By Tiffany Cullen
Under the florescent-lighted dome on the second floor of the Student Center, students dressed to the nines buzzed as they waited for Derek Blasberg and Cameron Silver to take center stage on the second day of SCAD Style Savannah.
The two men, giants in the fashion industry, stood off to the side to converse with each other while holding white and green Starbucks coffee cups. A young student stepped to the microphone and welcomed them to SCAD. Thunderous applause followed.
Blasberg and Silver strode to the two red high-seated chairs preset for them. Silver, the taller of the pair, sat on the audience’s left, his dark pinstripe suit revealed a classic “Mad Men” profile. Both displayed a playful, brotherly banter toward each other, cracking jokes at the other’s expense.
For their collaborative presentation, Silver and Blasberg tried to come up with a bullet-pointed theme but only managed to trade insulting e-mails. Instead they came to a more casual compromise. Blasberg insisted that Silver speak first citing, “Age before beauty.”
Silver quickly delved into his background, growing up in Beverly Hills, Calif. as an only child and majoring in theater in college. On the weekends and between shows, Silver told the audience of mostly fashion majors about his vintage “thrifting” habit. After graduation, he realized his love of thrift store vintage and decided to open his own store of “classic” vintage clothing that looks modern.
Silver then passed the spotlight over the Blasberg, who quickly ran through his personal history: raised in St. Louis, Mo., majored in dramatic literature and journalism in college, and worked for countless magazines and firms: Vogue, David Yurman, W, Harper’s Bazaar, V, V Man and Style.com, where he now serves as the editor-at-large.
The discussion went through four stages—introductions, advice, style era quiz and follow-up questions. The advice— the meat and potatoes of the event—meandered through the trials of interning, business operations and biggest mistakes ever made.
Blasberg hailed vintage as a superior shopping force mainly because, “shopping for vintage means no one else is going to have what you have.” Silver continued this sentiment by saying,” Sadly, there is nothing new on the runway. Everything is a recall of something from a previous season. Great design ultimately becomes timeless, they create a definitive DNA.”
A mass of students received sensible advice and heartfelt wishes of luck in their futures. Silver advised student designers to work retail. Blasberg advised the young faces peering from the crowd “to go for it, to never be afraid to go after that entry level job or that internship.” If you are a writer, write every single day for yourself, invite publications to read your blog and above all, use spell check.”
Silver broke his silence during Blasberg’s near poetic speech by cautioning students not to sell out before they establish an identity and to work for someone with a lot of experience that knows what they are doing. “It’s very dangerous when students straight out of college want to start their label and be instant successes. True success takes hard work and time.”
Silver regaled the audience with his tales of burgeoning business management upon opening Decades, his vintage boutique, without previous retail or management experience. Letting students in on his industry secrets, Silver informed everyone of his buying habits and sources and techniques saying, “I buy vintage clothing from places that really do not appreciate them.” Many of his pieces also come from original buyers, auction houses and clothing dealers.
At the end of the panel, Silver stayed on the second floor and continued talking to students about the vintage fashion industry while Blasberg made his way downstairs to the first floor of the Student Center to sign copies of his latest book, “Classy: Exceptional Advice for the Extremely Modern Lady.”
Each designer’s website offers more information. Go to Derek Blasberg’s and Cameron Silver’s.
