Hall, Kevan

19(??)—

Fashion designer

One of the leading young fashion designers in the United States, Kevan Hall has created outfits for some of Hollywood's most glamorous stars, including Meg Ryan, Angela Bassett, Salma Hayek, Charlize Theron, Sharon Stone, and Vivica A. Fox. His designs are noted for their sleek elegance, attention to detail, and sophistication. As actor Drew Barrymore commented in a Newsweek article, "His stuff makes you feel like a real lady."

From the age of seven, when he fell under the spell of Motown stars such as Diana Ross and Martha Reeves (of Martha and the Vandellas), Hall knew he wanted to design clothes. Watching his idols on television, he would sketch dresses for them and imagine how much more glamorous they would look wearing his designs. He studied fashion at Detroit, Michigan's Cass Technical High School and in his senior year won first place as "Designer of Tomorrow," an award and scholarship sponsored by the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, California.

Hall moved to California and began his studies at the Fashion Institute, where he was an outstanding student.

His favorite class was the History of Fashion. "I love to look back to the past for inspiration," he commented on the Institute's Web site, and he made the study of fashion history "an important part of developing my collections." During his student years he made a trip to the top European couture houses, and in his senior year received the Institute's Peacock Award for Outstanding Fashion Design.

After graduation, Hall took a series of jobs with various California designers. "It's important for a young designer to find a mentor or get into a company to learn all the aspects, even picking up pins or getting coffee, to find yourself entrenched in the industry," he explained to Denver Post writer Colleen O'Connor. Armed with this experience Hall launched Kevan Hall Couture in 1982 with his wife and business partner, Deborah, who had been a classmate at the Fashion Institute. We made appointments and stopped at every fine and specialty store all the way from San Francisco to Los Angeles," he told Ebony writer Aldore D. Collier. Buyers expressed enthusiasm, and the partners had to go home and figure out a way to finance the manufacture of the designs they had shown. With some borrowed money, they created private showings for wealthy women whose purchases supported the production costs. The clothing line was carried in such prominent stores as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus.

By 1988, Hall's designs had attracted considerable attention. That year, retailers and the fashion media nominated Hall as one of the top designers in California. In 1989 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People named him a Great American Designer, and in 1990 his work was featured in Vanity Fair's national Absolut Vodka advertising campaign. In 1992 the Center of performing Arts in Southern California honored him with a ten-year retrospective exhibit. The film industry was quick to notice Hall's success, and he began serving as a costume consultant for such movies as Gridlock and Eve's Bayou.

In 1998 Hall shocked the fashion world when he was hired to take over the legendary fashion house, Halston, which had fallen into decline since its founder's death in 1990. As Essence writer Amy Dubois Barnett pointed out, Hall's reputation in California had not made much of an impression in New York, where Halston was based. "People were skeptical of me in the beginning only because they didn't know who I was," he told Collier in Ebony. "I wasn't part of the fiber of the New York fashion world." He knew that his first collection for Halston would have to be special. He created sophisticated and simple gowns with gorgeous fabrics and elegant details such as beading, and indeed, "it all came together," he recalled to Collier. "I had an enthusiastic response."

Since the late 1990s Hall has worked primarily in New York City, but he travels frequently to shop for fabrics and find inspiration. "It all starts with ideas, then sketches, quick sketches," he explained to Collier. "From there, there are fabrics involved. I travel at least twice a year to Paris shopping for fabrics." The process of bringing a garment from initial idea to finished product, he added, could take between three and four months. He thoroughly enjoys the creative process, but admitted that there can be pressure to live up to the expectation that each season's new collection should surpass the previous ones.

Hall launched his own signature, the Kevan Hall Collection, in 2002. As he explained in a Newsweek interview, the Halston reputation had by now revived and it was time for him to move forward once again in his career. Factio Magazine described the Kevan Hall Collection's fashion philosophy as one that emphasizes "purity of style, incomparable tailoring and sensuously draped streamline silhouettes." Among several celebrities who have worn his designs are Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, who asked Hall to create the liquid gold charmeuse gown that she wore as a guest star in the season finale of Boston Public.

In a Fashion Windows review of Hall's Fall 2005 collection, which was inspired by Diana Ross's 1977 film Mahogany, critic Heidi Winkenwerder noted that Hall has become "one of the anchor designers for the Los Angeles fashion season and it looks like he will become the ‘opening act’ in a manner of speaking, making him the quintessential LA designer that reflects the fashion ethos of the city." Winkenwerder described Hall's evening gowns as exquisite but also pointed out that his daywear, too, was extraordinarily elegant.

Hall has made appearances on several television programs, including Inside Edition, The Better Half, and Soap Talk. He also provided fashion insights on Extreme Makeover. He has lectured about the inspirations and influences behind his fashions at the Norman Lear Center of the University of Southern California and at the Costume Council at the Los Angeles Museum of Modern Art.

At a Glance …

Born in Detroit, MI; married Deborah Hall; children: Asia, Evan. Education: Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Los Angeles.

Career:

Fashion designer, 1982—; Kevan Hall Couture, founder, 1982-; Kevan Hall Studio, founder, 1989-; Halston, design and creative director, 1998-2000; Kevan Hall Collection, founder, 2002-.

Awards:

Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Designer of Tomorrow award and scholarship; Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Peacock Award for Outstanding Fashion Design; NAACP, Great American Designer award, 1989; 47th Annual Gold Coast Fashion Award, Chicago, Designer of the Year, 2002; Life & Style magazine, Stylemaker of the Year, 2005.

Addresses:

Office—8255 Beverly Blvd., Suite 217, Los Angeles, CA 90048.

Brother of television actor Vondie Curtis Hall of Chicago Hope fame, Kevan Hall told Collier in Ebony that he had always wanted to emulate his "well-liked" and "unaffected" brother. The designer enjoys relaxing with his family whenever he can take time off from his busy work schedule. He commutes every few weeks from New York to the home in Los Angeles that he shares with Deborah and their children, daughter Asia and son Evan.

Sources

Periodicals

Denver Post, October 17, 2006.

Ebony, February, 2000, p. 132.

Essence, November, 1999, p. 143.

Newsweek, January 23, 2006, p. 12.

On-line

"Alumni Stories: Kevan Hall," Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, www.fidm.com/ (February 26, 2007).

"Kevan Hall Fall 2006: Refined & Luxe," Fashion Windows, www.fashionwindows.com/news/kevan_hall/F061.asp (March 8, 2007).

"Designers Spotlight: Kevan Hall," Factio Magazine, www.factio-magazine.com/ (February 26, 2007).

Kevan Hall Designs,www.kevanhalldesigns.com/press.htm (March 8, 2007).