The buzzy, beautiful Halston on Netflix covers the rise and fall of a trailblazing designer who left an indelible imprint on American fashion.
But the miniseries also dives into Halston’s alleged cocaine and alcohol use, including his regular attendance at Studio 54 and seemingly destructive behavior, which became ruinous to his wellbeing and his company.
According to The Guardian, Halston’s niece, Lesley Frowick — who’s also founder and director of the Halston Personal Archives, author of Halston: Inventing American Fashion, and consultant on 2019 documentary Halston: The Original Fashion Mogul — was only made aware of the Netflix project when it was almost finished.
For WWD, Frowick spoke further about her uncle, saying his entire family has worked hard to uphold his legacy and reputation, and that the Netflix series made them feel “violated.” Even though Netflix approached people who knew the designer — including Halston’s close friend Liza Minnelli, whom Ewan McGregor met with — “They did not approach us at all so this is in fact an unauthorized series about my uncle’s life and touching on fiction, I guess.
Thus far, Netflix hasn’t commented.