Willy Chavarria and Byredo Fêted the Designer’s Big Win On Monday night, Jean’s Lafayette set the scene for Willy Chavarria’s victory lap: winning the CFDA’s 2024 Menswear Designer of the Year Award. Between perched bouquets of red carnations and roses (references to the designer’s work) and fragrant Byredo candles, guests celebrated Chavarria’s prolific impact – a culmination of years of worldbuilding around notions of evolving masculinity and contemporary Chicano identity. Chavarria’s momentous win brought together a vibrant crowd of admirers and friends.
Guests in attendance to support the designer included Omar Apollo, Darren Chris, and Susanne Bartsch, design contemporaries including Raul Zepol of Luar (a fellow 2024 winner) and Christian Siriano, and industry mainstays such as Julie Gilhart, Alton Mason, Paloma Elsesser, and Alex Consani. The downtown restaurant-meets-club was transformed for one night only into a multi-floor party venue bathed in deep red light. Eli Escobar, Marco Neves, and Devoye spun a vibrant soundtrack between each room.
A table of Willy muses – frequent fixtures of his campaigns and runway shows – held court in the upstairs dance area, while industry peers mingled and made their way between the floors for refreshed glasses of champagne and chatter, as DJs carried the audience through the evening. At midnight, the designer himself arrived to buoyant fanfare and triumphant applause. Chavarria’s entrance charged the space wit.
