How Halston Created 1970s New York On Screen
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With much of the impact from Netflix’s limited series Halston stemming from the chic, sophisticated, 1970s sets used to tell the story of the fashion icon, it’s no surprise that production designer Mark Ricker—who recently earned an Oscar nomination for his work on Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom—spent so much time perfecting the sets meant to depict the late mogul’s legendary offices at Midtown Manhattan’s Olympic Tower.
In the beginning, the series planned to film in the actual building. But since Halston’s offices were the only ones in the tower to have double-height ceilings, it became clear that filming on location wasn’t the best option. With vintage photos and videos in hand of the iconic workspace, Ricker set out to recreate the offices on a soundstage.
In this exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the production’s design, Ricker highlights every detail the show used to tell Halston’s story—from the bold rouge furnishings to the sweeping walls of mirrors, a suggestion made by Andy Warhol to help anchor the space. However, all is not what it seems.
“The whole backdrop we photographed from the actual 21st-floor of Olympic Tower,” he says, “I think we did 270-feet of the city of New York.”
The images were then altered to reconstruct the skyline of the disco-era, with glass skyscrapers swapped out for the Twin Towers and stunning architectural details created to be viewed through the windows behind Halston’s desk.
“We built as miniatures those two spires of St. Patrick’s Cathedral because they’re just so prominent that I think the only way to make this successful is to give the depth and give the spires the right they had to be there,” he says.
Layered alongside the replicas of the plush, textural furnishings from the opulent disco-era, Halston’s favorite flower—the orchid—can be seen in the background of most shots.
“Orchids are actually one of the more successful fake flowers you can get, so we spent a lot of money on fake ones and then we put in real ones here and there,” Ricker says, “everywhere there were orchids in the show, there were probably the same 18 silk orchids that we kept shuffling around in every single scene.”
To see more of Ricker's work and get a behind-the-scenes peek at how Halston was made, watch the exclusive video below.
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