Opening NYFW with Willy Chavarria | PLUS Tom Ford and Venice Film Fest

0:28This is The Run Through. I'm Chloe Mel. Chavarria, who is actually going to be opening New York Fashion Week, which is a huge, huge deal and much very well deserved. Willie won the American menswear category at the CFDA last year, which I was so happy about, and was a senior vice president of design at Calvin Klein before he moved on to focus fully on his label. And we're so happy he did because the world needs more Willie. I mean, I really loved this interview. Willie is such a star for everyone at New York Fashion week. He's talked about some of his favorite shows that he's done, one in homage to gay cruising culture and Mexican motorcycle cruising culture.

1:08So the conversation is a delight, and I'm really excited for everyone to hear it. Yeah, his shows are just always a highlight for me. I think the way that he, his vision is, it's so cinematic and you really get immersed in his world when you go to his show. So I'm very, very excited to hear the conversation. I mean, And last season was an actual film projected above the show. Oh, of course. Yeah, I forgot about that. Quite literally cinematic. Yeah, it really was. I will be attending Willie's show tomorrow night where he's also hosting a panel afterwards with the ACLU. And he speaks very powerfully with Jose about the connection between politics and the personal.

1:46And I think that'll be a really important moment, especially as the kickoff to the week. So, Choma, you will be getting notes, but we will miss you deeply. I remember last season we sat at the Willie show together and then we went and had dinner at the food court at Grand Central before the Tommy show. So glamorous. All behind the scenes. That's right. I think I had like curry or something. You had curry and I had tacos and a margarita. I think you had a better choice. I think I went and got like a margarita. I think you got like a bit bambop. But anyway, we digress. So, Chloe, I hear that you just came from a show?

2:25I just ran back from Proenza. It was at a beautiful building, double height, sort of factory building in Tribeca on Harrison Street. No one seemed to know what the building was the rest of the time, but it was a beautiful location with soaring ceilings and huge floor-to-ceiling windows. The show was beautiful, very fluid, scarf dressing, fringe, a lot of texture, some feathers on a shoe. The sun was coming in through the windows very strongly on people's seats. So there was sweating involved. Is it still warm in New York? It is. I know you have a sweater on. It's like crisp, sort of transitional summer to fall weather.

3:10My favorite type. It really is. In the shade, I'm thrilled about my outfit, which is a skirt and a sweater. In the beating, belting sun indoors, I was not so thrilled. But here we are. I feel like it's like Proenza. People are going to the U.S. Open today. Elise Taylor is doing a very funny taxonomy of U.S. Open suites, which we've been having a lot of fun with because it's become such a brand opportunity. Oh, my God. I love her. But it's been a major weekend and week for the Venice Film Festival. I feel like that was Labor Day weekend was inundated by Venice coverage. Angelina seems to be having her best moment and everybody is raving about that.

3:53People are very excited about her performance in Maria, the Maria Callas biopic from Pablo Lorraine. What do you think of her fashion? I was a little confused by her like dead beaver stole that she was wearing. And it was like 97 degrees in Venice. But I liked her like Saint Laurent black dress with this insane Cartier brooch that belonged to Maria Callas. So that was a big deal. Oh, I didn't know the story behind it. I did notice the brooch. I did not know the story. That is kind of incredible. It was a major ghost moment. Nicole Kidman was in Venice for her film Baby Girl, which is a May-December romance with Harris Dickinson that everyone says is very sexy and fantastic.

4:38So I'm excited about that. Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice premiered at Venice. So there was big... Yeah, Jenna. You can't move for Jenna mania. Hannah Jackson did a fun piece about how Jen Ortega is getting method dressing right because she was doing sort of mild goth but not full on Beetlejuice. And it was really working, I think, for her. Emma Corrin was. I thought Emma looked great. Oh, my God. She was wearing this, dare I say, Brett Green skirt suit, Mew Mew skirt suit and looked so chic. And then obviously Gaga today is our big cover star. October issue. I love these photos. The photos are divine.

