For Willy Chavarria, this season was all about keeping cool. Prepping his collection during a record Paris heatwave forced the designer to strip down.
“I’ve had a rule for myself that when I turned a certain age, I was not going to wear shorts in public. I’d wanted to be a little more of a gentleman, but in these last few days in Paris, I’m like: forget it, I have no choice,” he said backstage before the show. “I’ve been working in my boxer shorts for the last two weeks.”
The heat dome sitting over Europe influenced the styling of the coed collection, with men peeling back their tops to reveal tattooed chests and washboard abs, while women opted for gauzy layers in sorbet shades or flocked floral motifs.
But Chavarria was also thinking about how to stay cool under pressure. The show, titled “Comunión,” began with a guided meditation, and his show notes read like a spiritual reflection on existence.
“Basically, I want it to be joyous, and I was like, ‘how the f–k are we going to be joyous?’ I found that many of the conversations I was having, and I’m still having, are about how we are able to find our joy and our love and our laughter in a time when we see so much darkness around us,” he mused.
With New York electrified by the Knicks’ NBA championship win, and millions worldwide cheering on the FIFA World Cup, Chavarria once again plugged into the energy of the street, though this lineup did not feature his ongoing collaboration with Adidas.
Instead, he gave his signature sportswear a dressy spin with layers of crisp boxy shirts, glossy leather jackets, and baggy pants with the aforementioned boxer shorts peeking above the waistband.
The multigenerational cast — featuring cameos by Knicks player Jordan Clarkson, Romeo Beckham and Bella Freud, among others — were a sea of soft color and liquid texture, with standouts including a filmy white floral-patterned coat, mint green leather skate shorts, and silky jacquard shirts.
Since he first landed in Paris last year with hard-hitting messages about immigrant and LGBTQIA+ rights, Chavarria’s star has continued to rise, even as the conditions for the social issues he highlights have worsened. As generous and inclusive as ever, this show appeared to embrace the contradiction of celebrating success while feeling despair at the same time.
