Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston (15)
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Halston, the American dress designer, was so famous in the 1970s that he was namechecked in songs by both Billy Joel ("Big Shot") and Sister Sledge ("He's the Greatest Dancer").
But this documentary on his rise and fall is also interesting for the man behind it, an unknown amateur named Whitney Sudler-Smith who looks a bit like Julian Assange and seems almost surprised to be making a film at all. Still, he gets decent access, kicking off with an interview with Halston's best friend Liza Minnelli, who advises the young man to leave out "the trashy stuff". Nice try. By the end Sudler-Smith is asking one of Halston's coterie, "What's the most fucked-up thing you saw at Studio 54?" The details of his personal decline ("a lotta drugs") are left vague; what's made plain is his professional mistake of signing away the Halston name to a multinational. He died of Aids in 1990, and his archive – oh irony! – now sits in a bible college in Nashville.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments