Videos: Ultrasuede: In Search Of Halston

An exploration of the clothes, the glamour and the decadence of iconic fashion designer Halston.

No one represents the glamour and decadence of the 70’s more than fashion designer Halston. In his moving, insightful documentary "Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston," filmmaker and ‘era-enthusiast’ Whitney Smith explores the life and times of this talented yet frequently misunderstood American icon. From his early days as a milliner at Bergdorf Goodman’s to his apotheosis as designer-to-the-stars and king of Studio 54, Halston lived an extraordinarily colorful life. While professional and personal problems consumed him in his later years, Smith reveals in ‘Ultrasuede’ that beneath the often lurid headlines, Halston was a true artist, and a great man.

No one represents the glamour and decadence of the 70’s more than fashion designer Halston. In his moving, insightful documentary "Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston," filmmaker and ‘era-enthusiast’ Whitney Smith explores the life and times of this talented yet frequently misunderstood American icon. From his early days as a milliner at Bergdorf Goodman’s to his apotheosis as designer-to-the-stars and king of Studio 54, Halston lived an extraordinarily colorful life. While professional and personal problems consumed him in his later years, Smith reveals in ‘Ultrasuede’ that beneath the often lurid headlines, Halston was a true artist, and a great man.

No one represented the glamour, style, and excess of the 70's quite like Halston and, in the documentary, ULTRASUEDE: IN SEARCH OF HALSTON, filmmaker Whitney Sudler-Smith takes us on a fabulous fun-and-fact filled journey through the legendary designer's life and times. Using a cheekily playful interview style that befits an era in which frivolity was serious business, Sudler-Smith romps through the past Zelig-like, looking like a member of the inner circle, while chatting with a stellar cast of Halston's close friends, colleagues, and assorted cultural commentators about this iconic figure. Halston was America's first celebrity designer, and his circle of clients included the most talked- about women of the world, including Elizabeth Taylor, Liza Minnelli, Bianca Jagger, Betty Ford and Lauren Bacall. At the height of his fame in the '70s he truly was the emperor, not only of fashion, but of style, putting his name and distinctive aesthetic on everything from sunglasses and shoes to a phenomenally successful line of fragrances. Halston was also emperor of another world--New York City nightlife--and the storied Studio 54 was where he held court. Every night was a party, full of dancing, drinking, and drug taking, but by day he transformed the way American women looked and lived. At his pinnacle, Halston sold his business for a fortune, but wealth couldn't protect him from the loss of control he experienced both professionally and personally. Unable to use the very name he had turned into a global brand, he dropped out of sight, and his death from AIDS a few years later was final evidence that the era he came to define had ended.