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Last June, Willy Chavarria began his Paris Fashion Week presentation with an apparent tribute to immigrants and citizens who have been detained in the US by ICE. It was a powerful gesture, which the American designer said was about “claiming identity (while) we are in a time of erasure”. On Friday, he staged his latest Paris performance – his fourth time performing in the city – in the space-age underground lair of the Espace Niemeyer, the headquarters of the French Communist Party, recognizable from the street by the giant concrete half-shell jutting from its front lawn.
Chavarría told me backstage after Friday’s show, “Besides the fact that I love this building and I’ve been a fan of this building for a thousand years — well, for about 40 years — I thought the backdrop of communism was appropriate, just given the influence of government in our daily lives and the influence of our government on the way we think, feel, move, eat, listen.”
The choice to hold a fashion show there isn’t inherently political, but it’s no surprise that Chavarría embraced its topical subtext anyway. The Brutalist space—sleek and stylish, with its sloping concrete tunnels and midcentury teal carpet—has hosted several runways over the years: Margiela, Thom Browne, Stella McCartney, Off-White, and a pre-pandemic Yeezy show, where a six-year-old North West gave a unique display that said, “What are thousons? These are cleoths.” In Chavarría’s case, the setting reinforced his theme for the season, “Communion”, which naturally carries both the eucharist and the gospel. communityal meaning.
“Our idea of communicating with joy and finding joy in each other and in life and in our communal selves is the message I’m putting out there, in contrast to the intense horror of the world we live in right now,” the designer said backstage. “I really hope to express an idea in the show of light in the darkness because the happiness we all seek is our nourishment that allows us to move forward.”
