Where in the World is Marco Zanini?

(NEW YORK) The revival of the house of Halston by the Weinstein Company and Hilco Consumer Capital has been a tempestuous ride indeed. The inaugural launch collection by Marco Zanini, shown at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York last February, earned mostly negative reviews. It was attended by prominent board member Tamara Mellon as well as Weinstein and his wife Georgina Chapman, designer of Marchesa. Rachel Zoe, who was hired by the brand in March 2007 as a creative consultant and member of the advisory team, was noticeably absent at the 2:00 p.m. show on February 2--although she sat front-row at Oscar de la Renta an hour earlier. "She has no creative control over Halston," a brand spokesperson then told Fashion Week Daily. "Her main responsibility is as an advisor for red carpet and celebrity styling." However none of Marco Zanini's designs for the house have yet graced the red carpet on one of Zoe's clients like Jennifer Garner or Keira Knightley.

Now the fashion world is abuzz with rumors that Halston is ending its relationships with Marco Zanini and Rachel Zoe. While calls to Halston were not returned by press time, and email requests to Zoe and her representative did not garner any replies, Tamara Mellon's office responded to the persistent rumor that Chapman would be assuming a creative role at the house. "Georgina Chapman will not be assuming any creative role in the Halston brand," said a Mellon spokesperson, declining to comment on the Zanini and Zoe rumors for the time being. However, sources close to the situation said that Mellon is expected to take a more active role in the creative direction of Halston in hopes of making the house as commercially successful and critically acclaimed as her flagship brand Jimmy Choo.
ASHLEY BAKER