Cameron Silver presents his book about kaftans at Paris Couture Week

PARIS — Cameron Silver is in his kaftan era.

On his tour to celebrate his new book, “Caftans: From Classical to Camp,” the vintage expert showcased all sorts of robes, thobes and other variations of what he calls “our original gender-neutral garment.”

On the way to the New York launch event at the Michael Kors boutique on Madison Avenue, wearing a custom kaftan by Andy Yu, his driver commented, “Beautiful dress.” Undeterred, however, Silver plans to wear more kaftan as he prepares to stop by the Librairie Galignani for another book signing during Paris Couture Week on Monday.

“I completely drank the caftan Kool-Aid,” he said, laughing.

The founder of the Los Angeles boutique Decades was initially not enthusiastic about the idea of ​​dedicating an entire book to the item of clothing that has been worn by everyone from Paris Hilton to Queen Elizabeth II.

But when he began researching, he found the images so “intoxicating” that he felt compelled to revisit some of the pieces gathering dust in his closet. “I realized I had quite a large collection that I had acquired over the last 30 years,” he said.

The great equalizer

Published by Vendome Press, the book features images from style icons such as Veruschka, Diana Vreeland and Talitha Getty, celebrities from Jackie Kennedy to Rihanna, and royals such as Queen Rania of Jordan and Princess Diana.

“What other item of clothing does a sheikha in Doha and the Queen of England wear? It’s kind of magical,” mused Silver.

“It’s a garment worn by the royals, but that same garment is also worn by the people who serve them, so I think it’s a very unusual garment. I call the kaftan the original T-shirt because the T-shirt is like a great equalizer, and that’s true of a kaftan too,” he added.

During the Corona pandemic, the long-running garment experienced a revival, adding a glamorous shine to chilling at home.

Aside from the obvious benefit of being comfortable to wear, as Silver noted, the kaftan meets a number of needs of today’s consumers: it is suitable for all genders, available in all sizes, and is environmentally friendly as it has no metal parts and never goes out of style.

“Kaftans have been around since the Paleolithic era,” he said. “They are the oldest and most modern garment. That is a great irony.”

Silver worked on the book while serving as curator of “Endless Summer: Palm Beach Resort Wear,” an exhibit that just concluded at the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum.

“I’ve surrounded myself with women who wear caftans,” he said, laughing. “I call it Big Caftan Energy.”

From the safe

He worked with photo researcher Kelly Preedy to collect the images for the book. “Kelly understood what I was after. I like glamour,” he said. “Everything had to be inspirational.”

Some images are immediately recognizable, such as Patrick Lichfield’s shot of John Paul Getty Jr. and his wife Talitha posing on the terrace of their holiday home in Marrakesh in 1970. For others, however, you had to look a little closer.

“Some images were so hard to get. The Diana Rigg and Missoni image, for example, we couldn’t find anywhere. It showed up on eBay,” Silver said of a photo of the actress spreading her arms to show the fringe of her printed cape-sleeved dress, which he calls one of his favorite pieces of the ’20s.^thFashion of the century.

“Sometimes we had to send faxes or write letters to people because these pictures hadn’t been seen for decades,” he added.

Silver is particularly fond of a 1969 photograph in which a model wearing a red and white oversized kaftan by Finnish label Vuokko poses inside the capsule-like structure of Futuro House while the landscape outside is covered in a blanket of snow.

“It took months of research to figure this out. I think it’s the best image in the book and it’s incredibly timely considering it’s over 50 years old,” he said.

The most common kaftan he found is a rainbow-colored design from the ’60s with a jeweled collar by Marc Bohan for Dior. The book includes photos of Princess Grace of Monaco, Olivia de Havilland, Maria Felix and Jacqueline de Ribes all wearing the look.

“I would say it’s the most famous kaftan and also one of my favorite dresses, long before I came across this book. I always thought it was a spectacular garment,” said Silver. “It cemented the importance of kaftans on a couture runway, and now we see so many of them.”

Today’s designers he admires for their kaftan designs include Stéphane Rolland for haute couture and Dolce & Gabbana for ready-to-wear.

Silver, the former fashion director of the affordable line H by Halston, which is sold on QVC, also recommended the vintage-inspired styles of US brand La Vie Style House.

For a truly authentic take, he suggested the handwoven versions from Marrakshi Life, Randall Bachner’s Marrakech-based label – seen on Sarah Jessica Parker in the second season of “And Just Like That.”

“Whether it’s a brand like Etro, Valentino or Louise Kennedy in Dublin, there are so many designers experimenting with kaftans. From a business perspective, it’s also quite easy because if someone buys it online, they’re unlikely to return it,” he noted. “The inclusivity makes it a very desirable piece of clothing.”

From Liz Taylor to ALT

While the undisputed queen of kaftans is Elizabeth Taylor, who made it her trademark, the king is the late Vogue editor André Leon Talley, who commissioned his designs from brands such as Chanel, Diane Von Furstenberg, Ralph Rucci and Nigerian designer Patience Torlowei.

For his author photo, Silver almost borrowed one of the caftans from the auction of Talley’s estate at Christie’s last year, but the timing was not right. “I wish I had bought one from him, but they went for a lot of money,” he said ruefully.

It turns out Talley wasn’t the only male fan of the look. A chapter titled “Mantans” features artists from Jimi Hendrix to Billy Porter; queer icons Divine and Leigh Bowery; and designers like Yves Saint Laurent, Valentino Garavani, Kenneth Jay Lane, and Pierpaolo Piccioli.

For Silver, it highlights the fact that the concept of a kaftan can cover a variety of clothing styles, from tunics to dashikis, kimonos and muumuus.

“That’s why it’s ‘classic camping’ because you have this abundance of options and we’ll see so many kaftans on the runways during the couture shows in Paris. There’s a cultural zeitgeist to this way of dressing and I think kaftans are moneymakers because resort wear is so important to sales for fashion brands,” he said.

As he continues his book tour, Silver encourages his guests to join the kaftan trend.

“Even in DC, which is not the hippest city, these women and several men came to my event in their caftans – some were their mothers’ caftans – and everyone looked fabulous,” he gushed. “And you don’t have to wear Spanx or Skims underneath, so it’s super liberating.”