5:18Ethan James Green shot these extremely atmospheric, spooky, gorgeous, glam photos of Lady Gaga. And it's heralding her role in The Joker Returns with Joaquin Phoenix. And she is playing Harley Quinn. And it's just a really fantastic piece written by Jonathan Van Meter. And most importantly for our fans, she confirms her engagement to rumored fiance, Michael Polanski. It's so funny. Everybody was buzzing about this today because nobody knows that much about him. But he just seems, do you feel like it's an unlikely match for him? I kind of like that she's with someone who's kind of so a bit of a normie.

6:00I love a civilian. I like a civilian spouse. Me too. A civilian spouse seems totally opposite to her. I don't think she could be with someone crazy and eccentric. I think she has the crazy eccentric star in the relationship and in the world in general. Don't you think? Yes. So we approve. I'm a long, long time supporter of the civilian spouse. I think it's very important for a eccentric, mercurial individual. Yes. Meanwhile, Brad Pitt is also showing up to Venice with his new girlfriend. With his civilian spouse. Yes. Inez de Ramon. Yes. I know at like Saturday or Sunday morning, Christian slacked me and was like, oh, this Renaissance painting just came in on the wires.

6:41And it was like the still from the mahogany motorboat or whatever boat of Amal, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Inez and Brian Lord sort of coming into the dock of Venice for their double date. And I was like, all right, we have to write that immediately and update our post on who is Inez de Ramon. I know. I mean, I just hope there were no run-ins with Angelina. It would be, I don't know how big Venice is, but I don't know if Venice is big enough for the both of them. The canals cannot handle. Handle this. I wouldn't want to run into my ex at Venice Film Festival, would you? Drama on the Lido. I mean, with the new girlfriend?

7:18No, thank you. Also, according to Liam, the runaway film from Venice was The Brutalist, which is... Tell me about, actually, this is the first time I'm hearing about The Brutalist. The Brutalist, it's a historical drama by Brady Corbett, who is a young, he's an actor who's now writer-director. And it's with Adrian Brody and Joe Alwyn and Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce. And it's a post-war historical drama. And apparently it's gripping. Well, I will have a question. Who did you think won the red carpet? What's your favorite look? Taylor Russell. I love the white Loewe that just felt like such a glamorous old Hollywood with a new twist moment.

8:06I also have been loving Pedro Almodovar's red carpet style. He wore a pink Loewe suit. I haven't been taking note. I should. Pedro has been killing it. Okay. And, you know, we always love our Tilda moments. Yeah. I quite liked Nicole Kidman in the Schiaparelli. I mean, I know she can look pretty good in pretty much anything, but it did kind of stand out to me. On the whole, Taylor Russell has won. Yes. And what brand do you think won Venice? Probably Loewe. I think it was a big Loewe win. I mean, Armani and Chanel and Miu Miu always. Armani and Chanel. Armani has been everywhere. They go big in Venice and that definitely paid off for them.

8:50But I do feel like Loewe was the winner. You know, they were partners on Luca Guadagnino's new film and Jonathan Anderson co-hosted the party for his film. So I suppose they had a presence beyond the red carpet. Other big news. So big news, right? Shoma, what did you think? Were you expecting that Heider Ackerman would be the new Tom Ford? I wasn't. But then I thought, why didn't I think of that as genius? It kind of makes so much sense. In fact, everybody here at British Folk is buzzing about it and we can't wait for all the Timothee Chalamet's new wardrobe to emerge and lots of backless tops and who knows what he could do with a thong.

9:29But no, I just think it makes so much sense. I mean, his focus on tailoring, his wonderful eye for color often uses similar kind of dual tones that Tom would appreciate. In fact, Tom in the statement said that he thought that they often had similar references and called him a very good colorist, like a genius colorist. So I think it makes so much sense. And Haid has always been on the shortlist for many jobs. In fact, I remember way back when, when Karl Lagerfeld kind of called him out, but he never has had an appointment of this level. Yeah. So it just feels like long overdue and and such a cool moment for him and a moment to celebrate him and the right fit.

10:12Why do you think he's the right fit? Just because of those things. I think he understands tailoring. He understands a sort of a sensuousness. It's not like an overt sexiness. No, it's more of an oblique sexiness, which I feel like makes sense right now. I think it makes sense right now. And he'll understand how to reinterpret the things that Tom is so known for. He knows men's and women's. He's always shown men's and women's. And I think he understands drama. And he also has a really cool crew of famous friends. I mean, he's probably the only person who Timothee Chalamet regularly shouts out as far as having any influence on him as far as a fashion person.

