Subrizi//Vogue Runwayįor Spring 2020, his designs were galvanized by the styles of Bay Area partygoers in the ‘90s - more specifically, those that attended his events at The Love Garage, a San Francisco nightclub he used to run while attending school in The Bay. He’s pondering his impact - both on the people he encounters and on the planet. Chavarria is running a business but it’s abundantly clear that he’s not thinking about turning the highest profit. Those who own a piece from his collections have probably spotted the miniature green tab that reads “capitalism is heartless.” It’s a testament to the brand’s unwavering commitment to authenticity, and perhaps it’s also a nod to the freedom the designer gained once granted the opportunity to depart from the money-driven labels that live a few pages back on his resume. It was romantic, seductive and realistic - three descriptors that quickly became synonymous with the Willy Chavarria brand. The line, titled “Cruising,” had an obvious connection to the happenings of that establishment, but it also nodded to the lowrider culture that was representative of his Latinx upbringing in the ‘80s. He first captured New York’s attention by setting his Spring 2018 collection inside The Eagle, the city’s famously revelrous, leather-filled gay bar. His unorthodox design language challenges those of traditional, commercial brands, and upon founding his eponymous brand in 2015, Chavarria’s abandonment of corporate fashion’s uniformity let his personal priorities, which have always been uplifting those with shared identities to his own, move into the center of his mood boards. In under a decade, Chavarria has transformed himself from an enigmatic designer at mid-tier fashion brands (think Joe Boxer and American Eagle) to arguably the most-celebrated Latinx designer in the American fashion circle. And on the evening of November 6, Chavarria accomplished what once felt out of reach, as he took home the trophy for American Menswear Designer of the Year at the 2023 CFDA Fashion Awards. But what was most special about that Spring 2024 collection was its ability to articulate the different facets of Chavarria’s being: facets that, at one point, felt like barriers to his success in the notoriously exclusive world of fashion.Ĭhavarria’s powerful, heartfelt interpretation of those historically disadvantaged signifiers - his queerness, his biracial identity as the descendant of an Irish-American mother and a Mexican-American father, and his working-class upbringing among immigrant farmers in California’s San Joaquin Valley - became awe-inspiring for anyone who could see themselves in them. The Fresno, California-hailing fashioner has always viewed his design practice as a medium for self-reflection, a platform for building up those who look, see and feel like he does. I curl my hair and tease it to give it extra lift before placing a cap on my head.It was just in September that Willy Chavarria’s Spring 2024 offering, his “most emotional collection” to date, as he described it to Hypebeast, was brought to the runway. Personally I think baseball caps look best with hair that has a bit of volume to it. They can dress down a nice dress or give some edge to an otherwise simple outfit. No, these cool caps are printed with flowers and leopard, or stitched up in denim or eyelet. It's not like I was sporty, and if I needed protection from the sun, I had a fabulous floppy straw hat to do the trick.īut baseball caps have had something of a revival in recent months, and they aren't just ones that pledge loyalty to your hometown team. My stick-straight hair would look limp and dull under a headpiece, so I never gave much thought to wearing baseball caps. Until quite recently I've always found hats to be rather unflattering atop my head, and they would always give me unfortunate indents on my hair. I've only just started to experiment with them this year, and I still can be wary around them. Hats are still kind of new territory for me.
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