New York Fashion Is Good Again

Eight YOUNG DESIGNERS with the people who inspire them.

- ASIA MILIA WARE

Vaquera

DESIGNERS: Patric DiCaprio and Bryn Taubensee

PICTURED WITH: Born, model, and friend

When Patric DiCaprio started Vaquera in 2013, he thought of it as something between "a joke" for his friends and a conceptual-art project. "And then people were like, 'Oh, we wanna start wearing these clothes," says DiCaprio. The label began making wearable art: a dress that looks like a Tiffany & Co. pouch or bows so big they barely fit down the runway. "I feel like if you aren't making people question things or slightly freaked out, it's kind of like, What's the point?" says co-designer and co-owner Bryn Taubensee. "That's how we both felt about fashion when we moved here from Alabama and Indiana. Seeing the fashion industry from afar seems so magical, then when you get here and get involved in it, all that magic is stripped away. We wanted to actually create that kind of fantasy we had always envisioned." They met the model Born in 2018 and recognized her as a kindred spirit. "She really stands for everything we stand for in fashion: fantasy, fun, challenging the status quo, creating characters, just being crazy but also being really positive," says DiCaprio. This past February, Born walked in Vaquera's first Paris show. "Our clothing is based on characters in a lot of ways, so it's very fitting for her. One day you see her and she's completely gothed out, and the next day you're like, Oh, she's basic Kim Kardashian hot, and the next day she's a prairie girl. Because she's able to take on all these identities, she's the perfect testing zone for our clothes."

On Born: VAQUERA FW22 SLICKER BODYSUIT, not available for purchase; ROSE BRA AND UNDERWEAR SKIRT,