Fans of the Hulu series “The Handmaid’s Tale” had to say goodbye to the eerily topical dystopia of Gilead Wednesday after the show’s season finale aired. But Vaquera codesigners David Moses, Patric DiCaprio, Bryn Taubensee and Claire Sully gave fans in New York a little extra fix of white bonnets and red robes with a “Handmaid”-inspired fashion show/performance art piece Thursday that rivaled the show/Margaret Atwood’s book’s plot line for riveting weirdness. Shown at the Angel Orensanz Foundation, the show featured a lineup of handmaids — male and female, all ages, sizes and ethnicities — in deconstructed versions of the show’s red robe/white bonnet uniform. One wore a white robe draped in cone bras; another held an umbrella shrouded in white gauze. Another wore what looked like red couch cushions. One by one they aggressively stomped around the square white stage, eventually standing in the center and giving a little personal performance. “We wanted people to come into the middle and express themselves in different characters,” said Sully. “It was taking the forced identity of the handmaid and subverting it,” said Moses.
Lest anyone think the show was the result of creative superfans, the Vaquera collective started work on the project before
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