Maison the Faux Spring/Summer 2018

Walking out of an elevator in Los Angeles after a shoot, Chavarria received the ultimate phone call from Serge Carreira, Director of the Emerging Brands Initiative for the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode. After a series of meetings and coffees, the decision had come down that Chavarria would be invited to show in Paris. Once the green light was firmly received, the wheels on a collection already in-process kept turning, and a new world (both physically and metaphorically) began to be explored for the brand. 

FW25 is a masterclass of the Chavarria universe with a Parisian bent. The designer flew in three days early to streetcast many of the faces that walked the runway under the vaulted ceilings of The American Cathedral in Paris. It’s an apt place as any for a stateside brand to stage an ocean-spanning leap of a show. Alongside the new characters (Fear of God’s Jerry Lorenzo and fashion commentator Lyas among them), brand stalwarts such as Amara Gisele and Chachi Maserati were in town to walk for Chavarria – ”We’re bringing a lot of the Willy crew. It really feels like home and it's wonderful” he shared in our pre-show chat. 

The team brought their collaboration with iconic gay porn studio Latino Fan Club to Paris with a party and merchandise launch, as well as a see-now, buy-now moment with friendly partner Adidas, which include a limited-edition capsule collection of sneakers only available at the pop-up. 

Paloma Elsesser walked the runway in a waist-cinching red dress featuring a high neck, glossy red sheen, razor-thin brows, and French tips (perhaps an homage to the brand’s temporary home). J. Balvin, in a surprise serenade, wore Chavarria’s answer to formality in the highest order: a reimagined tuxedo with dramatically-sized lapels, the brand’s classically oversized silhouette on trousers, and an inky-black bow tie. 

One would be remiss not to situate any current creative output with global events unfolding in parallel – landscapes doused in fire, political turmoil, and question-marks the size of nations, or sometimes gulfs. Against this backdrop, the brand’s enduring commitment to truth and freedom becomes even clearer, standing as a beacon of clarity and hope.

“The beauty of resilience, resistance, persistence and existence… those words have stayed with me,” the designer said of this season’s collection. 

Navigate to your preferred streamer and flip on the song Tarantula by This Mortal Coil – it’s where the title of the collection originates, after all. “It's a song that I listened to as a teenager, and it has stayed with me my whole life,” I’m told. 

The designer expanded by offering how a tarantula is, in a vacuum, a very gentle creature that has been unjustly vilified. Soft to the touch, honest and true, it’s a creature that faces much hatred and fear by outside forces for little reason other than blind distrust. If the metaphor sounds familiar vis à vis current societal tugs-of-war, that would be entirely intentional on the part of the brand. 

“I feel like this is symbolic of how so many of us feel right now. [We’re] bringing in all of these people who are queer, trans, people of color… all of these people who are othered and really canonizing them as saints in a beautiful church. I love it,” Chavarria said.

The closing of the show brought this theme into full-view. The final portion of the soundtrack played back the recently-viral clip of Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde confronting President Donald J. Trump, softly encouraging him to remember the people in the US – immigrants, queer people, religious minorities, and beyond – that may be scared of his newfound executive power. A moment of solidarity from the world over, and a somber-sweet reminder of everything that the Willy Chavarria brand stands for.

As for what the rest of Chavarria’s Parisian experience may entail? 

“My husband David and my dog Chester will be here, so I’m really looking forward to walking around Paris and doing nothing,” he said. Perhaps the perfect plan after a long haul, and a moment well deserved before diving back in.