In Paris, Willy Chavarria Goes Global

Fresh off of his latest CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year Award, Willy Chavarria has reached yet another major milestone with his Paris Fashion Week debut. Last week, the likes of J Balvin, Tokischa, Honey Dijon, Paloma Elsesser, and Chavarria’s own team sported the designer’s Fall/Winter ‘25 collection: Tarantula.

“So many Americans relate to the aesthetics very clearly,” says Chavarria, whose label’s brand storytelling—one of Mexican-American culture, queerness, and community—is inextricable from the clothes themselves. “There’s a familiarity in the United States, but it’s interesting. I found that the aesthetic is very attractive to Europeans, and I think maybe it’s even newer for them, so they find it more intriguing.”

Tarantula, it must be said, bites. This season, Chavarria’s tenth, sees the designer embark on a sharp refinement of his house codes. Chicano workwear silhouettes, tailoring that plays with volume and proportion, and ‘80s and ‘90s-inflected activewear are all familiar territory for the designer and those who line his runways. Their execution, however, shows that Chavarria isn’t sitting back with his recent wins;but rather, he’s running with them.

Elevated tailoring is rendered in an exquisite palette of double-faced cashmere, jewel-toned silks, and lustrous velvets sourced from Italy for production there. “Chiaroscuro was top of mind,” the designer shared at a collection preview in New York City leading up to his Paris showcase. “I was looking at a lot of Caravaggio references. That’s where all these velvets and the washed silks and the rich colors come from.”

Also new this season is a series of women’s tailoring, in which Chavarria’s eye for form and larger vision for womenswear is executed with a recent addition to the team: a dedicated womenswear designer whose snatched-waist twill corsets, calfskin leather midi skirts, and leather jackets in women’s proportions leave us wanting even more from next season.

What wasn’t new on the runway was equally as important: in honor of the brand’s tenth anniversary, the designer and his team scoured eBay for archival Willy Chavarria garments and accessories to style with the Fall/Winter ‘25 looks on the runway. “I shop a lot on eBay and wear a lot of vintage, and so does my team, and so does every other designer in the world,” he says. “I wanted to promote the idea of full circularity…and we thought it was a cool way to celebrate the 10th anniversary.”

It’s not a new Willy Chavarria collection launch without a collective call to action. While past seasons have seen the label team up with the ACLU and United Farmworkers, the brand is, to use Chavarria’s words, “going global,” and adding the Human Rights Campaign and Tinder to its roster of partners through its international How We Love is Who We Are billboard campaign.

“As we have a larger global presence, I want to make sure that we continue to take risks and to be steadfast in our [message] of human dignity and inclusion. Now with even more extreme, oppressive politics in the United States and globally, it’s even more important that we have a strong voice that speaks out for people whose rights are at stake,” he shares.

This season affirms one of Chavarria’s earlier musings about how the brand has been met by audiences abroad. “The message behind the brand is very easily understood and received globally because we’ve got people who are othered all over the world, and being able to connect with them through an emotional platform like fashion and music and art is really beautiful, and it’s really empowering.”