Vaquera Fall 2026
Vaquera began its Fall 2026 show with a wedding dress, a deliberate inversion of fashion’s usual order of ceremony. What would normally close a runway opened this one, setting the tone for an unapologetically rebellious collection. Designers Patric DiCaprio and Bryn Taubensee decided to stop worrying about what sells and return to what excites them. After several seasons of commercial restraint, the pair leaned fully back into their origins: fashion as provocation, costume as commentary, chaos as craft.
The result was an explosion of audacity and humour. There were assless skirts, topless tops and fluorescent feathered merkins, each piece designed with the gleeful conviction that taste is subjective and rules are optional. “We got too caught up in thinking about what people wanted and not what we wanted,” DiCaprio said backstage, before adding that this might, paradoxically, be their most commercial collection yet. Their logic was simple: if they love it, their audience will too. Against a backdrop of organ music segueing into the Jaws theme, models stalked the aisle in hooded capes, boxy peacoats, bow skirts and what the duo dubbed “pillowcase tops.” A tongue-in-cheek “sunglasses bra” made an appearance, as did a series of leather looks softened with fringe, all balancing absurdity and sensuality in equal measure.
Instead of their usual 1980s references, the designers looked to 1960s surrealism, sculpting flat, abstract shapes that cocooned the body and left models with T-Rex-like arms clutching coin purses. Headgear played a starring role, from pillbox hats to glittering face shields and conductor caps of exaggerated size. “In times like these, what’s reasonable? Nothing,” DiCaprio said, summing up the spirit of the show. If fashion is a mirror of the world, Vaquera’s reflection is distorted, chaotic and irresistibly alive — a reminder that sometimes, the most unreasonable thing you can do is tell the truth.