10:52And then you have Tilda Swinton. and... Oh, can you imagine that front row? It's going to be so fun. It's going to be fun, you know, and who knows? He's obviously has, he gave us a great quote for Kylie Jenner September story, so he knows her. So come next March, I think the show is going to be really exciting. And for people who maybe don't recall, Ford obviously founded his own brand in 2005, and then he stepped down in 2023. Peter Hawkins, who was his number two for a long time, took over and then exited in July. So, Haider Ackerman, this is a big moment, and this was a big news get for us.

11:31People were very excited to hear about this. So next up, Chanel, when will we hear? The whole world wants to know. Okay, we are going to take a quick break. When we're back, Willie Chevarria on opening for New York Fashion Week. The run-through will be back in just a moment.

12:22So join us every week on the New Yorker Radio Hour, wherever you listen to podcasts.

12:34And we're back. We are so excited about this interview with Jose and Willie, so let's jump right into it.

12:46Hey, sis. What's up? What's up? How are you? It's been a minute. I was just tripping on you saying fashion editor at Vogue. It's crazy, isn't it? Congratulations. It's so amazing. Well, it's funny because you and I met when I was starting. Like, I had just started switching from design to media. Yeah. And you were one of my first designer interviews. I think that's how we met. I think that's how we met, too. And I fell in love with you right away. Literally, I had been your biggest fan from afar. And then we had a really great chat. We had a really great chat. And we've been friends ever since.

13:21And what's great about it is we've been watching each other grow. Exactly. But for the uninitiated, I'm curious. Can you give us like a Willie 101? Tell us a little bit about you. What's her story? Okay. Well, I am just a simple country boy from California. I grew up in the San Joaquin Valley of California, which is very agricultural. I come from a family of farm workers and I grew up in Huron, California, around Fresno and Visalia and places like that. And at the time it was tough for me because it's such a – there's very little fashion around. And I didn't yet know that my calling was fashion, but I knew that I wanted to do something kind of like major.

14:14And I couldn't really find it in that environment. But now I look back on that environment and I'm so grateful for everything that it gave me. Yeah. Tell us a little bit more about that environment you grew up in and like the way your creativity came into your life or like expressed when you were a kid. I was a very strange child. I was very odd. Same girl. That's why we're here on this table together right now. Yeah. I was one of those little like outcast children that was always like couldn't really communicate. I actually, you know, I had a, I would say a difficult childhood just because of my feeling of not belonging.

14:54Of course, now I love the fact that I was that way because it gave me so many virtues. Like it allowed me to be a spectator and to absorb and to study everything around me. And I'm so grateful for it. But I also think that I had a guardian angel. And I truly believe that that angel is still with me. to get me to be inspired. I don't know where it came from, this desire to draw. I drew as a child, and I drew people wearing clothes. I drew a lot of women falling for some reason. Interesting. Like in dresses and heels, and their dresses were like... Right, it's also movement. It was movement. So much of fashion is gesture too, and I think you learn that when you start working outside of paper and with fabric.

15:44It was about how the people in their clothes looked from different angles. And then that just kind of carried through with me and that personal urge and need to be an artist, to be a creative, was very important to me and it really carried me through my entire childhood and my life. And even in moments like throughout my childhood when maybe I wasn't supported by my community or my family because it was something so different than what we were used to. It was very black and white in a more rural community. It was like you got this kind of job so that you could work to feed your family. So the idea of being someone who wanted to work in the arts wasn't always something that people even understood.

16:37and anyway I went from there to just kind of learn my path in the world and I ended up falling into you know the arts I was really looking to get into graphic design to begin with and then I found a place in fashion started working in this world and then really connected with it and really found that it was a way for me to communicate my own ideology and my own like being in a way that was graceful and sincere and it felt really good to me. And so I stuck with it. And that is what has built the brand. Yeah. I love the word sincere. I think that's a very good way of describing you as a person, but also the Willie brand, the Willie aesthetic.

