Halston: Absolute Modernism
October 29, 1991 - January 11, 1992


Halston: Absolute Modernism is an argument for Halston’s conception of fashion as essential form. His reductive approach to shape corresponds to Minimalism in its fundamental geometry and its intelligent and sensual preoccupation with primary form. This exhibition does not include Halston’s millinery design nor is it a retrospective; instead, it begins with an examination of select Halston garments generated by the elegant simplicity of the two­dimensional design. Halston designed with models in motion to visualize comfort and fluidity in movement, but his design ideal was simple form, distilled construction, and absolute clarity. Each garment in this gallery is designed in one piece (or in two examples, two pieces), garments correlated to their basic pattern rendered as if they were modernist paintings in the same colors.