Willy Chavarria's Fashion Makes Politics a Runway — SkimNews
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- Willy Chavarria launched his eponymous fashion brand in 2015 from a Brooklyn Greenpoint atelier, with Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, and Billie Eilish as early adopters who bought pieces directly from his website.
- The 2025 collection opened with models kneeling with hands behind their backs, a direct reference to immigrants detained by ICE.
- Chavarria's 2026 runway show "Eterno" doubled as a fashion film celebrating Latino joy during "times of turmoil," featuring performances from Latin Mafia, Mon Laferte, and Lunay.
- The 59-year-old designer has served as an ACLU ambassador, created pieces to benefit the trans community, and cast day laborers and Latino workers in his runway shows.
- A recent collaboration with UGG featured Ivan Cornejo and Becky G.
- Chavarria says he is shifting from "joy and softness" toward "tougher" looks driven by the current social and political landscape.
- He aspires to become "the next Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein" and plans a larger Manhattan space with a bigger team.
Why it matters: Chavarria's atelier is staffed largely by queer, Brown young creatives, suggesting the brand is building a representational pipeline beyond runway imagery. His explicit goal of reaching Ralph Lauren– or Calvin Klein–scale commercial reach, paired with a pivot toward tougher aesthetics amid political turbulence, positions him as a test case for whether politically charged design can sustain mainstream fashion empire-building.
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