Vaquera Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear Collection

Vaquera, a purveyor of designer jeans? Half a decade ago when they were getting their start on the New York runways, that’s not what anybody would have predicted for them. But since Dover Street Market started producing Patric DiCaprio and Bryn Taubensee’s collections, they’ve become insider favorites for denim that wears like trousers, with front pleats, say, or tuxedo stripe seaming down the sides.

Their success surprises even them occasionally. Backstage DiCaprio and Taubensee were talking about dreams and nightmares, and how they can become interchangeable as time goes by. “We’re excited about selling commercial things,” DiCaprio said. “But I think this season we weren’t afraid to make things that weren’t necessarily for sales, and to say that that is an integral part of our brand.”

Consider the silvery sequin dress in look 39, which a fellow audience member pointed out was a Vaqueraified version of a fall 2005 Chanel haute couture number modeled by the inimitable Shalom Harlow. Very dreamy. Jeans studded with blunt-ended nails came at the art and commerce conundrum from a different angle. The fact that a pair weighs in at 20 pounds all but guarantees they’re not destined for the sales floor.

Mixed in amongst those punkish pants were more readily wearable pieces in the form of army sweaters and nylon cargos, and a faded black leather peacoat and pants. It’s the first season they’re using real leather, the more environmentally friendly choice than plastic “eco-leather,” they reckoned. The faux furs, of which there were many, weren’t as true to their underground roots.

In the early days of Vaquera, they designed polo dresses with pointillist renderings of their designer heroes, Vivienne Westwood among them. She was present in tonight’s show via an updated version of her infamous “tit top” with twisted and tucked “nipple” details. She’s the proof that you can mix business and non-conformity.