Marrakesh1970. Talitha Getty poses on the roof of her Moroccan house, with her husband Paul Getty Jr. in the background and a clear sky illuminating its disarming beauty. She wears white, with patent leather ankle boots and Turkish trousers, her hands decorated with ethnic gold jewels, and over her shoulders an overcoat with arabesques of symbols and flowers, lined with purple and cobalt blue silk, the epitome of what later became ‘folk chic‘ would be mentioned. Her caftan is probably one of the first garments that comes to mind when you think of this garment from the East, this loose, collarless tunic, open in the front and once decorated with piping to indicate the wearer’s rank.
The text continues below the post.
Its origins lie in the eighteenth century Persia and it traveled from court to court thanks to it Ottoman Empirewhich used it as a diplomatic and fashionable gift. It was worn by the ladies of the Directoire, who were the first to succumb to the exotic allure of turbans, high slippers and kaftans, which arrived thanks to trade contacts with the Middle East and reinforced the taste for cross-dressing among the upper classes of the time. It became popular in the Maghreb, where with its lush velvet fabrics and precious embroidery it became the dressing gown of the richest. In the early twentieth century it was one of the many Eastern influences in the fashion of Paul Poiretwho popularized kimonos, odalisque trousers and feathered turbans, as well as richly decorated silks, satins and brocades, inspired in part by the costumes Léon Baskt designed for the Ballets Russes.
The text continues below the photo.
A model, portrayed in 1925, wears a caftan by Paul Poiret.
The sultan’s caftans are expensive, unlike the ones worn by the hippies and pilgrims of the counterculture to India and Morocco a few decades later. Just made in the ‘Pink City’ Yves Saint Laurent them to his uniform. In the seclusion of his Villa Oasis, he elevated the caftan to couture creations that paraded down the catwalk. “As if chiseled by a sculptor,” wrote Harper’s Bazaar about the designer’s autumn/winter 1975-1976 collection, ‘the draperies of Yves Saint Laurents flow djellaba in soft folds from the neckline, which is decorated with a black rose.’
The text continues below the post.
He was not the only designer in those years who was seduced by this loose, feather-light garment, which was also the founder of the minimalist philosophy, Roy Halstonenchanted. It also convinced Space Age designer Pierre Cardin to try it became a luxury item in the hands of Valentino and a kaleidoscopic canvas in the hands of the tailor-marquis Emilio Pucci. In the mythology of fashion images, the 1977 photo of the models on the roof of Florence Cathedral, the warm tones of the dresses (including kaftans) merging with the terracotta of Brunelleschi’s dome, and the feather-light fabrics floating on the body, is a lively tableau that has carved out a place in the annals (and not only) of the brand.
The text continues below the post.
Elizabeth Taylor, Marella Agnelli and Marta Marzotto: icons of the kaftan
After all, the tunic was already widely loved by the international jet set, as can be seen at Marella Agnelliwho paraded at Truman Capote’s legendary Black and White Ball in 1966 in a white and silver caftan designed by Mila Schönor CZ Guest, another literary great who put high society to shame, dressed in a glittering brocade tunic. Elizabeth Taylor would have used the tunic tactically, a shapeless silhouette perfect for hiding extra pounds. Grace Kellythe queen of chic, showed off copies of Diorwhile for Marta Marzotto was the standard uniform, a versatile textile fetish with animal and floral prints that brightened the salons and inevitably earned her the nickname ‘queen of the caftan’.
The text continues below the photo.
Elizabeth Taylor, here with Richard Burton, in a caftan in 1967.
That garment, first luxurious, then democratic, and then luxurious again, a symbol of the bohemian style, a sartorial and superstitious shield of Moroccowhich adorns it with a belt that must protect the wearer from envious people, and ultimately an emblem of an East from which fashion continues to draw inspiration. Even today, the flowy fabrics brighten up the catwalks of the summer ready-to-wear collections.
How do you wear a kaftan these days?
This blouse from Michael Kors is black with white accents, has an asymmetric cut and a button closure like a shirt, for a modern interpretation of a classic. Wear it with flat sandals and a necklace with a dangling amulet.
The text continues below the photo.
The caftan on the catwalk of the Michael Kors spring/summer 2026 collection.
Bee Bibhu Mohapatra the silhouette remains true to its origins, in flaming red with embroidery and wide slits that reveal the fitted trousers underneath. Etro and Dries Van Noten in contrast, are a triumph of color, with arabesques, wavy fringes and graphic designs that hypnotize like a psychedelic dance. “The caftan is only fashionable on beautiful people,” declared Diana Vreelandwho was among the first to embrace its exoticism and portray it in the pages of Vogue captured in a wonderful article by Henry Clarke.
Dries Van Notens kaftan, spring/summer 2026.
But on this point we disagree with him. We agree much more with another statement of his: ‘The kaftan is not a dress, it is an experience.’
