>> Olivier Theyskens left a shuttered Rochas with a closet full of delicate gowns in 2006, but now that the house is being resurrected under newly-appointed creative director Marco Zanini, expect anything but more of those gowns.

According to Franco Pene, president of Gibo, the brand's new licensee, the brand will be much more straightforward than in the past: "We’re not looking to generate editorial hype, because we’re thinking of a sensibly priced luxury brand that caters to the everyday needs of women.  In other words, real clothes that are useful and beautiful. Zanini understands that we don’t want to be a status brand."

Pene sees the brand's forte not being in expensive red-carpet gowns like those of Theyskens, but rather in the day-to-day; Zanini was chosen for "his penchant for daywear and the fact that he will be fully dedicated to the line without having to divide his energy with a namesake collection."  Come March 2009, it will be interesting to see how Zanini turns over Rochas' new leaf.
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>> Confirming rumors, Marco Zanini has been named the man for the newly-resurrected house of Rochas. His first collection will show next March in Paris for the Fall 2009 season, with obvious hopes that he will last longer and achieve better critical reception than he did during his two-season stint at Halston, which he left in July.

Zanini put in nine years at Versace before he was tapped to rejevunate Halston in July 2007, making this new appointment his second brand restart in as many years.  Judging by the Versace education and the sleek, simplified look Zanini sent down the runway at Halston, the new Rochas may be quite different than Olivier Theysken's ethereal vision at Rochas when the brand was shuttered back in 2006.  But one thing's for sure — Zanini's Halston designs did well at retail, so there's hope that he can keep Rochas afloat.
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>> Just hours after we learned that Rochas's ready-to-wear department is being opened back up, designer names are already being thrown around to head the comeback.  More specifically one name — Marco Zanini, the designer who just a few months back was ousted from Halston.

Although his role in that brand rejuvenation didn't work out so well, he is currently in talks to design Rochas, since former Rochas designer Olivier Theyskens is happily holed up at Nina Ricci and all.  No confirmation from Rochas's new ready-to-wear producer Gibo just yet, but we're sure to hear something — confirmation or not — sooner rather than later, since they have a collection to get started on for March 2009.
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>> Halston may have stripped itself of a head designer and a red carpet consultant recently, but the absence of Marco Zanini and Rachel Zoe won't keep owner Harvey Weinstein and board member Tamara Mellon from showing a Halston collection during New York Fashion Week.

In fact, it sounds like they're pulling out all the stops — the Spring 2009 collection, started by Marco Zanini and reportedly finished by an in-house team, will be presented at the Museum of Modern Art, a venue that can't be cheap to rent out. With five weeks until the presentation, who knows what could happen between now and then: Harvey Weinstein doesn't seem the type to throw in the towel on an investment.
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>> Cathy Horyn brings up a couple of key points today about why Halston didn't work, yet again.

1.  The "too many cooks in the kitchen" theory.

Considering that you've got notoriously strong-personalitied Harvey Weinstein as partial owner of the brand, notoriously strong-personalitied Tamara Mellon on the board, and notoriously strong-personalitied Rachel Zoe, who was until recently a creative and red carpet consultant for the brand, all stirring the Halston pot, I'd say the explosion factor was pretty likely. 

2.  After the initial push, there was little brand visibility in the public eye.

As Cathy points out:

One of the telling things about the Halston situation, even before Marco Zanini’s departure, is that there has been very little publicity or marketed buzz around the label. If the company were completely organized and focused, we would see that—we would see lots of actresses wearing the clothes, we would hear people talking about a Halston bag. Whatever. There’s been a lot of silence since Zanini showed his first collection, back in February. That may have been a calculated decision, but somehow I doubt it, and, anyway, what would be the point in this kind of economic climate?

This lack of red carpet visibility is part of the reason, according to Fashion Week Daily, why Rachel Zoe was let go — because she couldn't connect the dresses with her clients (or anyone else's, for that matter).

Halston has been through countless revivals since Halston's death in 1990, under the creative direction of designers Randolph Duke, Kevan Hall, Craig Natiello, Piyawat Pattanapuckdee, Bradley Bayou, and most recently Marco Zanini. Let's hope the next batter up can bring us a home run.
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>> The revolving door of designers continues, this time at Halston.  Marco Zanini, who has presented one Fall 2008 collection for the newly revived brand, is no longer working at company headquarters, WWD reports. 

Rachel Zoe's job as advisor for red carpet and celebrity styling to the brand may also be on the rocks, especially considering that Halston by Marco Zanini have made few to no red carpet appearances, not even on Zoe's clients.  Trouble between Zoe and the brand was first heralded when the celebrity stylist failed to appear at the inaugural Halston show in February after sitting front row at Oscar de la Renta an hour earlier.

Marco Zanini is said to have designed the Spring 2009 Halston collection, which will be presented at New York Fashion Week in September.  The company may already be looking for successors, but board member (and Jimmy Choo wunderkind) Tamara Mellon adamantly denied that Georgina Chapman, wife of Halston owner Harvey Weinstein, will be assuming any creative role.

Tough times these days for a designer who gets a less-than-positive review.
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