; http://www.thepost.mindspring.com
tEl)e Cljarlotte
THURSDAY, APRIL 3, 1997
9A
LIFESTYLES
70’s fashion
;
guru makes
comeback in
New York
i By Constance White
! THE NEW YORK TIMES
■ NEW YORK - The spirit of
floy Halston Frowick hovers
over the new company bearing
his name like a hobgoblin, a
presence with the potential to do
good or to wreak unholy mis
chief. Halston, one of America's
inost well-known and venerated
fashion names, is being reintro
duced with a grandeur that
Would make the late designer
jjroud.
; Halston’s excess - as a design
er who insisted on cashmere
^owns and fresh orchids in his
office everyday and as a person
ality who partied until the wee
hours at Studio 54 — made him a
success. Some might say it killed
his business, too.
: Halston’s real downward spi
ral began when, in his grandiose
quest to “dress America,” he
licensed his name to J.C. Peimey
in 1982. Not only did the cheap
er clothes not do well, but pres
tige retailers scurried in the
Opposite direction, soon dropping
his high-end line from their
tacks.
; Even by fashion’s hyperbolic
Standards, Halston
^temational is plunging ahead
with extraordinarily ambitious
plans for a company less than a
year old. Halston is a subsidiary
jof Tropitex Apparel Group, a
[large low-price apparel manu
facturer with little name recog
nition but a good relationship
with retailers and an eye on
IWall Street. Through HaJston,
jthe company hopes to expand its
[presence to encompass the high-
jer end of the fashion market.
Said Marc Setton, who with his
brother. Jack, own Tropitex.
The company’s early gains
have been impressive, but the
final reckoning on whether
Halston’s legacy will be one of
renewal or regret is still many
seasons away.
Halston Lifestyle, a moderate
ly priced line of sportswear, is
now being shipped nationwide to
stores like MacYs, Belk’s and
Burdines. A more expensive
designer collection, Halston
Signature, is to be introduced in
a runway show on April 9 at the
New York Historical Society,
170 Central Park West. And a
bridge line is slated for 1998.
There are already 21 Halston
licensees for products like lin
gerie, sleepwear, handbags,
belts, hosiery, shoes, sunglasses
and bed sheets. Halston has
taken two floors on 530 Seventh
Ave., where Randolph Duke, the
company's creative director and
designer, has been installed.
Licensees and retailers are
ready to commit to a half-baked
idea with no sales track record
primarily because, like an invisi
ble hand, Halston is still a guid
ing presence in fashion. “It’s a
name to be reckoned with,” said
Joan Kaner, a senior vice presi
dent and fashion director for
Neiman Marcus. “He was a force
in American fashion and it still
has appeal.”
Surveys conducted for Tropitex
indicate that the memory and
reverence for Halston is strong
among consumers, Marc Setton
said. It is one of the reasons the
company decided to bet big on
the venture. Tropitex has invest
ed $10 million, which includes
advertising and promotion.
The expenditures on broad-
based advertising, which began
gven before the new collections
were sent to stores, is one of the
ways Halston is protecting its
crapshoot. Halston Lifestyle, the
linchpin of the new world of
Halston, has jackets that sell for
$100 and sweaters for $30, all
marketed with the slickness and
attention to detail more common
among high-price brands.
In fact, the biggest question is
how Halston plans to appeal to a
designer customer with Halston
Signature.
MOn
Bring color to summer’s neutrals with a pair of
pumps by Anthony Mark Hankins. Available In
lime, orange and fuchsia
Pantsuits make a comeback. Classic pantsuit
with gold tone buttons. Available from E-Style.
Designers’ cool colors make
for hot spring /summer looks
Minidress in floral print from Anthony Mark
Hankins makes bold statement. Ignore the hat.
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Spring has sprung, bringing
with it visions of cinnamon,
mint, caramel, watermelon and
cantaloupe.
No, we’re not talking about a
cool picnic buffet. We’re talking
spring and summer fashion.
Cool is in for design, color and
fabric.
For African American women,
cool color combos used to speU a
fashion nightmare, but when
mixed with neutrals and prints,
the look can be a dream.
“The phrase versatile, neutral
wardrobe basics is one j'ou
rarely hear from a black
woman,” says Lori Scott, co-cre
ator of E-Style, the mail order
fashion catalog created by
Ebony magazine and catalog
giant Spiegel. “African
American customers reported a
high degree of fhjstration when
shopping for fashion. Seasonal
color palettes didn’t always suit
their skin tones, styles were
sometimes too basic, and there
were unique fit issues that were
largely ignored in the market
place.”
To make cool colors more
palatable, try making use of
another spring must, the sheer
shell in lime or orange, topped
with a neutral jacket or vest. Or
invest in a bright jacket.
