Willy Chavarria’s SS25 runway was probably the first in CFDA history to open with tequila cocktails and a mariachi band, Yahritza Y Su Esencia. It’s become a signature for the New York-based designer; kicking off his shows with a powerful pointed welcome directed at Latinx attendees and maintaining that familiarity throughout the run of the show via thoughtful casting and IYKYK references in his designs.

A concept all-too-familiar to the immigrant experience, work, was the unifying theme of Chavarria’s collection, titled “América.” Taking inspiration from workwear we may have seen our tíos don, Chavarria presented several borderline-dystopian monochrome suits that would’ve been gloomy in spirit (gray, taupe, and white were the main colors) if it weren’t for personalized accents like cocked baseball hats, bandanas, and contrasting embroidery marketing “Willy Chavarria Fashion Services.”

It’s a side of the working class fashion folks don’t often consider; the personality, style, and spice in every immigrant, every person. In fact, it’s an aspect of the immigrant aesthetic that is often conflated with danger, despite it coming from the struggle of wanting to maintain one’s culture in an environment intent on antagonizing it. This is Chavarria’s gift; taking those hardened facades and unveiling—elevating—the softness and pride underneath them for a fashion audience, yes, but more specifically for a Latino audience.

He’s looking at us and saying: Your history, your wardrobe, and your experience are sacred. You are art.

“América” also took a look back at the history of labor rights by paying tribute to activists like Cesar Chavez, co-founder of the United Farm Workers. Cultural codes like the UFW logo, a black and red Aztec eagle, were seamlessly incorporated into an Adidas collaboration presented in the second half of the show.

For his finale, Chavarria opted out of the coy 3-second designer walk and instead lead the cast of models—featuring everyone from day 1 muses to fashion editors—down the runway in a protest-like formation. If all the models were employees of Willy Chavarria’s Fashion Services, Chavarria was their fierce union boss, fighting for their right to be seen.

Backstage, photographer Maxwell Vice takes a more intimate look at Willy Chavarria’s América.