Yahoo Lifestyle Willy Chavarria Discusses the Power of Visuals for Parsons Panel With Julie Gilhart
Willy Chavarria may have received his diploma from the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco, but more recently his tassel has been tied up with The New School.
Ahead of receiving the Table award at next month’s Parsons Benefit, the designer sat down with luxury consultant and onetime Barneys senior vice president Julie Gilhart on Wednesday for The New School’s “Pushing Fashion Forward” series.
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Unlike most panel discussions, this one kicked off not with words, but with visuals. Chavarria’s fall 2024 collection film “Safe From Harm” was projected onto the Tishman Auditorium wall, showing a diverse cast of models in his western-tinged Chicano street couture, either power-strutting the halls of a derelict house or grooving through Catholic church pews. The film, a celebration of inclusivity, queer expression and Chavarria’s Mexican American heritage, set the tone for the evening, which later explored challenges faced and lessons learned over a decade of scaling his brand founded on exactly those values.
Chavarria said strong visuals like “Safe From Harm” or his 10th anniversary runway extravaganza, which he brought to Paris men’s week in January, are the best way he can get politically charged messages across. “It’s like feeding people spinach but putting it in enchiladas,” he joked about making them more palatable.
Gilhart certainly ate it up. Before the two took to the stage, she reflected on her first encounter with Chavarria at his debut. “I didn’t understand it but I liked it,” she recalled of the clothes, adding it was his mix of “cultural authenticity and high fashion” that caught her merchant’s eye. A decade on, Gilhart was curious to know how the two-time CFDA menswear designer of the year got to where he is now.
Again, with visuals. Born to a working-class migrant family in Fresno, Calif., Chavarria said he was introverted growing up, “which made me a very visual person. I was drawing all the time, and fantasizing all the time and thinking of a world that was very different from where I was.” The absence of his community in the pages of glossy magazines eventually led him to take up social justice, advocating for them through his work. “I wanted to act in a way that was going to promote my beliefs, giving value to those who aren’t seen as valuable,” he continued. “I think that’s why I like to take my Latino culture and elevate it and make it as beautiful as it can be because I really never saw that.”
Asked whether he feels pressure to speak less to the fringes in order to drive growth, Chavarria responded: “Whether it’s left or right, I think that most brands are afraid to lose one of those sides, so they play it safe, and then it’s just boring.”
Gilhart then opened up to the crowd to see if they agreed that fashion now is in fact boring. The room filled with laughter as an overwhelming majority raised a hand. Chavarria proceeded to make it clear boring isn’t of any interest to him and in divisive times, “you have to be courageous.”
Having worked for commercial juggernauts like Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein (he strongly recommended Parsons students do the same before branching out on their own), Chavarria put himself up as proof that “you can have a point of view, and you can do something that’s very sincere and not assimilate to what you think you have to be to be successful.” Failure, he noted, shouldn’t be discouraged as it’s an opportunity to learn. “You gotta fall down and get back up.”
One thing Chavarria admitted he’s still learning is how to communicate with buyers who aren’t sure how to categorize his gender-fluid vision. While menswear is his speciality, Chavarria hinted he’d like to do a line that caters specifically to the needs of women, which he will launch when the time is right. But the Willy Chavarria universe is and always will be for everyone: “Whether it’s masculine, whether it’s feminine, whether it’s queer or trans, the overarching theme is love,” he said.
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