It's 1984, and investigative reporter Arthur Stuart is trying to locate Brian Slade, the glam-rock superstar who staged his own death and vanished from the spotlight ten years earlier. Todd Haynes's Velvet Goldmine (1998) transforms that mystery into a vivid collage of memory, fantasy and desire, creating an alternative history of rock and a landmark of queer cinema.

Velvet Goldmine divided opinion on its release, but Katherine Reed traces how the film's fans have kept it alive through rewatches, relistens and fan fiction. Reed weaves in the history of the film with close readings of its cinematic references, songs and style. She re-evaluates Velvet Goldmine in light of Haynes's other films, addresses its fraught production history and its allusions to David Bowie, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop, and the ways in which Haynes reshapes those figures into a new mythology.

Reed also analyses Velvet Goldmine's soundtrack, and examines legendary costume designer Sandy Powell's role in creating blends of fantasy and reality in each character's wardrobe. Like the film itself, this is not a linear history, but an exploration of how Velvet Goldmine teaches us to create anew.