T ake one step into Willy Chavarria’s bustling atelier in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood and, suddenly, you’re standing deep in his imagination. The space is a maze of clothing racks, full of luxury and streetwear pieces from Chavarria’s past and present: slick, studded leather jackets; dramatic, billowing trousers; oversize, structured blazers. These are just some of the Mexican American designer’s signature looks, many of them inspired by his upbringing in the rural, primarily Latino town of Huron, California.
Most people milling around the neighborhood probably don’t know that blocks away, Chavarria and his team are up here, dreaming up how pop culture will look next. Already, these designs have dressed the biggest names in music: Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, some of them early adopters of the brand, which launched in 2015. “[Billie] was buying stuff on the website,” Chavarria, 59, remembers. “Same with Kendrick. To me, it’s those kinds of things that remind me what we’re actually doing here.”
What Chavarria has created is a brand that’s known for being subversive, unapologetic, and radically cool. He credits some of his point of view to growing up bicultural, to an Irish mother and a Mexican dad. He was an only child — and a quiet, dreamy one at that. “I spent a lot of time in my own head,” he says. “That was my favorite place to be. I’ve never been bored a day in my life.”
Art came naturally to him. “As soon as I was able to pick up a pencil, I started drawing. Drawing faces and then drawing women, clothes on women, women in dresses. I would have so many sketches of women in dresses at, like, four years old. So when I look back on it, I think, man, that’s pretty telling,” he remembers. Once he finished high school, he moved to San Francisco, studying at the Academy of Art University. The counterculture and club energy in the city was like a flash flood of inspiration to him, and he felt particularly moved by rave and techno music.
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Before starting his label, he had stints designing at Joe Boxer and Ralph Lauren. His own brand has felt intrinsically linked to music: A recent collaboration with UGG featured Ivan Cornejo and Becky G. His 2026 runway show, the gorgeous Eterno, doubled as a fashion film and a celebration of Latino joy during times of turmoil, with performances from Latin Mafia, Mon Laferte, Lunay, and more. “We are always looking at things that have made us who we are culturally,” he says.
The representation he brings to the runway is a political statement itself, but Chavarria isn’t afraid to be confrontational. In 2025, he opened his collection with models kneeling on the ground with their hands behind their backs, a heavy nod to immigrants detained by ICE. He’s been an ACLU ambassador, creating pieces to benefit the trans community, and has included day laborers and Latino workers in his shows.
“I am conscious of my approach,” he admits. “At the same time, I’m brown, I’m queer, I have a husband. I already have all these strikes against me. I’d rather go down feeling like I did something decent than go down cowering to something vile and evil.”
He’d love to do a get-out-the-vote campaign and a concert with the ACLU, plus there’s the next collection. Lately, Chavarria says he’s been leaning toward bolder, harder looks, a change from the past focus on joy and softness. “I’m in this space of kind of like, like toughness. Tough love, not taking shit. The way we present ourselves is probably going to get tougher.” A lot of that, he feels, comes directly from the social and political landscape we’re in. “At some point, there’s going to be a very serious wake-up call where nobody has a choice but to react … So I want to convey what’s attractive and beautiful about making ourselves feel good being tough and being protective of ourselves and one another and standing up for who we are.”
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He has high hopes for the brand and constant plans to expand. Maybe a giant space in Manhattan, with a bigger team. “There’s still so much more that needs to happen,” he says. “I want to be the next Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein. I’m just in the beginning stages.”
Still, we look out at his atelier for a second, and it’s impossible not to see hope in what he’s achieved so far. Lots of queer, brown kids — budding designers, young creative minds, future entrepreneurs — are busy at work, helping Chavarria change our culture through clothes. It’s the world Chavarria envisioned — and one he keeps building.
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