The other night I attended an event at my college. We watched an exclusive film screening of Ultrasuede: In Search of Halston, directed by Whitney Smith. It was a wonderful, intriguing documentary about Halston - how he came about, how he lived, who he mingled with, and so on. It was in addition to a few quirky stories from Halston's personal friends, such as Liza Minnelli, Andre Leon Talley, Billy Joel, Diane von Furstenberg, Naeem Kahn, Philip Bloch, Pat Cleveland, and many more.
Halston was a legendary American fashion designer. He was the first to create sweater sets and introduced "casual chic". Speaking of casual chic, he was the first to use ultrasuede, a synthetic fabric that felt like luxury. He was also the first American designer to enter China's market as well as attempting to introduce his luxury brand into a lower-priced market (JC Penney). However, he was way ahead of his time & that idea didn't work out so well for him back then.
Known for his wild dinner parties in his apartment, he also frequented Studio 54 and traveled the world glamorously with his entourage of models. Halston worked hard and lived his life to his fullest. Unfortunately, that also led to his downfall which ultimately led to his death.
Nonetheless, he was probably the only man who could look at fabric spread out on the floor and cut it up without any patterns or measurements & create a stunning dress without a single seam. Amazing.
After the screening, we were treated with a lovely Q&A session with the director Whitney Smith, 70s supermodel Pat Cleveland, and stylist Philip Bloch. It was interesting to hear such personal stories from those who were close to him. Whitney talked about a bit about his filming process as well.
director, Whitney Smith
70s supermodel, Pat Cleveland
stylist, Philip Bloch
I definitely recommend this film. It was not only delightful, but it was educational & charming. If you're in New York City, you can see the film at the IFC Center. I believe it is also available on Demand :)
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