Willy Chavarria has been a consistent figure at New York Fashion Week (NYFW) since the launch of his label a decade ago. After the pandemic, his profile rose as the result of a subtle but timely change in direction to a dressier, more sophisticated output. His became one of the most anticipated shows in New York, and Chavarria won the CFDA Award for Menswear Designer of the Year twice in a row, in 2023 and 2024.
This year, he left for Paris, showing on the menswear schedule in January and skipping the Autumn/Winter 2025 shows at NYFW. When I spoke with Chavarria at a preview the week before his show, it became evident that the move was a combination of clear-headed, well-earned ambition and business pragmatism. In order to expand his wholesale base, Chavarria needs to not only time his market presentations to the menswear schedule, but to bring his collections where his buyers are: Paris.
This is not a unique story. Before him came Zac Posen, Joseph Altuzarra, Thom Browne, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler, The Row and many more who started in New York and left for Paris — even if some came back.
The general consensus among buyers, editors and the balance of the fashion week set is that Chavarria’s departure is an indisputable loss for NYFW. It’s true that Chavarria will be missed this season. His shows, always politically charged and diverse in casting and attendance in a way most larger labels simply can’t pay their way into, are just what the American fashion landscape seems to need at the moment. But, as Chavarria told me, his “message is global”, and when he put it to the test in Paris two weeks ago, he confirmed this statement. Designers like Chavarria should not just be allowed to branch out but should be encouraged. And New York Fashion Week does not need to suffer because designers have global aspirations, commercial or else.
Chavarria is not alone. This season, Zane Li, a Fashion Institute of Technology graduate who launched his label Lii in New York last year with a women’s collection, decided to expand into menswear. He introduced the capsule in Paris by appointment, as he did with his women’s launches Stateside. He will do the same thing with his womenswear line-up come March. The choice to bypass New York felt obvious, he said. Li explained that he needed to bring his collection to the buyers who don’t otherwise make the trip to New York. The Commission designers Dylan Cao and Jin Kay have also switched their production and presentation timeline to align with the menswear and pre-collections calendar (which happen at the same time). They have also started doing both market and press appointments in Paris, and, as they said at their showroom last week, for the same reasons as Li and Chavarria.
While it is a shame that designers feel the need to make the transatlantic jump to expand their bases, it may be time to reframe this less so as a New York Fashion Week issue and, rather, as another hurdle of an increasingly globalised market.
It’s not to say that New York is off the hook. It’s true that buyers and press have stopped making the trip over, partly because it seems like most of the talent that rises crosses over, but that’s less on the city as a fashion capital and simply the name of the game. Should the powers that be Stateside try to lure more folks over? Absolutely, but they already do. Similarly to the British Fashion Council in London, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) has an ongoing travel fund for NYFW that hosts eight buyers and editors each season (it’s now in its sixth term). What else could a non-profit do?
But framing this as a uniquely New York problem is disingenuous — after all, it’s not just New York designers that see Paris as a fashion mecca. Most of the labels I come across when covering Shanghai Fashion Week have expressed an interest in showing in Paris (Shangguan Zhe of Sankuanz currently shows during the men’s week, and Rui Zhou of RuiBuilt during ready-to-wear). Many of London’s key independent talents switch back and forth between their home city and the City of Lights (Bianca Saunders and Charles Jeffrey just showed in Paris alongside Chavarria), and some of its iconic labels (think Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen) are mainstays on the Paris calendar. We just seem to frame this as a Stateside-only preoccupation because, unlike the Brits, we can’t take the Eurostar to the shows.
It’s worth remembering that the US remains an important market for any luxury label. Designers who make the jump don’t dismiss their bases in the US; they either meet with American buyers abroad or host market appointments here, as well. Lest we forget the occasional European guest star on the NYFW calendar, too. (Recent appearances include Off-White and Alaïa for SS25 and Ludovic de Saint Sernin for AW24.)
Showing in Paris remains the ultimate mark of achievement, but it is crucial that it’s not the only option, particularly as the Paris Fashion Week calendar continues to look increasingly cluttered. While some American designers stay abroad once they make the jump (Amiri, Rick Owens), others dabble between both (Thom Browne) and some leave to eventually come back (Proenza Schouler, Altuzarra). Rather than framing moves like that of Chavarria’s like losses, think of them as a net positive: designers get a bigger spotlight, which they reflect back to emerging talent at home.
After all, with the comings and goings of many of its top-billing names, New York has, in many ways, become about newness and who gets to jump on the stage next. This season alone comes with promising on-calendar debuts from the likes of Gabe Gordon and Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen. (Watch this space for more on the new New York Fashion Week after the shows.) If showing in Paris is about engaging a broader audience and chasing respect and prestige, then New York Fashion Week can be about starting strong and making an impression. As such, there is no need to try to fashion New York into Paris.
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