17:30But I do remember you said something just now about not being around fashion early on. I do remember one of the interviews we did at some point in our careers was you told me that a big part of your growing into fashion was style more so than fashion itself. And it's something that I relate to because when I was younger, it was less about seeing magazines and less about seeing like fashion fashion and more about seeing like what my aunts were wearing you know like yeah my tias what they were wearing to the club like you know what their friends are wearing what their boyfriends are wearing like to me that was fashion like that was i learned about fashion through style and you you told me similar thing and i think that is exactly still applies right yeah same exact thing it was like because there was no fashion like there weren't you know there was no vogue magazine on the newsstand there um it was a different perspective i kind of grew on fashion which really is style And to this day, I really feel like style supersedes fashion.

18:31I was actually in a taxi last night with Honey Dijon. And we were talking about exactly this. And we were coming back from getting IV drips. Oh, my God. Because I wanted to be, like, healthy for today. And I do feel great from that. I strongly recommend those. And we were talking about – she was like, oh, you know what? I'm not buying fashion anymore. I'm just buying, like, art and shopping. Urban Outfitters. We were talking about how ultimately it's how you wear it. Right. And what you make of the garment once you put it on, that tells the story and becomes the message. Absolutely. And just like you, my inspiration was coming from my uncles, my tias, my cousins, just the people in my community.

19:19Yeah. And I would see the beauty in it and I would be ignited by that. And I would, you know, I always reference like the guys pressing their white t-shirts, a white t-shirt, pressing a white t-shirt. And to this day, a white t-shirt and a clean pair of khakis is like the most elegant look there is for me. Like a starch in your jeans, you know, like that sort of, that idea of, and I think this is something that also has a lot to do with both of our backgrounds as Latinos, right? But sort of this idea of elegance, the sense of vocation, I think, is important in Latinidad, at least when it comes to getting dressed and style.

19:58There's almost like, you know, you feel a need to present yourself in a certain way. I don't know where necessarily that comes from. Maybe it comes from religion, maybe it comes from Catholicism, maybe it comes from Christianity, a lot of sort of these little nuances and pockets of our culture. But I do think we share this love for presentation. I mean, that's a great question. Like, where does that come from? It's funny that you say, like, Catholicism, because for me, when people would get dressed up, it was for church. Exactly. Or quinceañera, which was usually in the church. Or a baptism. Or a confirmation.

20:34There's always one. The church is why we were getting dressed up, and those were the looks, you know. So I think that, yeah, that is maybe why Like Catholicism for me has kind of played a part in the way I love fashion. And Jose, I've never thought about that before and so just now. I love this. Thank you. We're realizing things live. I wanted to ask you, as we sort of start talking about Catholicism and the idea of the white t-shirt, the idea of like the beautifully pressed, sharp chinos. I will say your references that are truly people, right? Like people around you. It can be Chicanos. It can be New Yorkers.

21:12It can be anyone, really. And you sort of synthesize that into your collections. And I think that's really interesting. And what I wanted to ask you is, and we sort of talked about this for Vogue Mexico couple of months ago or weeks ago. I don't even remember at this point. But we talked about the idea of American sportswear. And we talked about the idea of the tradition of American sportswear. And, you know, the tradition of American sportswear is white in so many ways, right? It's varsity. It's sort of this idea of collegiate. It's this idea of like, you know, like all of these things. But I'm curious because your idea of American sportswear encompasses all of these things, but also encompasses a version of America that is not always visible.

21:54Most of it comes very instinctively. And I think that, you know, a lot of times when I'm asked about, you know, incorporating my own Latinidad or just our culture into the collection, you know, am I a Mexican-American designer? Which I am, but I primarily am a designer who happens to be Mexican-American. And for me, my take on sportswear has always been filtered through a Latino lens. I've always loved the way that we interpret sportswear. Yes. And personally, I've always felt that like Ralph Lauren polo sport usually looks better when it's like turned out on a brown or black person. I've just – you know, that is just my take on it.

