Sarah Jessica Parker president of Halston label

McClatchy

Jan. 20, 2010, 2:47PM
As if she needed to cement her place in the fashion firmament any more, Sarah Jessica Parker is now perched to takeover Halston. The iconic label is once again the talk of Seventh Avenue as reports leaked out today that the Sex and the City star will soon take an active design role with Halston Heritage. Parker is currently in movie theaters in the romantic comedy Have You Heard About the Morgans? with Hugh Grant. Halston Heritage is the brand’s bridge line that brings archival Halston looks from the ‘70s into the new century. The deal is an echo of the one Lindsay Lohan has with the house of Emanuel Ungaro, where the tabloid tart now serves as “artistic director”...after getting Miami’s own Esteban Cortazar kicked out as creative director of the French fashion house. In 2007, Hollywood honcho Harvey Weinstein bought the label and for awhile he looked like he might install his wife — the designer Georgina Chapman (who along with Keren Craig designs the Marchesa label) — in the creative director position. Weinstein, who also owns Project Runway, started Miramax with his brother Bob in the late ‘70s. Parker had a celeb line called Bitten at Steve & Barry stores where each piece cost less than $19.98, but when the store chain went belly-up in 2008 the discount label was kaput. Luckily Parker had entered the scent biz in 2005 with Coty and had major success with fragrances Lovely (2005), Covet (2007) and a trio of scents — Endless, Twilight and Dawn (2008). Her latest fragrance is called SJP NYC and launches in Macy’s next month. Roy Halston Frowick shot to fashion fame by designing the pillbox hat Jackie Kennedy wore to her husband’s inauguration in 1961. Later in the ‘70s his pared-down looks were a perfect match for the international jetset and the disco era. His clothes were worn by Liza Minelli, Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Ross, Bianca Jagger and Angelica Huston. By signing Parker now, Halston would benefit from the splashy marketing that will surround the release of the highly-anticipated fashion-flick “Sex and the City 2” in May. Parker even wears a Halston-like look in the movie posters and in the movie trailer.


nancy@callnancyfurst.com