Vaquera’s rebelliously whimsical fall wardrobe feels a bit like anarchist kids ransacked Grandma and Grandpa’s closet. A jumble of chintz ruffles and ruched satin, re-structured button-downs, deconstructed collars, and monstrously oversized suiting illustrate a gleefully, provocative parody on dressing like a grown up.
Deliberately drawing inspiration from “outdated” aesthetics, like a Regency 1920s apartment, the presentation of this collection was anything but staid. An onslaught of streetcast models, including Vaquera designer Bryn Taubensee herself, and some of the designers friends, stomped and smashed their way down the runway in a rainbow of ethnicities, ages, sizes and genders that you rarely ever get to see in high fashion. It’s no surprise that Vaquera is among the most exciting, emerging new fashion brands to rebel against establishment ideals by redefining beauty.
This concept could have come off sloppy and arbitrary if it weren’t for the skilled tailoring and precise execution behind the collection. Ballooning shapes at times read like funny caricatures, but were balanced by crops, tapers, and some well-placed bare skin. Bedspread-inspired gowns with plump pillow sham ruffles looked like a cozy fairytale dream sprung to life, spun from home-sourced fabrications. Nightmarishly bloated jackets featured sophisticated peaked lapels, and a pair of beautifully finished trousers in a snarky inside-out orientation showed off dark pocket bags and neatly shaped fly facings.
Despite some distinctly child-like aspects, like huge sailor collars that dwarf the wearer and giant puffy dresses that resemble victorian doll clothes, there was an undeniable sex appeal to the collection, and some bizarrely covetable pieces. Vaquera’s defiantly stuffy parlor-room tropes are sure to appeal to a uniquely millennial lifestyle.
See All the Looks from the Collection
