It’s been mere weeks since Chicano legend Willy Chavarria collected his CFDA award for American menswear designer of the year, and yet, somehow, he’s already thinking about the next projects in his pipeline. Next up? The designer airs his dedicated collaboration with the LA streetwear label, FB County.
Something of a legend in Mexican-American communities, as well as hip-hop at large, FB County defines some of Willy’s earliest memories of dressing. Very much an ears-to-the-ground label – for the people, by the people – it’s long been a uniform for territorial cholos and steazy guys across Chicano America, cameoed also by Ice Cube in Straight Outta Compton (2015). With an eye for Americana staples and their Mexican diaspora reworks, as seen in brands like Dickies, Willy was naturally keen to collab, delivering his most IYKYK homage yet. Perhaps, you noticed the teaser back at the SS23 show, where khaki work shirts and chinos were sized up in a flouncier, flared caricature. Well, now, Willy has gone full hog, ushering in those exact pieces alongside a gamut of striped woollen ‘Charlie Brown’ shirts in an otherwise mundane palette. As ever with Willy, the trick lies in neutralising gendered designs in his loose, top- and bottom-heavy silhouettes, elongating collars to resemble those of a Catholic schoolgirl.
Here, we caught up with the man himself to hear more about FB County’s Stateside significance among Chicano communities, new interpretations of machismo and what we can expect from the garms in question.
First of all, congratulations on the big win! How does it feel now the news has settled in?
I’m actually a bit of a machine that keeps going and going and going, so it doesn’t really feel too different. I’m just working towards the next project and also just working on having a fashion business in the US, which is a lot of work. The recognition, of course, and the award was great, but the work continues as ever! I’m just trying to see what I can do better and continue to grow in every and any way.
Speaking of projects – FB County! How would you introduce it to someone who’s coming across the brand for the first time?
FB County is a brand that has been very specific to California, Arizona, Texas… primarily the states that have a large Chicano population and that were historically part of Mexico. But it’s one of the first brands that designed specifically for the Chicano community, and they themselves will tell you that 90% of their customers are gang-related. They kind of got their business going by trusting people who were in gangs or that represent territories in those regions. But that styling and fashion has, in turn, been adopted beyond the remit of gangs, within the extended Latino diaspora among people who are looking for a way to use fashion to connect with their cultural identity.
What’s your personal relationship with the brand? When did you first come across it and in what context?
I started wearing it in the 80s! That’s when it became popular with, like, Eazy-E and NWA. That really put them on a larger map, earning them a wider customer base. But you can only buy FB County in stores that serve the Chicano community or a more gang-related clientele. I wanted to collaborate with them as I really liked the idea of, first of all, honouring brands that have inspired so much in fashion – like Dickies, FB County, Pro Club… The collaborations I like aren’t with big names; they’re with brands that I want to give the respect I think they deserve.
And how did this collaboration come about?
I just reached out to them! I just hit them up on their website – it was that easy! But then I spoke with them, and they were like, “What?! OK!” They were into it just for the excitement, I think. They came to New York, and we just chilled together. Basically, I took the most classic styles that they offer and have been selling since the 80s, and amped the fits – making them a little more extreme.
The Willy Chavarria signature!
Exactly! The waist is higher, the leg is wider, the collar’s more pointy… It’s cool, I love it!
What was their response to seeing the way you wanted to reinterpret their aesthetic?
Well, it’s funny, as I was more concerned for them from a fashionability standpoint! I wanted to make sure that the way I presented their brand didn’t interfere with the current market that they sell to. I wanted to make sure that they maintained a certain level of mystique, as not a lot of people know about them and also a level of street-y coolness. I didn’t want it to come off as too high fashion. And that’s reflected in the price points. It’s higher than their usual retail price, but it’s still not crazy – the whole collection ranges from $195 to $250.
Was there anything you were able to explore through this collaboration that you hadn’t yet explored through your own brand?
Well, when I was a younger designer, I think I would do things that were almost culturally literal. I’d think, ‘I am the first Chicano fashion designer, so I’m gonna show classic Chicano pieces on the runway.’ I think it was good for the time, as it needed to be done by someone like me – we’ve seen appropriation from white designers for years and years, so I felt like I needed to take that back and own it. But I don’t really do that any more. What I like to do is [work with] the brands that have been the leaders and well respected, and just filter them through a different lens that has more of a cool fashion edge, while still maintaining the purity of their original intent.
One of the ways that you achieve that is with the campaign. What sort of conversations did you have around framing the work?
I worked very closely with a good friend who’s also a photographer, Ricky Alvarez, who’s also Chicano and grew up wearing FB County. We wanted to ensure that we were shooting real people who wear the brand, showing them and the product in the most beautiful, elegant light that we could. And then another Chicano friend of mine, Jess Cuevas, the brand’s art director, also helped to put the shoot together and create this really authentic FB County vibe through the lighting and music being played. We captured a softness in masculinity that I really like to show in my work. I’ve always been happy to embrace the softer, more beautiful facets of masculinity, as well as the harder, more powerful aspects of femininity in my work. With FB County, which is traditionally such a macho brand, I wanted to show the soft side of masculinity.
What are you most looking forward to in the capsule?
I’m very excited for people to be familiarised with FB County, and I’m very excited for people who know the brand already to see the story that’s being told here through the Willy Chavarria lens. Let’s see what people have to say.
Credits
Photography Ricky Alvarez