It has been one year since Willy Chavarria made his Paris Fashion Week debut after more than a decade with his eponymous brand. What once started as an underground label from New York has found itself as the most highly anticipated show on the calendar. And this season, marked not only his biggest show to date but also conjured up all the telenovela glamour and drama that make up Eterno.
We entered the show space, scented by Byredo as everyone sipped on Don Julio cocktails, and set up as a sound unveiled as a busy crosswalk where music, fashion, and identity collided. Feid, Mon Laferte, Lunay, Mahmood, Santos Bravos, Lil Mr. E, and Latin Mafia all performed as waves of models moved in opposite directions including Valentina Ferrer, Paloma Elsesser, Maggie Maurer, Erin O’Connor, Alek Wek, Omahyra Mota, and forever Parisian fashion muse Farida Khelfa in sateen full skirts, bespoke gowns, hourglass silhouettes in a refined palette of dim mint, soft pink, and warm orange-red building contrast to the bolder colors in the collection and animal prints. We also so the 1950s heartthrobs and greasers reimagined with females in the roles.
“I live in New York City, street level, corner apartment, big windows. There’s barely any separation between the city outside and the world inside my home. I think there. I watch people. I watch them rush to work while I make my coffee. I watch them meet on corners. Enter the restaurant across the street. Kiss goodbye. Argue. Jump in and out of taxis. I watch people fall in love. I watch them fall apart. All of us under the same sun, under the same moon, sharing the same universe, breathing the same oxygen, smelling the same garbage. I feel connected to all of them. I’ve seen a woman collapse in the middle of a crosswalk. A heart attack. Strangers ran in. I ran in. We waited together for the ambulance.” Stated Willy Chavarria in the show notes.
There was no explicit political message, but we were reminded of everyday people, the community around us. If you came to Paris before everyone was stuck to their phones, you would see people staring at you. On the metro, on the street, at the café corners, that’s what people used to do and you would see all different types of people in all different types of clothes that weren’t all coming from the same places. People watching has become a lost art, but Chavarria sees people.
It can be hard to crack Paris’ famously fickle fashion critic crowd. One big improvement and space to continue to work at is a focus on high quality fabric and fit for buyers in Europe. Willy Chavarria pieces are fun, they can also be moody, sad, sexy, boring, elegant, what’s important is to take people seriously, to never ridicule people through garments. He gets people, and allows them their dignity, something that unfortunately is becoming rarer. At the end of the show, projected on the screen was a dedication to “All of us that believe in the Power of Love”.
Credits: Creative Director: Willy Chavarria; Stylist: Carlos Nazario; Makeup Artist: Yadim; Official Makeup Partner: Byredo; Skincare Stylist: The Ordinary; Hair: Paul Hanlon; Nails: Daniel Smedeman; Casting: Brent Chua; Casting team: Emma Farachi, Jhendi Castillo, Lindsey Le Garrec, Noah; Boling, Stéphane Gaboué, Antoine Roussel (Intern); Direction, Design, and Production: Bureau Betak; Staged and Choreographed: Damien Jalet; Cinematography: Benoît Debie; Set Design: Nicola Scarlino; Post Production: Poster; Film Color Grading: Kevin Le Dortz; Music Direction: Michel Gaubert; Music Supervision: Marco Neves & Michel Gaubert; Starring: Mon Laferte, Lunay, Mahmood, Lil Mr. E, Santos Bravos, Feid,; and Latin Mafia; PR: PURPLE & Spread The Word Communications; Front of House Photographer: Viktor Boyko; Runway Photography: Gaspar Lindberg
