Dara Tomanovich says the idea for her golf apparel label came to her on a golf course in Barbados. She was playing the Green Monkey course at the Sandy Lane resort when she noticed something missing: clothing that performed well on the course and still looked like something worth wearing off it.
That label, Devon Halsey, is the newest chapter in a career that started decades earlier. Tomanovich, originally from Toronto, was still a teenager when designer Karl Lagerfeld spotted her on a trip to Paris and made her the new face of Chloé.
Most people who recognize her name know only one part of that story. For close to a decade, Tomanovich was linked to Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer. She drew renewed attention the year after the relationship ended, when she was arrested for driving while intoxicated. Less has been written about the modeling and acting career that came before it, or the golf apparel business she has spent the past two years expanding.
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Quick Facts
| Born | Toronto, Canada |
| Known for | Chloé campaigns, the film Bio-Dome, and her relationship with Bill Hemmer |
| Current role | Founder and CEO, Devon Halsey |
| Net worth | $10 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth |
| Education | BA in Print and Broadcast Journalism, UCLA |
Modeling and Acting Career
Tomanovich grew up in Toronto and was still a teenager when a trip to Paris changed the direction of her life. Lagerfeld cast her as the new face of Chloé, and she spent the next five years modeling there, working with photographer Patrick Demarchelier on an L’Oréal campaign and appearing on the cover of French Marie Claire.
She later moved to New York to study acting at the William Esper Studio, training in the Meisner technique, then relocated to Los Angeles, where she got her first film role in the 1996 comedy Bio-Dome. Her other credits include Highlander: The Series, Mortal Kombat: Conquest, and the 2012 film Being Flynn, alongside Rachel Weisz. In 2009, she also hosted an infomercial with Donald Trump for his “Way to Wealth” seminar.
The Relationship With Bill Hemmer
Tomanovich was linked to Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer for close to a decade, reportedly from around 2005 until around 2013. The two were photographed together at events across New York, including a December 2009 book party at Rogue Tomate for CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta. They never married and have no children together.
The 2014 DWI Arrest
In July 2014, about a year after the relationship had ended, Tomanovich was arrested for driving while intoxicated in Manhattan’s West Village after crashing a Porsche Cayenne into a parked car. She failed two breathalyzer tests, and Page Six reported that she told officers she knew former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. She is said to have reached a plea deal that September.
From Innovative Projects to Devon Halsey
Tomanovich’s move into business predates Devon Halsey by more than a decade. In 2010, while still known mainly through her relationship with Hemmer, she founded Innovative Projects, a New York firm connecting architects and designers with investors. By her own account, one of its first deals placed lighting designer Hervé Descottes with the team behind Chile’s Vik Winery and Hotel. That project is real and independently documented, though her specific role in arranging it is not.
Devon Halsey came a decade later, and its focus on fabric quality goes back further than her interest in golf. Her mother, from a Montenegrin family, worked with handwoven textiles at home, and Tomanovich has said that is where she first learned to tell the difference between fabric that looks good and fabric that holds up. She took up golf regularly during the pandemic and noticed a gap in what was available: little of it was both stylish and built to perform well on the course. The company launched its first sales in August 2023.
Since launching, the brand has:
- Been included in Golf Digest’s 2025 feature on golf brands founded and run by women
- Partnered with wholesale platform RepSpark to expand into golf resorts and destination courses
- Been publicly endorsed by actress Sasha Alexander and NBC News anchor Stephanie Ruhle
Tomanovich remains the company’s CEO.
Devon Halsey is not a new name for her. Tomanovich used it privately as an alias during her modeling and acting years, long before she built a company around it.
