At a moment when fashion’s biggest stages are filled with fantasy and distraction, Willy Chavarria brought hard reality to the runway. His SS26 show at Paris Fashion Week didn’t entertain. It intervened.
As the lights came up, models slowly took formation: kneeling, heads shaved, hands behind their backs. Dressed in plain white tees and loose shorts, the cast - some long-time collaborators, some discovered via open call - recreated the pose of those detained by ICE and incarcerated across Latin America. A confronting and deliberate gesture that turned the runway into a space of resistance.
While the fashion industry largely avoided political confrontation this season, Chavarria made the consequences of silence impossible to ignore.
In an era where brands chase “relevance” through aesthetics, virality, and surface-level collaboration, Chavarria reminds us that true relevance is rooted in risk, responsibility, and resonance. You don’t earn cultural capital by riding trends - you earn it by standing for something.
Fashion, at its core, is a language. What we wear can speak volumes. But the industry too often chooses neutrality to protect its bottom line. Chavarria’s show was a powerful counterpoint: a designer using fashion not to escape from the world, but to confront it head-on.
The collection that followed kept the energy tight: boxy tailoring in highlighter pinks and punchy reds, sharp womenswear silhouettes, and American sportswear distorted to exaggerated proportions. A wink to Chavarria’s Ralph Lauren past, but with the volume turned all the way up - and the messaging layered deep.
This was America reimagined. This was fashion politicised. This was a designer at the top of his game, refusing to look away.
In cultural marketing, we talk a lot about belonging, storytelling, and emotional connection. Willy Chavarria lives it.
He doesn’t posture. He positions.
He doesn’t speak for the culture - he speaks from it.
As brands scramble to insert themselves into moments, here’s a masterclass in how to make one.
Because cultural relevance isn’t about proximity to cool.
It’s about proximity to truth.