Vintage seller to the stars

When you see a shot of a celebrity in vintage couture, there's a good chance it came from Cameron Silver's store.

Oh yeah, Julia popped in the other day," Cameron Silver says with a knowing laugh. "She didn't buy anything though." As the owner of what is probably Los Angeles' most exclusive and priciest vintage clothing store, Silver, who is a VIP guest at Fashion Week, isn't talking about any old Julia from down the road - he means Julia Roberts.

She is just one of many Hollywood names who have worn a frock from Decades, Silver's store, to a red-carpet event. Renee Zellweger, Pamela Anderson, Lindsay Lohan and Kristin Davis are some of the others.

Just about every time you see a paparazzi picture of a celebrity in vintage couture, there's a good chance it came from Silver's store.

Decades stocks the kind of gowns most wannabe princesses can only dream about, with fantasy price tags to match - vintage Chanel, Courreges and Pucci, as well as lesser known but equally significant designers such as Ossie Clark and Holly Harp.

"Every day there's an Oscar winner at Decades," says Silver.

"Coming to a store like this can be rather intimidating, especially when you see the prices. But we want it to be friendly, we want it to be a kind of salon where you can hang out."

He is not just a shopboy to the stars, though. In fact, he is becoming a bit of a fashion celebrity himself.

He started his working life on stage. Growing up in Beverly Hills with fashion-literate parents, Silver went off to study theatre at university and while there, also learned a lot about stage costumes.

His first career was as a singer, specialising in German cabaret songs from the 1920s and 30s, and he even released a record.

So, having already developed a passion for theatrical costume and vintage shopping in second-hand stores while on tour, he opened his boutique on Melrose Ave in 1997.

"Where I used to recycle old songs, now I recycle old clothes."

He feels his skills as a performer are still used on the stage at Decades. It's not so much about selling, it's about story-telling - and every dress has a story.

That is part of the appeal to his celebrity customers.

"When you have cash, everything is accessible. You can have whatever you want - if you're on the internet you can have it within 48 hours. So you don't want what everyone else has, you don't want to look cookie-cutter, especially when you can buy history."

No doubt another part of the appeal is Silver's take on vintage clothing, unique in Los Angeles at the time he started the store.

"I wanted a store that approached vintage clothing that looked modern, that served people in a modern way. I wasn't interested in period-looking clothing or costumey things."

And that cunning plan has worked. These days the original Decades store has two offshoots: one known as Decades Gallery stocks the uber-expensive, collectible frocks, and the other, Decades Two, has more contemporary designer goodies, such as pre-loved Marc Jacobs, Chloe and Prada.

There is now a Decades in London, as well as travelling trunk shows in places such as Barneys in New York.

Then in 2002, alongside the likes of Vogue editor Anna Wintour and British designer John Galliano, Silver was named as one of the 25 most-influential names in fashion by Time.

"At the time, I just thought it was a very elaborate, practical joke. But it wasn't.

"I was very, very flattered but it's just one those things the press wrote about me. How has it affected me? Well, that's a good question," he laughs.

"I get better seats at fashion shows. And it's made my Mum and Dad pretty proud."

This is mainly because about 60 per cent of Silver's sales at Decades don't go to customers who will wear those amazing frocks. More than half go to other designers.

"Some buy them for technical reasons, to illustrate a sewing technique or fabric construction that's no longer used. But most sales are for inspiration. This can mean a designer being inspired by the fabric or the pattern, keeping a dress in their workroom and staring at it for hours or it can mean the designer sometimes dismantles it and makes a new pattern out of its pieces, then produces a dozen new versions for their own upcoming collections.

"So many designers work that way these days. The designer who sketches pictures, then creates a collection is fairly old school. Many designers are really just hyper-stylists now.

"Instead of creating garments from scratch, many take pieces of a garment and put them together in their style."

By that he means, they don't necessarily create garments from scratch. Instead they take pieces from various places and put them all together in their own inimitable style.

In Britain, several mainstream labels have started offshoots - one is even called New Vintage - where they unashamedly copy and sell the op shop looks of the moment.

And this is a big part of why Silver is so influential. In a fashion era marked by recycled retro and vintage looks, he's the guy with an eye on what is coming up next, ready and willing to consult designers about what kinds of garments they will be taking inspiration from next season.

But doesn't that feel a bit like cheating on the part of the designers?

"No, because this way of working is no different from any other art form. Look at rap music, for instance - it's all sampled. It's how creative people have worked from day one."

Anyway Silver is definitely no vintage snob.

"There was a time when to wear something from last season was terrible. Now it's okay and it doesn't even have to be vintage any more. You can be wearing something from last season as long as you have great style and you're making it work, it's admirable."

With a growing reputation for intelligent trend spotting and authoritative style, it's no surprise that Silver's mandate has only continued to grow. The occasional fashion writer now has an ongoing consultation with the House of Loris Azzaro, he's well known for his enthusiasm for and support of new labels he thinks are exciting and he often organises exhibitions of vintage clothing by decades-old designers he thinks will have an impact.

The next step, this believer in the democratisation of glamour thinks, must be to start his own decidedly glamorous fashion label.