“The jacket can be mixed with
all your navy, black and khaki
basics such as trousers, walking
shorts and sUm skirts or short
pleated skirts,” says Colorado
store buyer Dawn Thompson.
“It gives a pop of color, which is
so important for the season. It’s
the color that updates it.”
Jackets should fit the shape of
the body. Longer jackets flatter
more ample hips and busts.
Body-conscious fashion has
made a splash. The retro look,
with its hip-hugging styles and
A-lines makes for a look that is
slim and trim.
Silks, linens, sarongs, figure
skimming pants and body hug
ging silhouettes are all the rage
for fall.
Also hitting runways and
stores are ethnic prints, which
when combined with color
make for arresting looks.
For anyone wondering what
to combine, the sky - or the
imagination - is the limit. The
big news in fashion is sheers,
which means you can layer to
your heart’s content.
“You’ll find layered sheers
that are more wearable and fit
into the style without being too
off the runway,” says Bev
Carpenter, a fashion director
for Dillards. “Personally, I
would buy a sheer tunic in a
flowing fabric with a slim leg
pant.”
Although most of the season’s
look is “dress friendly,” pants
are important.
“They’re just growing and
growing and growing,” says
Houston fashion director Roz
Factor. “And clean and flat-
front pants with a straight leg
or flare are selling everywhere.
“Women are still going for
comfort, I do believe. Pant suits
are just easy to wear.”
According to E-Style, empha
sis will also be placed on shine,
but not your mother’s lamd.
Iridescent silks and laminated
fabric give an heavenly qualify
to everyday and evening wear.
Disco look in polyester. Note open toe sandals
and halter tops. Available at T.J. Maxx.
Bites, missing
fingers don’t
deter snakeman
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SLADE, Ky. — Jim Harrison’s
hands speak volumes about
his life.
“I lost this finger to a desert
horn viper from Saudi Arabia,”
he says, showing a left middle
digit, a smooth nub half the
size of his other fingers.
His left thumb looks a little
flat on top, where it was bitten
by a cobra on Jan. 4 in a near-
fatal accident. The index finger
on his right hand is also a
stump, but that happened in a
more conventional accident -
crushed while hfting weights.
Harrison is running out of
fingers to mangle, but his love
of snakes appears to be hmit-
less
“I’ve always been drawn to
stuff that was a little bit differ
ent, even though I never
thought I was different,” says
Harrison, who has been bitten
10 times in 21 years of snake
handling. “Does that make
sense?”
Eveiything about Harrison, a
nationally known supplier of
snake venom for medical
research, is “different.” Take
his place of business - a for
mer Powell County restaurant
that he converted nine years
ago into the Kentucky Reptile
Zoo.
The outside resembles a faux
Swiss chalet with circus like
_ signs promoting a good show.
One mural depicts Harrison
wrestling with an alligator.
Inside, though, it’s a skillful
ly managed home for dozens of
snakes, some of whom produce
venom worth more than $200
a gram. It might look like a pit
stop for oddball tourists, but
the zoo is a serious place.
“He’s become a very respect
ed player in the provision of
venom for research,” says Mike
Goode, reptile curator at the
Columbus Zoo in Ohio.
Harrison, 38, recently
attended a snakebite confer
ence in Paris, France. He’s
also helping a university in
Brazil breed rattlesnakes
whose venom, when mixed
with elements of cow blood,
forms a “glue” that may hold
human skin together after
surgery.
“He has built up a very good
operation down there at
Slade,” says Sherman Minton,
a retired microbiologist from
Indiana University.
Harrison is hoping to build
on that reputation.
Harrison has launched an
expansion drive to build a
state-of-the-art facility that
will feature not just reptiles,
but also big cats and a rehabil
itation center for birds of prey.
The zoo could provide more
than 20 jobs fpr local people,
says Mehssa Moreland, a Clay
City hair stylist who admires
snakes and serves on
Harrison's board of directors.
“He’s not just a freak out
here trying to show off and
stuff,” Moreland says. “What
he’s trying to do is help people,
and he loves what he does.”
And while Harrison’s love
nearly killed him, it also saved
him.
Without the proper
antivenin, cobra bites are fatal.
But Harrison had the right
medicine and a list of instruc
tions for the doctors who treat
ed him. At one point, his pidse
dropped to 12 beats per
minute.
“It’s a miraculous substance,”
he said of the venom.
Indeed, snake venom is a
complex product that differs
from species to species and
region to region. It’s been test
ed as a treatment for tremors
associated with Parkinson’s
disease, and some types dis
solve blood clots and may mini
mize the effect of strokes.
Harrison is one of just a few
suppliers in the country, says
Minton, the Indiana microbiol
ogist.