The conceptual New York label channels the iconic show in a new AW19 film
If you grew up in the 00s it’s more than likely you’ll have lost a good couple of weeks of your life to lengthy MTV Cribs binges. From Mariah Carey’s oddly-timed bath – which she submerged herself in while still wearing a towel – and 50 Cent’s 19-bedroomed mansion, to Naomi Campbell guiding us round her Jamaican beach lair and Ja Rule pretending to live in a house that actually wasn’t his, the list of iconic moments the show has spawned since it launched in 2000 are basically endless.
It seems we weren’t the only ones obsessed with Cribs, though. Given that Vaquera’s latest campaign channels the series, it’s pretty clear that the designers behind the conceptual NY label were turning on and tuning in along with the rest of the us back in the day.
Directed by Jack Sunnucks and Juan Palacio, the new-season film introduces us to Calvin, Vegas, and Jade, and invites us into their houses to take a look around. “The AW19 collection was originally inspired by domesticity and the many facets of a family dynamic,” the label explains. “We were excited by the Cribs reference because it always provided an interesting and often funny portrait of people in their homes.”
While dressed head-to-toe in Vaquera’s AW19 collection (duh!), as styled by Dazed’s Emma Wyman, Calvin introduces us to his omnipresent friend Donovan, Vegas proudly shows off his ‘opulent’ dining room and the view from his terrace, and Jade promises she only makes virgin cocktails when giving us a peek at her parents’ drinks cabinet. And just in case you were wondering, yes, those are their IRL parents pottering around in the background: “It would have been impossible to imitate that dynamic, it was what made the whole shoot feel very genuine,” say the designers.
“In our fantasy, the Vaquera home would have a different theme for each room. We’d have an all-pink room full of pigs, and we’re also into the idea of having a conference room and a hair salon. Maybe a room just full of bows, too” – Vaquera
The group, along with a number of other street cast models and friends of the brand, are also brilliantly captured in a series of family portraits by David Moses and Tina Barney – a photographer famed for candid shots of her wealthy family in their own homes. In fact, Barney was one of the starting points for the collection overall: “Her work from the 80s and 90s was a major inspiration this season,” explains Vaquera. “It really felt like our vision for the AW19 season came full circle with Barney’s photography as the final form of imagery for the collection.”
With big, voluminous dresses, high-waisted trousers, and oversized, deconstructed tailoring all on the line-up for AW19, the trio of designers also drew inspiration from a fictional wealthy woman whose Central Park apartment was filled with OTT Regency-esque furniture, with many pieces crafted from heavy upholstery fabric and finished with interior-style embellishments (think velvet rope tie-backs and the kind of frills you’d more often see on frou-frou cushions and net curtains). “We were thinking about what secrets someone might have hiding in a dust ruffle and that uptown lady seems like she’d have a lot of secrets,” they explain.
As the campaign launches exclusively on Dazed today, the designers finish by running us through their ideal crib – and, given this is Vaquera, it’s a pretty wild ride. “We all have different ideas of what our home would look like, but we agree that an ideal home is a place where you can feel inspired and comfortable,” they confirm. “In our fantasy, the Vaquera home would have a different theme for each room. We’d have an all-pink room full of pigs, and we’re also into the idea of having a conference room and a hair salon. Maybe a room just full of bows, too.” So basically: one episode we’d definitely be down to watch.
Check out the film below and take a look at the full gallery above.