11 September 2025 |
As he builds out his womenswear and accessories business, the designer is honoring the women who have inspired him along the way.
This past July, Willy Chavarria’s immediate family traveled to Paris for the first time to see their native son in action on fashion’s biggest stage. Even more special, the SS26 show was dedicated to their hometown of Huron, California. Sitting front row, his mom, dad, aunt, and cousin lay witness to a show that unfolded like an opera in four acts.
To open: 35 men wearing oversized white tees and long shorts walking out to José Feliciano’s somber rendition of California Dreamin’. The tees, made in partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), referenced the Salvadoran prisons where innocent people are being held without due process. Next, the Mexican singer and composer Vivir Quintana performed Ne Mereces un Amor as models strutted the runway in colorful zoot suits and slim dresses with a strong shoulder silhouette. Then a streetwear moment—led by the NBA star James Harden—that spoke to Chavarria’s third collaboration with Adidas. Formalwear followed in the form of voluminous gowns and, said the show notes, “elevated tailoring that honors immigrant expression and craftsmanship.”
While he took his bow, in a defiantly bright Yves Klein- blue suit, Chavarria presented his folks with mini bouquets of red roses. In a cruel twist, back home in Huron, ICE was reportedly ransacking the tight-knit community that was being celebrated in the French capital. If there were ever a collection that spoke to the fervor of the moment, this was it. “The depth of his understanding of the human condition and his ability to communicate this in his work is so much more than we imagined,” admits Chavarria’s mom, Gwen, who dabbed away tears from her front row perch.
Willy wears jacket, top, and pants by WILLY CHAVARRIA
Chavarria’s ability to captivate a room is a skill he has been perfecting since his youth. As an only child, he was constantly drawing and using his imagination to keep himself entertained. Still, his artistic nuances were not always well received, so he considered himself “a bit of a weirdo.” As he got older, he tended to be picked on and got into fights. By the time he attended high school in nearby Fresno, he had decided to assimilate as a form of self-preservation. “I sought out people that I would normally not be associated with and tried to affiliate myself with them so that I could enter different areas of society,” he says. “I thought, I’m gonna change this situation around, so I don’t have to be on the shit end all the time.” It worked. As a senior, he was voted the prom king. “Then I bolted out of there,” Chavarria recalls with a laugh.
He found his people—and discovered rave culture—while attending the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. As his personality developed, so did his appreciation for fashion.
Though he was tempted to be an artist, when he landed a job as a designer at the American underwear brand Joe Boxer, he also discovered that he could make a living doing a trade he genuinely enjoyed. “It felt amazing to design something that people wore,” he says. In the years that followed, Chavarria moved around and climbed the corporate ladder, eventually securing top-level positions at Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. However, after years of working in mainstream fashion, Chavarria felt a self-imposed call to action. “I’d been raised to believe in human rights, equality, and social justice, and I felt a need from within to impart that philosophy into my work.” In 2015, the Willy Chavarria brand was born.
Similar to well-regarded designers like the late Virgil Abloh and Rick Owens, Chavarria is a world builder. His focus has always been on his community—especially those who have long been overlooked by not only the fashion industry, but the world writ large. Those white tees that shone a spotlight on the inherent racism of sending innocent Latinx people to jail? “That was his inspiration, his desire,” says the ACLU’s Jessica Herman Weitz, who has worked with Chavarria for the past two years. “We didn’t know until we saw the images afterwards how striking and moving it would be.”
Herman Weitz says she has been thrilled to discover that Chavarria is deeply authentic, and she credits his team as being an “exceptional crew.” So much so that Chavarria and his PR team at Purple (the PR maven, Carolyn Batista, is featured in this portfolio) received the ACLU’s 2025 Liberty Award earlier this year. In July, Chavarria was named an Artist Ambassador by the nonprofit, where he will focus on immigrant and LGBTQIA+ rights. Back at his Brooklyn studio, his eight-person crew reflects the diverse constituency that makes up his clientele.
From left: Paola wears jacket, shirt, and jeans by WILLY CHAVARRIA; Sarah wears dress by WILLY CHAVARRIA
The models of his shows are a subtle blend of people he casts from the street interspersed with brand-friendly celebrities like Becky G and Mia Khalifa. The clothing celebrates his working- class roots and presents Chicano culture with respect and dignity.
“He designs for the young men who have no place in this world right now,” says Aída Hurtado, professor of Chicana/x studies, University of California, Santa Barbara. “He opens up our eyes to that beauty. It’s an incredible gift. Somebody has to speak up. He doesn’t want our community to be erased. I wrote him a text after that last [SS26] show that said, ‘You represent us well.’”
