The Council of Fashion Designers of America (also known as the CFDA) just announced the winners of its 2024 Fashion Awards at a star-studded ceremony last night, hosted at the American Museum of Natural History. From Erykah Badu to Rual Lopez of Luar and Stuart Vevers of Coach, familiar faces and emerging designers alike were bestowed awards celebrating their work in the fashion industry over the past year, but one name in particular stood out to us: Willy Chavarria, winner of the CFDA’s American Menswear Designer of the Year award.
This is the second consecutive year that Mexican-American fashion designer Willy Chavarria has been awarded the title, and for good reason. His eponymous label is well-known for bringing heritage-inspired collections to the New York fashion calendar, pioneering inclusivity and using his personal experiences to touch on issues relating to race, religion, sexuality, politics, and life as a second generation immigrant in the US today.
At Spring/Summer 2025, Willy Chavarria revealed a collection titled “América”, which paid tribute to the “labour in the fields, bringing food to our tables, building our cities, making our music, and weaving stories into the fabric of this land.” The collection was inspired by the aesthetics of Chavarria’s own Chicano culture, blended with styles typically associated with American culture to symbolise the lived experiences of second generation immigrants in the US, like himself.
Before this, Chavarria’s Fall/Winter 2024 collection, titled “Safe From Harm”, similarly took root in representing the identities of people in the US whose familial heritage is tied elsewhere, like Chavarria who’s own Mexican-American roots are a key reference point for his designs. As well as the theme of heritage, Chavarria is also known for referencing controversial subjects in his collections, touching on issues relating to religion, discussing his own sexuality, and broaching conversations around race. It’s in part thanks to these bold narratives that his label has caught the eyes of so many people, but we also have to credit his contemporary aesthetic and infamous tailoring with capturing the attention of celebrities like Kendrick Lamar, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, Tracee Ellis Ross, and more.
As winner of the CFDA’s American Menswear Designer of the Year award, Willy Chavarria brings a nuanced and unique perspective to the title, forcing us to think about what it means to be an “American” designer. With the American Presidential Election looming, and one party in particular pushing a concerningly aggressive narrative around immigration, the CFDA announcing a Mexican-American designer who places so much emphasis on his own Chicano heritage, commenting on political, racial, and social issues without hesitation, is American Menswear Designer of the Year is an impactful decision, and it's one that doesn’t surprise us at all.
Featured image via @kevinalexanderphoto ©
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