EXCLUSIVE: Halston Releases First Fine Jewelry Collection With Aurate

Halston is embarking on a category expansion with a new collaboration.

The heritage fashion brand has teamed with Aurate on a fine jewelry collection that fuses both brands’ ethos for the holidays. The 12-piece collection includes earrings, necklaces and rings co-designed by both brands that are made to reflect Halston’s well-known glitz and glamour of the Studio 54 days.

“It’s about going out, showing the glitzy version of yourself and this party mode, which is very much Halston and something we’ve also always had,” said Aurate cofounder Sophie Kahn. “Then there’s the other part of the everyday fine jewelry that’s a huge part of Aurate. You sleep in it and you go to the gym in it. Halston always had bold dresses, but they were still comfortable, so we wanted to do the same.”

The brands codesigned the collection, taking a thorough look at Halston’s archives and looking back at the designer’s many muses, such as Tiffany & Co. jewelry designer Elsa Peretti — who was one of the most influential designers in the jewelry category — actress Liza Minelli and models Bianca Jagger and Pat Cleveland.

Kahn and her cofounder Bouchra Ezzahraoui took inspiration from Peretti’s famous jewelry styles — most notably the designer’s bone cuff — as well as the general Studio 54 aesthetic that Halston’s muses evoked during his heyday.

“When we look at our values and the values that Halston tries to bring to life, he surrounded himself with empowered women and codesigned with them,” Ezzahraoui explained. “That’s something Aurate does in a more data-driven and modern way. He was a disruptor back in the day on the runway and this is something Aurate is trying to do as well in the fine jewelry space.”

The collection includes styles in white and yellow gold made from Aurate’s signature 100 percent recycled 14-karat vermeil, which is sterling silver that is gold-plated. Most of the collection’s pieces are created in a molten look that’s both dressy, but works for everyday wear.

“We believe that collaborations between brands result in a whole new lens to look through in the creative process and are honored to introduce this fine jewelry partnership with Aurate,” said Robert D’Loren, chairman and chief executive officer of Xcel Brands, which owns the Halston brand, in a statement. “We worked hand-in-hand to create bold pieces that pay homage to Halston’s rich history while simultaneously celebrating today’s modern woman. Bringing together these two brands and our shared ethos has been extremely exciting for all of us at Halston.”

Kahn and Ezzahraoui said they were partially inspired to create the collection based on the recent Netflix series “Halston,” which brought the designer and his life back into the limelight.

“What’s great is [the show] put his vision into context, as well as in a more mainstream way that makes customers understand why Halston became Halston and what he did,” Ezzahraoui explained. “As a consumer from the outside, you just see this beautiful brand and you don’t understand what went into it. For us as a brand, the fact that [the show] put into context his muses, it inspired the collection.”

Since being acquired by Xcel Brands Inc. in 2014, Halston is working on bringing the brand back to its high-fashion roots. The brand tapped Robert Rodriguez last year as its new creative director, who put together a capsule collection this year based on costumes featured in the Netflix series that was sold at Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue for a limited time.

The Aurate x Halston collection ranges in price from $160 to $1,500 and will be available on Aurate and Halston’s websites, as well as Aurate’s new store located on Madison Avenue.

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