The Power of PR: How Willy Chavarria Merged Fashion, Identity, and Politics at Paris Fashion Week
Paris Fashion Week (PFW)—the semi-annual fashion event of the year that every designer wants to be at—is more than just a showcase; it’s a global platform for making bold statements and powerful messages.
Fresno-born designer Willy Chavarria made his highly anticipated PFW debut, one that the fashion world could not stop talking about—and rightfully so. His Chicano-inspired collection was filled with cultural pride, featuring some of the most well-put-together looks in all of PFW. His Tarantula collection consisted of staples seen everywhere in California—flannel shirts, oversized chinos, and even the once-popular and banned zoot suit—showing that Chavarria didn’t shy away from his Mexican-American roots.
Chavarria opted for street-casting to ensure that people from his community would be a part of his project. “If you are a woman, a queer person, a trans person, a person of color, or a poor person—those are the people I really love to cast.” All kinds of people walked his debut show, from Colombian singer J Balvin, who opened the show and performed, to fashion designer and Fear of God owner Jerry Lorenzo, professional mixed martial artist Chito Vera, and a pizza boy from New York City who had to call out from his shift at Scarr’s Pizza in order to walk the runway for the first time at PFW.
Chavarria didn’t shy away from the big stage, using his debut to take a bold political stance with anti-Trump themes and advocacy for human rights. To close the show, Chavarria sported a shirt stating, “How We Love Is Who We Are,” with proceeds from shirt sales being donated to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) to help support LGBTQ+ rights. As his show concluded in the American Cathedral, a recording of Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s sermon played, in which she begged President Donald Trump to “have mercy towards” immigrants and the LGBTQ+ community.
Willy Chavarria and his team used PFW to reach a global audience and solidify his brand’s message. Despite it being his first show at this highly publicized event, Chavarria and his PR team took a risk and did not back down, using the runway to give voices to those who often go unheard.
Bio: Andre Rodas is a student at California State University Northridge, where he is pursuing a bachelor's degree in journalism with an emphasis in public relations. Before pursuing PR, Rodas worked as editor in chief for his highschool newspaper The Mirror.