“Fashion has just been on repeat, and maybe it’s time for people like us to change its course.” New York’s Willy Chavarria on what autonomy means to him.
Willy Chavarria has channelled his own life experience into his namesake label, drawing directly from his Mexican heritage, addressing subjects like migration and social class and deconstructing gender norms to create clothing for everyone – while serving as a senior vice-president of design for Calvin Klein men’s apparel. Speaking upon his autonomy, Susie Lau interviews the New York designer on what honest representation means in the fashion world for Perfect Issue Four.
Take us to church, Willy Chavarria, for we have sinned. This writer was not present at his Spring/Summer 2023 show entitled Please Rise in New York in September. But even from afar, something resonated so much that many declared it to be one of the best shows of the season in a city that was on the verge of being relegated in fashion capital rankings. Please Rise is perhaps thus far the most direct expression of Chavarria’s world, one that has been biding its time and building up to this crescendo moment at the Marble Collegiate Church.
Born to Mexican and Irish parents and having grown up in Central Valley, California where Latino immigration forms the backbone of the area’s agricultural industry, Chavarria spent his youth observing the subtleties of his culture. And so he’s been exploring and exposing the beauty of Latinx subcultures ever since he started his eponymous brand in 2015. But before doing so, Chavarria gathered experience from Americana heritage brands such as Ralph Lauren and American Eagle Outfitters as well as running a menswear boutique in New York. Currently, Chavarria is, to give him his full title, Senior Vice-President, Design for Calvin Klein North America and Global Essentials Apparel (Men’s). The commercial nous he has gleaned from those companies feeds back into his own brand, allowing him the freedom to put philanthropy at the heart of Willy Chavarria, as he regularly donates proceeds to organisations and charities close to his heart. Chavarria was already politicising his shows before it became a marketing tool for big houses; for example, colliding lowrider cholo style with the gay leather bar scene as a comment on repressed masculinity in Mexican culture. The statement ‘capitalism is heartless’ is sewn into every Willy Chavarria garment, prompting the wearer to question the very fashion vehicle they have just bought into.
Originally, the Please Rise show was meant to carry a darker undertone. But in the end, in keeping with Chavarria’s natural inclination to uplift and use fashion as a positive force, the show exalted wide pleat-front trousers, double breasted zoot suiting, knee-length white pressed T-shirts and nylon shell suits with sermons and hymns.
It seems the more Chavarria blows up and exaggerates those Chicano proportions, the more impactful those garments become as he seeks to reclaim a space where Latinx have been marginalised. The generously cut ballroom chinos that were the star looks of his spring 2022 Cut Deep show – worn by topless models with brightly hued boxer shorts peeking out from the high-waist belted trousers – made it to the In America: a Lexicon of Fashion exhibition at the Met. Bearing the physical attributes of a chino trouser, they also sweep the floor like a mid-20th century couture gown. By fusing chino with ballgown, Chavarria again probes into the hypermasculinity of Chicano culture. Uncompromising in terms of respect for his culture but also nuanced in reflecting hybrid identities, Chavarria’s voice in fashion is sorely needed. So Please Rise and toast the longevity of Willy Chavarria.
Susie: Your latest show Please Rise took us into this spiritually cathartic experience – one that many were floored by. Why did you decide to take us to church?
Willy Chavarria: I always wanted to do a show in a church because I've always found the grandeur fascinating. For so many people in Latin culture, the church has played such a big part of our Latinidad expression. I’ve always liked to bring people into environments that maybe they aren’t used to being, like barbershops or leather bars. But I felt like a church is also something that people aren’t really familiar with any more. I have a feeling that there’s a lot of godlessness in the world today – this overruling hate – so it felt good to gather everyone together under a roof that is centred around love and kindness. I chose a church that was not only nondenominational but also does a lot of work for the LGBTQ+ community; they also help out immigrants in New York.
The church and Latin culture have been synonymous with this patriarchal and oppressive environment. And I think from my own personal experience, there were aspects of the church that were suppressive to me, being queer, and being someone that wanted to look beyond the very small town that I came from. But there are elements of the church that are beautiful, that I did want to play with, in the same way that I play with masculinity.
Susie: Talk about your first contact with fashion, growing up in a small town in California.
