Movie producers
Bob and Harvey Weinstein are turning themselves into
fashionistas.
The brothers have
partnered with investment firm Hilco Consumer Capital
to buy the Halston fashion brand, which was favored by the
international jet set during the 1960s and '70s.
Their Weinstein
Co. studio plans to make a documentary about Roy Halston,
the late fashion icon who created the fashion house, and to
feature Halston products in its films and on Bravo's
reality series Project Runway.
The documentary
would compete with a long-delayed and unrelated narrative
biopic, Simply Halston, which is being developed by Killer
Films. The indie producer lost a duel involving
another gay icon, Truman Capote, when its film
Infamous was delayed a year because of Sony
Pictures Classics' 2005 release Capote.
While studios and
networks frequently plug their sister companies' films
and TV shows and integrate advertisers' brands into their
content, it is rare for an entertainment company to
own a consumer brand and market it through its own
content. The Weinstein Co., however, is not the first to
make such a move. In 1996, New Regency Prods. acquired an
equity stake in Puma AG, and once Regency cut a deal
with Fox Filmed Entertainment for distribution and an
investment, Puma products were featured in Fox fare.
"We are thrilled
to be joining this group of investors and advisers to
help reinvent one of the greatest brands in fashion
history," Harvey Weinstein said in a statement.
Among the fashion
leaders who will help structure management and provide
creative direction for Halston--whose designs included
Jackie Kennedy's pillbox hats--is Tamara Mellon,
founder-president of Jimmy Choo Ltd. A board of
directors has been formed, and the investment group is in
the process of assembling an advisory board of leading
business and fashion figures who will be charged with
finding a CEO, lead designer and creative team.
The Halston brand
and other assets were acquired from Neema Clothing
Ltd., whose founder and principal shareholder is James J.
Ammeen. (Gail Schiller and Greg Goldstein, The
Hollywood Reporter/Reuters)