Let's look back: Roy Halston

Roy Halston Frowick  was born on April 23 1932, in Des Moines, Iowa.He started designing from a young age, after his mother taught him to sew and began creating hats for his sister. His family called him by his middle name, Halston, to avoid confusion with his Uncle Roy.
Roy Halston Frowick was born on April 23,1932. Roy developed an interest in sewing from his mother, and he began creating hats and altering clothes for his mother and sister as a child.

The designer first became known for making hats. In 1957 he opened his first dedicated hat store on the Boulevard Salon on North Michigan Avenue, Chicago. It was at this point he started using his middle name instead of his first name in a professional capacity as well. 

He first became an internationally renowned name when he created the pillbox hat Jackie Kennedy wore for her husband's inauguration in 1961. 

Halston never underestimated the power of having his work worn by such a high-profile following. "You are as good as the people you dress," he once said. 

As well as designing his ready-to-wear label, Halston also created uniforms for the Girl Scouts, Braniff airlines and the New York police department. In 1976 he made the kit for the US Olympic team.
In 1990, at the age of 57, Halston died of lung cancer, complicated by AIDS. "He never said he was going to die," recalled close friend Liza Minnelli.