say yes," Parker has said. "I kept saying, 'You understand, by offering this you are going to be criticised?'"

"I know I come to the company in a rather unorthodox way, but I'm not the first to be president of a company without the traditional background. Others have been successful in those endeavours and I do so hope I can be as well."

Schwab has said that, while making a nod to Halston's decadent past, he also wants to bring it bang up to date.

"Paying homage is one thing but you need to bring it to the future. A modern view point is what I want to give – it's crucial for future success."

But perhaps the last word should go to Sudler-Smith, a self-confessed child of the 1970s: "I think Halston represented everything that was right and wrong with that time. The glamour and decadence, that chic sensibility, it was so prescient. You wish it still existed, but it will never happen again."

Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston is at Glasgow Film Theatre Wednesday, 9pm, and Thursday, 11.30am (www.glasgowfilm.org). Halston Heritage is available at Jane Davidson (www.janedavidson.co.uk) and Harvey Nichols (www.harveynichols.com), Edinburgh

This article was first published in Scotland On Sunday, 20 February, 2011