Willy Chavarria: At the time, there was no fashion as we know it here. I didn’t really know about fashion. But what I did know is that I was obsessed with the way people look and present themselves. I was obsessed with machismo and the femininity of the women, who would get dressed up for church or before going out. And I was really obsessed with how people would claim their identities through what they wore.
By the time I was 17 I was ready to leave, so I moved to San Francisco. It was the dawn of the internet and things were moving very fast. Rave culture hit the US via the UK. It was this fucking brilliant moment and it was very fashion. It was my turning point, because I needed it for my own self-expression. I’d be in my finest in white jeans, black leather chaps, heeled shoes and a gold lamé sweater. But from then on, I’ve been refining, tailoring and utilising fashion to not only uplift people, but to help them in self-discovery.
Susie: When you started your brand in 2015, you had already been working for big companies – American Eagle Outfitters, Ralph Lauren – and you’re also currently senior vice-president of design at Calvin Klein men’s. How do you straddle those two worlds of expressing your culture and personal memories in your own brand and then working in this American sportswear casual corporate world?
Willy Chavarria: I’d say the Americana period was very much rooted in my education at Ralph Lauren and this informed my path going forward. I was learning a lot about production, manufacture, distribution – all of the things that would make a great designer or a great business person. While I was working at these brands I always knew that I wouldn’t be doing it forever, so those experiences were very much educational for me. When I decided to do my own brand, I also began working on Yeezy. And ever since, with the work that I do with larger companies, my brand informs the larger company and vice versa. It’s a fluid, cross-functional support. And of course when I work for a bigger brand, it can have an impact on the wider world.
Susie: How do you feel about being one of a handful of Latinx designers within mainstream American fashion? Why have so few Latinx designers come to the fore in the US and beyond?
Willy Chavarria: The people at the top of the food chain are still primarily not the widest spectrum of representation of what the world is and of what talent there is in the world. I’m happy to be one of the few selected for that [Met] exhibition at at the same time; I feel like it’s just the beginning for brown, Black, Asian and queer people. I am more than elated to represent and be a forefather in this journey of inclusivity – and even though that term is overplayed, the work that I do is really for all people. Civil rights are for all people. That’s really the backbone of my work.
Susie: Inclusivity is also not about representation but also about sharing your culture with the wider world. So for the completely uninitiated, can you talk through the Mexicana style touchstones and subcultures that you reference in your work?
Willy Chavarria: In North America, there is a very suppressed feeling of having land and culture wrapped up in that, which comes from the pilgrims. But as a result of that suppression, I think there has been a lot of discourse over the past few decades about Latin American style. And for me, at the centre of pachuco culture, which was in the 1930s and 40s, was the dawning of the zoot suit. People think it’s gangster-related, but Mexican-American people were mostly poor, because they weren’t given the same privileges as the European immigrants. There was this feeling of loss of space. The looks that these men created were quite voluminous and conversely took up a lot of space. And yet the people who bought these clothes were persecuted, literally stripped of their clothes and beaten in the streets. It was illegal in many places to dress a certain way as it didn’t conform to the Anglo culture. And this was mostly throughout California, Arizona and Texas. The clothing became a signifier of what eventually gang culture stems from. The pachucos became cholos, and the cholos are recognised for being tied to gangs.
And so Chicano is a political world as a sign of rebellion and revolt to define Latin American. I would say the Chicano culture has adopted the style of both the pachuco and cholo. All of that has really inspired me. I always found the cholo look so incredible. And, you know, the creased khakis and the pressed white T-shirt to me are the epitome of elegance.
Susie: And you chose some culturally significant collaborations too for Please Rise that are tied to that creased khakis and pressed white T-shirt look?
Willy Chavarria: I wanted to celebrate these these brands that are like from the streets. Like Pro Club is sold at corner liquor stores and bodegas and it’s something that has been worn within the culture for years. I wanted to make a big deal out of that. They do the ultimate pressed white T-shirt. Then there’s SB County – basically 90 per cent of their business is, like, Mexican gangs – khaki chinos, sweater stripes. It’s very real. Then Dickies is about traditional workwear.
Susie: When you look at the styling on the SB County website, it’s interesting how people who are perhaps unseen by one part of society present themselves in this maximal way in their own spaces.
