>> Instead of a runway show or presentation like they did last season, Halston is taking a page out of Viktor & Rolf's book — with a twist.  Today, the brand sent out a trailer to a select group for their Fall 2009 presentation of choice — a music video featuring literary descendent Dree Hemingway running throughout New York in slow motion, yellow Halston dress flowing around her.  She passes models posed in cars, sitting on the street curb, standing in the foreground, twirling around — all outfitted in the Fall 2009 Halston collection.  February 13, the full video goes out by email, and the day after, an illustrated Fall 2009 lookbook and an invitation to see the entire collection in showroom follow.  The hope is that the video goes viral.

The change in format was not due to economic strain, Bonnie Takhar, CEO of Halston maintained — "It was something we were planning since September, before the world fell apart."  But it has worked out with the economy in mind: "A lot of people’s budgets will be cut and many won’t be traveling to see the shows, and this is a way to be inclusive."

The new format is a signal of some brand restructuring — it's aimed toward the 25-45 year-old demographic rather than 30-50 year-olds, as previous collections were.  And although Marco Zanini hasn't been replaced since he unceremoniously left the brand last July, the search is still on, Takhar confirmed.

*image: source