22:43And of course that brand has its own ethos and its own way of styling. But I find it more interesting when we as a people or any kind of people take a garment and reinterpret it to be something else. You know, I just love being able to take the things that brown and black people and queer people have created, have mastered and given back to society and shared with the world. And I love to be able to just kind of claim those things as our own and then put them on steroids and, you know, show the world how magnificent they are. I love the way you've explained this. And this is a good segue to the reason why we're speaking today, which is you are showing your Spring 2025 collection on the first day of New York Fashion Week.

23:41I know. It's like a dream come true. It's titled America. America. America. So tell us a little bit about, one, how are you feeling? I'm like very grateful that you're giving us this time. I feel great thanks to that IV drip I did last night. It's so crazy because I hadn't slept in days, weeks. Working on the collection. Working on the collection, working on the show. It's such a big project to do a show. I feel like so many people do not realize what an enormous undertaking it is. It's like hundreds and hundreds of people working on different levels trying to figure things out. And it's all for this little like 10-minute moment.

24:24But the moment is magnificent. The moment is major. The moment is major. And the pressure is on to make sure that that moment is incredible. Right. But I'm excited about this one. I'm excited about it in this moment because we're in such a critical time when it comes to American politics. Yes. And we're so close to the presidential election. That is about to happen. And even though, you know, I'm engulfed in my own work and I'm engulfed in fashion, I'm someone who's very, very aware of how our government and politics affect our everyday life. Yes. This moment, I really want to be about raising us up as Americans.

25:13And I've never really done that on such a grand scale as I'm about to. But I really feel like in this moment, America, with all its history of horrors, is a place that so many of us live and so many of us deserve to be a part of and have a powerful position and point of view in this land. So it's not that I'm so much being patriotic, but I really want to activate the moment as a moment of awareness for people who normally don't really see themselves reflected in the politics of the world. I want us to see ourselves as people with power who can make things happen. So in the designing of this collection and in putting together the show, I'm really looking at, you know, I'm looking at the United Farm Workers Movement and, of course, the civil rights movement and really being inspired and energized by the fact that throughout history, people have come together in this country to make great things happen.

26:39Yeah. You know, through fighting, really. Fighting and protesting and having a voice and believing that we can make change. I think that's really inspiring right now. And I feel like that is a feeling that I want us all to have so that we can get up and go vote so that we protect ourselves in the future. Yes. It's so inspiring and it's so powerful to hear you describe this moment and to hear you hopeful but also determined, I think is the better word. So I'm very excited for the show. Right now in movies and the opera, even in pop music, divinely inspired women are everywhere. This week on Critics at Large, we make our case.

27:28Saints are having a moment. Look, I can spout off any number of cliches, but they're all true. The world is moving faster and faster. Materialism is now reaching every single corner of the globe. It's very hard to say no and to say stop and to say I will do without. And I think that explains some of the modern cultural appeal. I'm Vincent Cunningham. Join me and my co-hosts on Critics at Large from The New Yorker. Find us every Thursday, wherever you get your podcasts. I want to go back to my first Willie show, which was in September 2021. That was your first? That was my first. Yeah. The Astor Plays Barber, right?

28:11You weren't at the Eagle show. We need to find a time capsule. Exactly. You should have been there. So the Eagle for the uninitiated is a gay leather bar, leather and fetish bar in iconic institution here in Manhattan. and Willie once decided to do a show at the Eagle. I think it was spring 2018. Yes. Thank you. And the theme was cruising and we had all these low riders out front. So it was a merge of like Chicano cruising culture. And gay cruising culture. And gay leather cruising culture. Yeah. And I was like, I wanted it to be ultimately a story of like unity and how these two completely opposite things could coexist in one space and be beautiful.

29:02And it was like this filthy gay bar. But we had covered it in flowers like a Mexican wedding and burnt Palo Santo and white sage everywhere. So it was a very weird spiritual experience. Of course, because why would it not be? See, this is what I love about a Willie show is the experience. but going back to this show that i was talking about which was my first this was like the first fashion week after the pandemic well quote-unquote after but it was the first show back when shows went back to being physical and in person and it was at the barbershop iconic new york location astro place barbers amazing so i go down the stairs it was a very intimate show we were all sat around, something's on, the actual barbershop chairs, and I was living for it.