Vaquera Grew Up—Kinda!
For Bryn Taubensee and Patric DiCaprio, co-founders of Vaquera, 2025 will be a transformative year. They are decamping from their longtime home and enduring inspiration, New York City, for life in Paris. The news comes as bittersweet but not a surprise. The renegade brand already shows in Paris, late on the first day and often before most members of the press have had their first steak tartare. Their latest show, presented tonight in the city of light, also perhaps was a signal that they're leaving their downtown roots behind for something decidedly grown up.
We’ve come to expect a sort of formula from the duo: oversized tees with lingerie trompe l’oeiled on the top, acid-washed denim skirts and jeans with contorted belt loops, and stuffed animal stoles to finish off the look. It’s long given an upscale Trash and Vaudeville, and earned them a legion of loyal followers.
Tonight felt like a push to refine that aesthetic, though not completely leave it behind. As an a capella version of Whitney Houston’s "Run to You" vibrated around the derelict show space, the designers presented their idea for what happens when Vaquera grows up. They borrowed from design tropes from the '20s and '80s, like heavy ruched tops and voluminous prom dresses. Tailored, double breasted suit jackets with matching suit shorts opened the show and set the tone. Silhouettes hugged closer to the body by way of denim dresses with a flirty peplum. Fold-over pencil skirts in pleather were worn slung low with satin button-up shirts. An all-white look of an oversized bra accenting an ivory knee-length skirt, super large pearls around the neck, and a blooming ivory floral hat read as their version of the couture bride, but done in their own way.
But Taubensee and DiCaprio haven’t lost all their humor. One highlight was an almost comically oversized bra slung over the shoulder of the model, presented as a top. Paired with tailored pants, it was surprisingly one of the chicest looks of the show, coming off like a wink from the designers to the brand’s most ardent watchers—a reminder that their playful essence will forever remain. Life may move you on, but there's no need to lose yourself.
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