Willy Chavarria Fall-Winter 2026 Captures the Zeitgeist
Willy owns Paris. Over the last year the emerging superstar designer has staged three shows at Paris Fashion Week, each more bombastic and enthralling than the last. These shows — Tarantula, Huron, and last week’s show-stopping Fall-Winter 2026 presentation Eterno — have been standouts of the crowded Paris Fashion Week schedule. Chavarria’s shows signify not only a designer coming into his own, but the right designer, at the right moment, emerging as the right voice for this generation.
Chavarria, who hails from Huron, CA, is a queer Chicano designer who incorporates elements of Latino culture — both traditional and modern — as well as influences from the LGBTQ+ club scene he grew up working in his work. It’s work unabashedly rooted in these two parts of his identity, which is perhaps part of the reason he’s been called the designer of the moment. In spotlighting the traditions and aesthetics of marginalized communities, he’s long been clear that the core message of his work is the fundamental human right to living with dignity.
The results speak for themselves. Chavarria’s shows are full of diverse faces, body types, and backgrounds. You won’t find a crowd of picturesque runway models at his shows. Instead, the designer largely casts talent he discovers in the real world. He’ll also draw from pop culture, sports, music, and the drag queen circuit: the list of names who have walked in Chavarria’s shows include NBA superstar James Harden, NYC icon Julia Fox, Latina pop star Becky G, and the legendary UK DJ Goldie. Let’s not get it twisted — some of Chavarria’s models are spectacularly beautiful by conventional standards. But he is just as prone to spotlighting the beauty of normal faces and normal people. It feels groundbreaking for runway representation, to be sure, but it also makes the clothes feel far more wearable and attainable.
This is important to note because Chavarria’s clothes are anything but subtle. The designer staunchly rejects minimalism in fashion. His clothes beg for attention. Colours are bright, silhouettes staunch, and proportions big and bold. Chavarria loves a long shirt collar, boxy oversized trousers, and tee shirt sleeves that reach well past the elbows. It’d all be quite intimidating, were it not for the fact that he shows you how to wear it on the runway.
Much of the designer’s work falls in the luxury space, with high quality and prices that reflect it. That started to change last year with the launch of his now-acclaimed partnership with adidas. While shoes are often front and centre in the collaboration, it’s the apparel that’s really taken off, bringing Chavarria’s design sensibilities to much more affordable clothing made under the adidas umbrella. That mission continues in 2026 after Paris Fashion Week saw the launch of BIG WILLY, an affordable sub-brand under Chavarria’s namesake line. BIG WILLY offers budget-friendly interpretations of some of the workwear and casual staples like tees and ball caps under the Chavarria banner. Both projects feel a bit like Fear of God’s ESSENTIALS brand: affordable and stylish staples to spread the name and keep the lights on. BIG WILLY and adidas give Chavarria the bandwidth and breathing room to continue pushing the envelope under his main line.
It’s been a blockbuster year for Chavarria since Tarantula played in Paris in January of 2025. Right now, it seems the sky is the limit for the designer, the right name for the right moment. Rarely does clothing feel this vital, this reflective of its moment, this transcendent. And come June, we’re sure he’ll make his mark on Paris Fashion Week yet again. It’s becoming tradition.
The post Willy Chavarria Fall-Winter 2026 Captures the Zeitgeist appeared first on Sharp Magazine.