Fashion career profile

Willy Chavarria

Willy Chavarria is an American designer from California’s San Joaquin Valley whose work draws on community, Chicano identity and the everyday clothing practices of working people. He studied graphic design at the Academy of Art University and worked with Nicholas Graham on the Joe Boxer brand. Chavarria later spent five years as a designer at Ralph Lauren, then served as design director at American Eagle Outfitters from 2002 to 2012. He opened a multi-brand menswear shop in New York’s SoHo in 2010 and developed an eponymous collection for Japanese retailer Journal Standard in 2016. His label’s runway language uses oversized silhouettes and tailoring to foreground questions of space, visibility and cultural identity. The CFDA named him American Menswear Designer of the Year in both 2023 and 2024, making him the second consecutive winner. A 2023 CFDA account also identified him at that time as Senior Vice President of Design for Calvin Klein; because the source is dated and does not establish whether that role continued, this profile records it as a dated career fact rather than a current appointment. The summary separates documented employers from the later growth of his own label.

Role
Founder & Creative Director, Willy Chavarria
Nationality
American
Verified awards
2