Willy Chavarria FW23 Presents a Story of Protection
Where each piece is cloaked in black.
Bold, romantic and powerfully dark are a few thoughts that immediately came to mind as the succession of garments descended the staircase and moved throughout the hall at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum for Willy Chavarria’s Fall/Winter 2023 show. Over the years, Willy Chavarria has quickly become one of the most anticipated shows of the New York Fashion Week calendar, and rightfully so. Chavarria’s prowess for elegantly sleek yet culturally multidimensional tailored pieces continues to captivate and the latest just adds to his robust catalog.
As Chavarria was Cooper Hewitt’s 2022 National Design Award in fashion winner, it made sense that his latest collection would be showcased in the exquisite space. Amongst the backdrop of rich wood molding and ornate walls, Chavarria’s KANGAROO offered an exhibition of protection, elegance and strength. Entirely cloaked in black with very few cuts of white, the collection created an impenetrable mood from the start. But what Chavarria’s omission of color truly provided was hyper-focused attention towards shape, craftmanship, movement and fabric. It is particularly easy to get lost in similarity when one color leads the way, but interesting enough, the collection’s one color, served as the compass – dually providing a balance between darkness and light.
Marking Chavarria’s debut exhibition into evening wear, the collection’s attention to both wide and figure-enchanting proportions came to be through pleated silk skirting, bold bow blouses, elongated and oversized heavyweight tops, boxy-fit tops in elongated and cropped configurations, relaxed silk suit pants, minimal outerwear and more. Although these pieces each harbored that element of contemporary Chavarria seduction, the collection’s crown jewel lied in its overcoats and dresses.
Whether the overcoats stop below the knee or kissed the floor, the designs found their magic through striking shoulders, large lapels, cinched waists and straight or flared cuts. Coats appeared in velvet, wool and silk fabrics alongside subtle design details like crisp white trims, sky-high collars or contrasting fabric lapels. Almost similar to the series of coats, dresses materialized in silk, cotton, and velvet fabric – often deriving their design style from double-breasted blazers and seamless cloak-like pieces. Regardless of the style, what makes the entire offering that much stronger is it being almost entirely genderless.
Although the collection may be visually a bit paired down when compared to Chavarria’s previous work, the latest exalts his creative versatility and both a designer and a purveyor of distinguished taste.
Take a look at Chavarria’s FW23 KANGAROO collection in the gallery above.
In other New York Fashion Week news, Who Decides War captures the intrinsic style of NYC for FW23.
