Willy Chavarria Brings Flavor and Sex Appeal to New York City
The tail end of a New York summer is one filled with sweat, tears, and memories of seemingly endless nights. And no one knows a sweltering city evening quite like Willy Chavarria, the Mexican-American designer who has commanded fashion weeks of late with his all-encompassing presentations, from a sweaty show at the gay leather bar The Eagle to the austere Cooper Hewitt, and, most recently, downtown at the Woolworth Building for his spring/summer 2024 collection. While his fall/winter range was decidedly couture, not to mention the strongest expression of his technical know-how since starting his brand, this season, he dialed things down ever so slightly and mixed in his signature take on workwear and sportswear. There were Chicano uniforms and ensembles fit for a country club, which came together in an impressive lineup of world-building that few of Chavarria’s contemporaries can compete with.
Chavarria opened the show by flexing his tailoring game with casual looks and those made for offices of the 21st century—in crisp poplin, finished with his renowned sense of proportion. Blazers with massive shoulders were paired with elongated shorts, knee-high socks, and blindingly shiny dress shoes. He played with classic workwear silhouettes, paying homage to Dickies (whom he just collaborated with) and bringing his first and last name to tried and true logos emblazoned on oversized canvas pants and tracksuits. Single-button blazers were cut within an inch of their life, hugging the shoulders and falling just so on the waist. Football jerseys mingled with beige slacks, and track pants were juxtaposed with sequin tanks. It takes a true connoisseur of both fashion and street savvy to combine the highs of tailoring, couture, and finishes with workwear, sportswear, and activewear.
Above all, Chavarria’s work is archetypal, drawing on queer and Latinx culture from East L.A. to Brooklyn without seeming costume-y, because he wants his clothes to live outside the confines of a runway show. But a show he will give: around two-thirds of the way through his time slot, the clothes became imperfect, with sun-bleached blazers and tattered pairs of underwear, basketball shorts, and massive couture capes. The contrasts were stark, with creepy music adding to the effect. “The collection is a novela filled with drama, elegance, and disruption,” Chavarria tells ELLE.com. “I like to share the beauty of rising from nothing and entering a world of luxury.”
This unique perspective is essential to the fashion week schedule, not just for the blending of cultures, but for the new perception of clothing and dressing that the American fashion system is so deeply deprived of. Chavarria’s tongue-in-cheek approach to Latin sartorial expression, masculinity, and gay culture cuts through all the noise. His Latin identity and community is central to his work, and as a through line of gay machismo permeates his shows, his customers respond in droves. They can expect to see his tattered underwear sold at luxury retailers come spring. Because why should everything be so perfect, when imperfections are the sexiest part?
Kevin LeBlanc is the Fashion Associate at ELLE Magazine. He covers fashion news, trends, and anything to do with Robyn Rihanna Fenty.