Willy Chavarria: As a designer, those maximal presentations of self are very important in heightening visibility and the beauty of culture. I recently spoke at MOCA in Los Angeles and a question came up about the objectification of culture. And in LA, there’s this huge trend of Latino, Chicano inspired make-up and styling. Like when Bella Hadid dresses like a cholo – is that too much? I think if me and my team are benefiting from the trend in a monetary way then I’d rather be doing it than, say, Kim Jones.
Susie: That taps into another discussion which is when does inspiration become appropriation. Your references and touchstones have definitely popped up in the mainstream arena – do you feel like that advances your culture? Who is the beneficiary?
Willy Chavarria: That’s why I think it's important that people who truly represent the context are part of the game, and I think that's where things are changing. And now the timing is right for me. Globally, people are more politically aware. And I think people are very eager to identify with somebody who leads with the people in mind, you know, somebody who's not just selling clothes off a rack but wants to celebrate people. And I think that really resonates with the people who buy my clothes. I also think that right now, there is this turning point in fashion. Fashion has just been on repeat, and maybe it’s time for people like us to change that course. The way that I see fashion has never really been a part of the current workings of the industry. I’ve always kind of operated on the outside. I’ve never really pushed myself into any doors and in a way, it’s all kind of come to me, and I think that's because fashion is looking for something new.
Susie: Authenticity, as overplayed as it is, is definitely something elusive that people are searching for, especially when the industry is as bloated as it is and big houses have become… almost, too much.
Willy Chavarria: Bloated is the funniest word. For most part, I’ve always thought fashion was kind of appalling, as in the industry itself. But I’ve always seen my talent as a way to kind of reconstruct what fashion is for me – in the same way that I came from this little town in California, very Catholic, very conservative, and I was able to carve out who I am and what the world is around me. I feel like it's kind of my role to carve out what fashion is for the future.
Susie: What’s next then on the Willy Chavarria horizon?
Willy Chavarria: You know, the goal is to touch as many people as possible. And right now, I'm questioning a lot how to do that without making more and more product. It's not so much about downsizing the brand, it's about finding a way to be more responsible. I'm a little worried about the planet! It’s tricky because I’ve always wanted the brand to be accessible with a range of price points. But I’d like to move more into made to measure and make it a profitable business, as profitable as selling a lot of goods. I’d also like to possibly transition out of making actual apparel and doing other things that can be profitable and also good for society.
Susie: I see that you’ve vaguely waded into the NFT world. What does Willy Chavarria look like in the metaverse?
Willy Chavarria: There are areas of that world that haven't been tapped yet. So while I'm working in that dimension, I want to see how I can create things that are beneficial to the real world. I’m looking for ways in which NFT’s can benefit communities in need and people in need. It’s hard though because other than creativity, the thing that people are hungry for most in the metaverse is money. In the last year I've been navigating a way to both make money and give back in the metaverse.
Susie: You’ve always pointed out this sentiment about capitalism and its evils but that’s what we do, no? Our raison d’être is to sell the new.
Willy Chavarria: ‘Capitalism is heartless’ is the tag on most of my sportswear apparel. It has been since 2015. And it's true. True capitalism will have its end. It can't be this hungry and this aggressive and go on for eternity; eventually, it's just going to eat itself. And I think that, while we're a part of that system, we can’t forget that we’re human and do the best we can for each other. And that's why the financial aspects of this business are something that I want to nurture and grow for myself and my brand, so that I can do more in return. In the beginning, we had this little Americana store and started to do some cool community work. And I really couldn’t figure out a way to do it without making money. So I figured I'd use fashion. It's the catalyst for the ability to do other stuff.
Susie: Fusing fashion with community service or giving back has become marketing spiel, a way of accessing tax loopholes for bigger brands, but you’re coming at it from an actual genuine place. How do you avoid those pitfalls where gesture can be mistaken for gimmick?
Willy Chavarria: I don’t really care what people think, because it’s always been the foundation of my brand. A lot of times I don't even talk about it. Sometimes I do, because part of the marketing strategy can be beneficial to those that I'm giving to. For example, during Covid, I worked with an organisation in LA that was a gang intervention harm-reduction centre. They shifted all their attention to helping people in the hood that needed PPE. So we utilised marketing to get the attention out there to fundraise for this organisation and eventually make them uniforms, give them money to buy groceries and things for people in need. The marketing works in tandem with helping them out. I know that big companies use philanthropy as a marketing tool and there’s a lot of disingenuous work out there. But I think that for those brands that are sincere and real, it will always show through.