“With Willy, there’s a really strong brand identity and message,” says the actress, model, and all-around pal Julia Fox. “You feel the love for his heritage in his clothing, and he’s inviting people in to experience that. It’s hard to find wholesome moments like that in the fashion industry. Fashion can be so cold, and people can be treated as disposable, but Willy’s not like that. I mean, how can you not get down with that as a New Yorker? I love shit like that.”
Historically, Chavarria has been recognized for his menswear designs (he won the CFDA award for menswear in 2023 and 2024), but lately he’s been leveling up to branch out. Last year, he brought on the powerhouse music manager Sarah Stennett as a director and investor. He also hired the creative director Rebeca Mendoza to help him develop the womenswear arm of his brand. Mendoza’s influence was apparent in Paris. A former creative director for Mark Cross and global design director for accessories at Calvin Klein, not only did Mendoza have a hand in the cinched-waist trench dresses and the pitch-perfect pencil skirts seen on the runway—she looked to the films of Pedro Almodóvar and Wong Kar-wai for inspiration—but she also oversaw the launch of Chavarria’s accessories debut. Bolero bags in two sizes, oversized clutches, and totes in an array of unmissable colors. “I feel much more comfortable designing with Rebeca because I’ve always felt, as a man, I’m not in a position to dictate [fashion] for women,” says Chavarria, who credits his mom as providing him with the empathy necessary to see things from a different POV. “I mean, it’s obvious, but women are undervalued in our society, and that’s why it’s so important we’re doing this story.”
From left: Carolyn wears jacket and pants by WILLY CHAVARRIA; Julie wears jacket and pants by ADIDAS ORIGINALS X WILLY CHAVARRIA 152
Can this kind of heart-forward approach bring Chavarria’s brand to the next level and beyond? The fashion consultant Julie Gilhart, an early supporter of his, likes the way things are going. “He has real potential for a huge business and he has a nice way he’s setting it up,” she says. “I think the cards are stacked in his favor for sure.”
Though Chavarria may make it look easy, it’s not. “It’s so fucking hard,” he says frankly. But that’s not going to slow him down. “I want to extend the brand as far as I possibly can. I want to get into film. I want to do more music-related things. I want to do less about the consumption of clothing and more about the consumption of the idea.”
From left: Julia wears body and jewelry by WILLY CHAVARRIA; Jessica wears dress and hair clip by WILLY CHAVARRIA
The women assembled here are all part of Chavarria’s personal cheer squad. They gathered in a Brooklyn photo studio for approximately eight hours to be there for Chavarria simply because he asked them to. Hurtado came from California after receiving extra encouragement from her sisters. When he entered the room on the day of the shoot, like the lovable fashion don that he is, a collective cheer came from the crowd. “Each of these women has been impactful on me and my thinking,” Chavarria says. “At their core, they all operate with a level of kindness and humanity. They are the type of people I look to surround myself with.”
Herman Weitz says the feeling is mutual. “I keep peeling back the layers, and I’ve been doing this for years, and he’s still the sweetest onion I’ve ever seen.”
From left: Rebeca wears dress by WILLY CHAVARRIA, shoes by CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN; Aída wears jacket and skirt by WILLY CHAVARRIA
From left: Patti wears jacket, shirt, and jewelry by WILLY CHAVARRIA, pants by ADIDAS ORIGINALS X WILLY CHAVARRIA 158
Taken from 10 Magazine USA Issue 5 – TRANSFORMATION, BIRTHDAY, EVOLVE – out now! Order your copy here.
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WILLY CHAVARRIA: EVERYBODY LOVES WILLY
Photographer RICARDO GOMES
Fashion Editor MICHAEL PHILOUZE
Text SARAH CRISTOBAL
Talent CAROLYN BATISTA, WILLY CHAVARRIA, JULIA FOX, JULIE GILHART, JESSICA HERMAN WEITZ, AIDA HURTADO, REBECA MENDOZA, PAOLA RAMOS, SARAH STENNETT, and PATTI WILSON
Hair and makeup RACHEL DEFLURI, JISELLE JAMES, GIANNA BARTOLOTTA, and ANTHONY WARNER at Glamsquad
Hair (Julia Fox) JOHN NOVOTNY
Makeup (Julia Fox) JEZZ HILL
Digital operator DANIELLE LAROSE
Photographer’s assistant COURTNEY HARVIER
Fashion assistant MYRON HERNANDEZ
Tailor SHIRLEE IDZAKOVICH
Producer NICOLAS BLOISE
Production assistant NAJIDALI
