30 posts tagged "Cameron Silver"
The Decades Of Style, Decoded By Cameron Silver
As one of the pre-eminent purveyors of vintage, Cameron Silver‘s latest endeavor, Decades: A Century of Fashion, is an editorialized take on twentieth-century fashion in a way that befits the legacy he’s created at Decades, his retail concept since 1997. “I have always had the philosophy of vintage that looks modern, and that’s really the concept also of the book,” Silver describes of the coffee-table tome meets vintage fashion reference, which includes never-before-seen photos narrating each decade of the twentieth century alongside Silver’s first-person essays. “My goal is that when someone looks at the book and they see a picture, they think, I have to buy that—that looks so modern.” (And they really do look of-the-moment—the ruffle dress [pictured, left], looks so very Balenciaga Spring 2013 to us.) To delve deeply into each decade, Silver first identified the things, people, clothes, and settings that inspired his own reference to the time, and then he played with contradictions to show the breadth of design achieved over each ten-year period. “I always like the idea of contradiction, and every decade has these polar opposites that extend throughout it that really shape it,” he says.
And though he may live and breathe vintage fashion, Silver still keeps a studied eye on the present. “Designers who are excelling now are creating a new vocabulary, a new way of dressing,” he reflects of the Spring ’13 collections. “Things don’t look as derived from the past, which was completely acceptable for the first decade of the twenty-first century, or the ‘Decades decade’ because everything was so vintage-inspired. I’m seeing things I have never seen before—it’s a very healthy time.” And while Silver believes that for designers today, it’s a setup for failure to look too vintage, the unearthed photos published in his book may be ripe for the taking. “I have a feeling we’ll see a lot of the images in the book reinterpreted on the runway because some of them have never been published before.” Here, an exclusive first look inside the book.
Celebrating Le Grand Divertissement à Versailles, The “Original FNO”
While the streets were mobbed with FNO-goers last night, a more dignified affair was going on at Tiffany & Co. The brand sponsored the New York premiere of Versailles ’73: American Runway Revolution at the Paris Theatre and then an after-party celebrating the film at its Fifth Avenue flagship. The film tells the story of a gaggle of American designers (Halston, Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Anne Klein, and Stephen Burrows) and models (including Pat Cleveland, Marisa Berenson, Alva Chinn, Bethann Hardison, and China Machado) during a landmark fashion moment—Le Grand Divertissement à Versailles. It was a battle royale runway show against French design giants like Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior, the first moment when American fashion proved it could play on the European stage.
So it was fitting that vintage guru Cameron Silver of Decades, also the film’s narrator, was in attendance, chiming in on the importance of the designers in the film. But no one could do the job better than the original models from the show, many of whom were at the party last night. “The emphasis went from that side of the pond to this side of the pond,” Chinn (pictured, right) told Style.com. “We became the fashion people and they became the stepchildren. They needed to learn from us.” The excitement of the evening, at both Tiffany’s and on FNO in general, harkened back to the drama and rush of the ’73 Versailles show. “You had a room full of the most glamorous, fabulous people in the world—it was the original FNO,” said the film’s director, Deborah Riley Draper. “There would be no tonight if there wasn’t a then.”
Eat Right
Want to draw in a summer fashion crowd? Skip the usual cocktail hours and fanciful outdoor fêtes; instead, serve up Finnish brown bread, pineapple-jalapeño popsicles, artisan olive oil, and white truffle mayonnaise. That combination and more was the brainchild of Paper magazine’s Kim Hastreiter (pictured), who has put food and fashion, often an oxymoron, to the test at the Super (Duper) Market. “I’ve never seen fashion people with their eyes so big,” observed Annelise Peterson, who was hanging with Waris Ahluwalia and Cameron Silver, of the mouthwatering options.
The three-day pop-up super store, hosted in conjunction with Target and American Express, in New York’s Chelsea Market in the Meatpacking District, debuted with a launch party last night that drew the likes of David Byrne, Sally Singer, Warby Parker’s Neil Blumenthal, and Steven Kolb. The latter paused to admire cookies frosted with its own nutrition info and “Subzero” logo magnets by DJ duo Andrew Andrew. “Amazing,” Kolb said simply.
Others were drawn by the food on offer. Kirna Zabête buyer Evren Dogancay had saved up her appetite, while Kate Schelter stopped by after dinner for some dessert (hint: the S’mores pie was a standout). All had big smiles—not your usual fashion flock expression—including Hastreiter, who professed to know her way around a kitchen. “I have a couple signature dishes in the summer,” she said. “I am famous for my ever so slightly cooked heirloom multicolored cherry tomato sauce on spaghetti. And the dessert I am famous for is my fresh peach torte.” She’s so particular about the stone fruit that she goes all the way to Harlem for a specific dealer. “You have to buy before noon because he sells out,” she said. “But they’re the best peaches I have ever eaten.”
Decades For Rent
“People have always asked if they could rent something from Decades,” says the founder and co-owner of the L.A. designer vintage and modern consignment shop, Cameron Silver. Thanks to Decades’ new partnership with Rent the Runway, now you can. Tomorrow, a limited-edition collection of vintage accessories, including Chanel cross ribbon earrings and mink designer coats, will be on offer ($100 to $350 to rent) on Renttherunway.com. “Rent the Runway’s head merchant, Derek Guillemette, and I met in Paris to scour the flea markets for amazing vintage treasures like vintage YSL minaudières and Chanel gilt and pearl necklaces,” explains Silver.
To celebrate the launch of Decades for Rent the Runway, Silver and his co-owner Christos Garkinos (who recently announced their upcoming Bravo TV show) are doing a two-day trunk show in New York. Alongside the rentable items, the temporary boutique will include a display of modern and vintage Prada and Schiaparelli pieces selected in celebration of the upcoming Costume Institute Gala, along with a selection of pre-loved Decades’ designer dresses and accessories from Christian Louboutin, Gucci, and Jimmy Choo (all available to buy). Style.com has an exclusive first look at a pair of earrings from the Decades x Rent the Runway collection, here.
Decades for Rent the Runway pop-up shop, 201 Mulberry St., NYC. Open April 27-28 at 10 a.m.
What Does Savannah Miller Have Up Her Sleeve? Plus, Jessica Simpson’s Heels Under Fire, Decades TV, And More…
Sienna Miller and her sister Savannah said back in February they were stepping down from their Twenty8Twelve label. But that’s not the last of the Millers in fashion. Sienna recently revealed to British Vogue that Savannah is hard at work on a new label. [Vogue U.K.]
Poet, actor, and performance artist Taylor Mead is one of the last of Andy Warhol’s remaining Superstars. Tomorrow night in New York, he’s set to make a rare public appearance at Anthology Film Archives to introduce the premiere of a recent restoration of the 1961 film Passion in a Seaside Slum. [Hint]
Jessica Simpson could be in trouble for stepping on another designer’s toes. Internet wags have noticed that the Evangel style from Simpson’s namesake footwear collection looks almost identical to Christian Louboutin’s Staratata heels. [Huff Po]
Decades co-owners Christos Garkinos and Cameron Silver are the subjects of a new Bravo show. Though details are still being finalized, Garkinos tells WWD, “The show will focus on shining the light on the rarefied and very specific part of fashion that we live in. We are curators and fashion arbiters.” [WWD]