US designer Willy Chavarría debuts in Paris with a militant anti-Trump fashion show

Paris - American designer Willy Chavarria made his Paris debut on Friday with a colourful and politically charged show, incorporating an excerpt from a pro-LGBTQ+ speech by a bishop that angered President Donald Trump, as well as clips from the film "Emilia Pérez", nominated for 13 Oscars.

Of Mexican and Irish descent, Chavarria was named American Designer of the Year in 2024. His Paris Men's Fashion Week premiere took place at the American Cathedral in Paris, a frequent venue for fashion shows.

For the occasion, Chavarria presented a highly eclectic collection, a veritable showcase of his inspirations: Chicano culture, streetwear, and tailoring reminiscent of the 1940s and 50s.

Trump attended a service on Tuesday at the Washington National Cathedral led by Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. In her sermon, she admonished the newly inaugurated president for executive orders targeting LGBTQ+ language and migrants, signed after he began his second term on Monday.

"I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President," said the bishop, who spoke of the "fear" she said was being felt across the country. Chavarria used part of this speech to close the show, which also featured two singers, as well as music by J Balvin and Marco Neves.

"There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families," the bishop maintained, in a homily Trump described as "boring."

"Emilia Pérez," meanwhile, is a film whose lead, Spanish trans actress Karla Sofía Gascón, has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, a first. Narrated in musical form, the film by French director Jacques Audiard (also nominated) tells the story of a drug lord who wants to change their sex and life.

The film has been praised by critics and has been a box office success, although in Mexico it was met with criticism from some media outlets who consider it to be full of clichés.

Chavarria, who in addition to having his own label is vice president of design at Calvin Klein, draws inspiration from the narco mythology of the border for some of his creations. Men in loose, checked shirts, wide-leg denim trousers tucked into boots, chunky buckles, and cowboy hats. But there are also perfectly cut suits with broad shoulders, in blood red or black with a large red rose on the lapel. Shirts with open collars and large lapels.

The women are in black, with bustiers and pencil skirts, with matching hats, as if attending a mobster's funeral.

The show also featured streetwear, with bomber jackets, a mix of bright colours, and denim. And to finish, men sporting long boxer shorts or tracksuits created in collaboration with Adidas.

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.ES. It was translated to English using AI and edited by Rachel Douglass.

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