There are a few problems with this documentary, but the subject is just too good to pass up. Fashion designer Roy Halston came from humble beginnings in Iowa to set sartorial trends through the 1970s, even licensing his designs to JC Penney (gasp!) before being undone by stress and HIV. To tell the story of Halston’s life and work, first-time director Whitney Smith constructs his documentary as a mystery of sorts, piecing together the man one interview at a time. So instead of really dwelling on the icon’s cultural legacy, Ultrasuede more or less delivers what the tagline promises: Sex. Drugs. Fame. Fabric. “…paints a compelling if sadly all-too-familiar portrait of a gifted artist victimized by his own hubristic greed, whose name was everywhere even after he lost the rights to it” (Variety). Featuring interviews with the likes of Stephen Burrows, Naeem Khan, Diane von Furstenberg, Anjelica Huston, and Liza Minnelli.

Whitney Sudler-Smith---USA---2010---94 mins.

• New Video
• Release date: 05/29/2012