Taking place in the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in NYC, Willy Chavarria’s KANGAROO collection breaks through the confines of traditional menswear. Recently acquiring the National Design Award in fashion, Chavarria releases a collection that tells a story of self-preservation in a brutal environment. Like a KANGAROO, “we fight, we love, and we protect the future generation closely.”

Before creating his own label in 2015, and becoming the senior vice president of Calvin Klein in 2021, Willy Chavarria grew up in California as the son of two working-class parents. As a queer, mixed race designer, Chavarria’s collections, both past and present, push the boundaries of societal constructs.

Though the collection is almost entirely composed of high-quality black fabric, occasional accents of white permeate the show. Voluminous shapes, interesting textures, and genderless cuts keep this collection light amongst the darkness. Plunging head first into evening wear for the first time, Willy Chivarria honors fine tailoring alongside his own humble beginnings. Chivarria utilizes shapes and cuts from historical dress references to confront gender and class norms. In doing so, the designer creates a collection that may be dark in color, but is very much light in social significance. Punctuating the looks are leather gloves and silk scarves, which meld perfectly with the regal apparel.

Both socially and environmentally, this collection is meant to be taken seriously. Many garments throughout the collection are made from waste found at sea, and are created in collaboration with Recyctex, a sustainable fabric mill. Through design and intention, Chavarria intentionally leans into seriousness.

On the runway, both strength and elegance demand attention in the form of trench coats. While some feature dramatic belts that both blend in and stand out as they cinch the waist, others feature an invisible button detail. In keeping the shoulders wide and the mid section close to the body, the designer creates exaggerated frames that oppose gendered dress, and create “modern classics.”