RAF SIMONS has visited vintage stores in the past to seek design inspiration, revealed Cameron Silver, owner of famous LA vintage couture boutique Decades. The new Dior creative director is a customer of Silver’s store.

“Designers treat it as a laboratory of inspiration,” said Silver. “One designer in particular visited – I’m not against saying who, it was Raf Simons – and we talked. I taught him about Pauline Trigère. It was like a vintage education. It works both ways – I in turn learn by seeing what the designers are attracted to.” Read more »

Secrets of the hot consignment shops where celebrities, socialites and stylists make money on once-worn red carpet gowns and regrettable fashion-victim impulse buys.

BY DANA GOODYEAR |  view whole article pdf >

ANNALS OF RETAIL about Cameron Silver, owner of the Hollywood vintage clothing store Decades, which is frequented by stylists for movie stars such as Salma Hayek and Julia Roberts… Ten years ago, Cameron Silver, a former Weimar-style cabaret singer, opened a fancy vintage shop on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. On a recent good day, Silver sold a piece to Gwen Stefani. In the days immediately before that, he sold an Ossie Clark maternity dress to Julia Roberts, a Thierry Mugler dress to Chloe Sevigny and a Carven dress to Jada Pinckett Smith. “We cover a hundred years of fashion, but there is a Decades look,” Silver says. “It’s about vintage that looks modern, sexy, unstudied, and glamorous.” Read more »