Vaquera: Fashion Fan Fiction as rebellion — where garments become storytelling devices, provocative and ambivalent at once
Vaquera is no ordinary fashion brand. Born out of a DIY ethos and confrontational aesthetics, it sees itself as a performative commentary on fashion, identity, and pop culture. Patric DiCaprio and Bryn Taubensee juggle nostalgia and futurism, subversion and wearability — forging a brand that refuses to offer easy answers.
Origin & Ethos
Vaquera was launched in 2013 as a digital, conceptual project — via Tumblr posts, experiments, and references to iconic fashion legacies. Rather than positioning itself as a conventional label, it positioned itself as an artistic vector, recontextualizing existing symbols into new narratives.
The name Vaquera (Spanish for “cowgirl”) hints at boundary crossing, untamed spirit, and aesthetic freedom.
What defines Vaquera is not just its loud aesthetics but the fracture between reference and originality, between provocation and wearability, between pop culture and critique.
Subversion & Cultural Engagement
Vaquera operates in the tension of reproduction and reimagination. The designers openly reference objects like Tiffany & Co. pouches or famous designs — not covertly, but through a distorted mirror: fashion fan fiction.
“If people fully got it, we’d be doing something wrong.”
In their work, cultural and political observation is ever present — though never overt. American symbolism (flags, consumer imagery, economic motifs) is celebrated and deconstructed simultaneously.
Their endeavor to reflect Americana — in all its contradictions — lies at their core: proudly American, yet critically observant of what that America produces.
Performance & Mode as Narrative
Vaquera considers fashion not as a static object but as performance, as narrative. Their shows often push spectacle, dramatic shapes, accentuated proportions, and tempo shifts — models may dash or spiral, rendering the presentation itself part of the message.
One emblematic event is Vaqueraoke at MoMA PS1 — a live fashion karaoke blending fashion, theater, and pop culture.Vaquera is thus an art project masquerading as fashion — more concept than commodity.
Commerce vs. Concept — Seeking Equilibrium
A core tension within the brand is: How far can they lean into commercial reality without betraying their identity? In recent seasons, they’ve sought to sustain the concept while making garments wearable — conceptual yet quotidian.
Support from Dover Street Market / Comme des Garçons has been a crucial scaffolding, providing infrastructure, visibility, and distribution.
Vaquera has gradually evolved: from underground provocateur to a brand whose some pieces are increasingly wearable — yet not relinquishing its provocative core.
What Vaquera Stands For Today
Vaquera stands for ambivalence. For the tension between subversion and belonging. For a space where fashion is not mere clothing, but reflection, narrative, contradiction.
Its vision is a fashion that doesn’t fit, that unsettles, that posits questions — yet is still worn. A fashion where irony, nostalgia, and futurism intermingle. A brand that refuses to be comfortable.
