Whether you’ve lived in LA or simply holidayed in Hollywood, it’s highly likely you’d have shared a sidewalk with someone dressed in something from Decades – the celebrity- and industry-approved vintage boutique on Melrose Avenue. It was opened in 1997 by Cameron Silver, the fashion cognoscente who has spent the past few decades scouring the globe to give new life to pre-loved pieces, stocking treasured threads that cast the needle back to the 1920s through to today. 

Decades’ rails read like a who’s who of fashion’s designer elite, as Yves Saint Laurent and Emilio Pucci rub shoulders with John Galliano and André Courrèges, while Silver’s pre-loved pieces have styled everyone from musicians to movie stars. Major fashion houses and stylists have tapped into his encyclopaedic knowledge as one of the foremost vintage experts in the US – and he was named one of Time magazine’s ‘25 Most Influential Names and Faces in Fashion’ just five years after Decades first opened its doors. 

Silver’s impact on LA’s fashion scene has indeed been significant. “I’ve always loved clothes and storytelling, and with Decades I’ve been able to create almost like this fashion closet of history that tells stories that way,” explains Silver, who initially trained to be an actor and singer, once using his craft to recycle old songs before segueing into recycling old clothes. “I was good at being a fashion consumer, but I really had no intention of being a fashion person,” he recalls. “It was a fortuitous accident where things sort of worked out like that. It was kismet.” 

As Silver rummaged through countless countries bringing beautiful old clothes back to the future at Decades, his travels have taken him from Riyadh to Kuala Lumpur and far beyond, in turn instilling in him a cultural cognisance of the pervading power of fashion and the interconnecting stories that unite pieces, people and place. 

One particular piece, the caftan, is the subject of Silver’s latest book. In Caftans: From Classical to Camp, the polymath takes a deep dive into the enduring appeal of this glorious, voluminous fashion essential, exploring why arguably the world’s oldest-known garment truly never goes out of style. 

 “When I started to dig a little deeper into the significance of the caftan, I realised it has many different names and has existed on different continents and in so many different cultures,” Silver explains of the inspiration behind the book. “I started to think that this might be the oldest continuously worn garment in our wardrobes and that there have been variations of caftans probably worn all the way back to when we were Palaeolithic. That got me really excited.” 

 Silver’s 240-page tome is a kaleidoscopic ode to the caftan’s multitudinous manifestations and a visual tapestry of photographs that guide the reader through different eras and cultures, from the chitons depicted on urns and murals in ancient Greece and Rome to the diaphanous versions floating down today’s red carpets. 

“I love the multicultural aspect of a caftan. The fact that it can be worn by so many different people – it’s really like the United Nations of garments,” he expounds. “I also love that it’s the original gender-fluid, high-low, size-inclusive, day-to-evening, athleisure, comfy cosy piece. There are so many different components to the caftan that are very relevant to us today, in how we live and dress.” 

 Caftans could indeed be considered the great fashion leveller in many ways – they look as at home on the beach or at the opera. “Yes, that’s the interesting thing,” Silver concurs. “Somebody wearing a caftan in the Gulf, that same piece, styled differently, could be worn by a woman going to Coachella. Certainly, the variations are culturally significant, and it’s a rarefied garment, but having travelled so much, I truly recognise the universal appeal of a caftan.” 

“Freedom, comfort, elegance, effortlessness, simplicity... It’s the quiet luxury connotations of a caftan that consolidate its appeal,” Silver says. An important point in an age where the boundaries of fashion – fast, slow, sustainable or otherwise – are ever-shifting. “There’s something very quiet luxury but also something very ornate and super elegant about a caftan,” he explains. “It can be worn on the red carpet or for doing menial work; it can be worn by a king or queen, or by the people who serve those royals. I just think there’s great gravitas to the garment.” 

 Having championed the lasting allure of a caftan in his book and through his buy for Decades, Silver jokes that “a lot of people lose their caftan virginity after meeting me! There’s often a misconception of what a caftan can be, and whom it can suit, but then they put one on and are like, ‘Oh yeah, I get it! This is chic, this is sexy.’ The fact that a garment can be worn very modestly, but also fashionably seductively too... I mean, what other garment can do that?” 

 Silver’s own closet is filled with vintage caftans that he’s bought over the years, many from the Middle East. “When I went to Saudi Arabia, I dressed traditionally and wore a thobe. I wanted to pay my respect to the tradition of that garment and I love that people thought I was Arab. It was like breaking bread with somebody.” 

 Silver attributes seeing a growing interest in caftans worn around the world to both fashion’s business model and the garment’s versatility. “Resort collections are on the floors of luxury stores for much longer, and a caftan is usually an important part of a resort collection, whether it’s Valentino, Etro or Gucci,” he explains. “But I also think it’s the zeitgeist of what’s happening. In a world where the climate is changing and we’re travelling so much, the caftan has become the seasonless, go-to garment.” 

 A natural progression from living and breathing caftan couture for so long, Silver has launched his own line in collaboration with La Vie. The capsule collection is filled with luxurious iterations of La Vie’s signature ‘one-size’ silhouette inspired by things Silver researched for the book. 

“It was fun to collaborate and create these ultimate caftans that I’ve been dreaming of in my head. It’s like we’ve created a wardrobe of caftans, for day and evening, the beach and red carpet. We played around with ’60s prints and there’s some really beautiful cabana striping. There’s also one in gorgeous lace with an embellished collar and, my favourite, one inspired by Schiaparelli’s iconic ‘Sun God’ cape,” shares Silver excitedly.

 Having spent decades in the industry, discovering once-in-a-lifetime fashion finds, dressing celebrities, and championing the caftan’s protean promises, Silver’s own wardrobe tells a story or two. His favourite piece is a black cashmere turtleneck from Christophe Decarnin’s tenure at Balmain, which, he admits, now has a few moth holes. “I’m always trying to replace it but never have,” he laughs. “I love that sweater so much!” He says he’s forever drawn to Halston for what he did for American fashion. “He’s like the American Chanel. It’s the closest to my personal style of dressing – I just love the DNA.” For a shrewd investment piece that offers longevity over trend-led frivolity, Silver says it’s all about outerwear, “Whether it’s a great Yves Saint Laurent blazer from the ’70s or ’80s or a fabulous coat.” 

Silver still advocates the importance of preloved fashion – through both a style and sustainability lens. “There’s nothing more liberating than wearing something that’s 50 years old and knowing that it’s still chic,” he asserts. “I want to urge people to understand, especially in this social media era, that it’s chic to repeat. You can make anything sustainable if it sustains in your closet. Some of the greatest icons have always reworked their wardrobes – it was never ‘one and done’. That’s what I’d like to see as the next big evolution in fashion – for people to rethink the investment in their wardrobes to have pieces with a much longer trajectory. And I believe vintage and pre-loved and archival fashion is helping people do that.”