The atmosphere was charged, thick with urgency and an air of reflection as Willy Chavarria’s SS26 show Huron began. An almost reverent silence flooded the runway as 35 men appeared – clad in crisp, stark white ACLU T-shirts – a solemn, heart-stopping tribute to the Salvadoran immigrants caught in the crosshairs of injustice. This opening moment was a bold act of bearing witness, a call to recognise the human cost behind headlines. And from this raw, powerful beginning, the collection emerged – an intricate tapestry of resilience, identity and uncompromising truth.
The craftsmanship was impeccable: Italian-made tailoring took centre stage, from the men’s relaxed yet refined ‘Chilango’ blazer to the sharply cinched, strong-shouldered ‘Nuevo Staple’ blazer for women. Each silhouette – in a palette of ‘Chicle’ pink, ‘Papaya’ orange, ‘Red Hot’, ‘Bourdin’ blue and ‘Butter’ yellow – felt like a deliberate act of empowerment, balancing softness with structural precision.
Leather was reimagined as a year-round essential. The Bad Boy pants, Chuco blazer and trench-style leather dresses were true statement pieces, crafted from premium Italian hides that bore the mark of timeless luxury and subversion. Elsewhere, fabrics like Inox-woven crinkled cotton lent texture and an intimate, lived-in spirit to the collection’s many iterations.
Womenswear channeled the cinematic worlds of director’s Pedro Almodóvar and Wong Kar-wai, with trench dresses and pencil skirts radiating fierce independence and sensual power. The men’s offerings were equally compelling, balancing ease with edge, marrying fluid silhouettes with sharp pops of colour that challenged traditional masculinity and invited vulnerability.
Meanwhile, the American designer’s debut accessories line – made up of rich Italian leather bags and clutches adorned with a signature ‘W’ strap – punctuated the collection.
Huron was a manifesto of solidarity and strength, a rallying cry and a vivid assertion that style can be a radical, unifying force. Fashion with a backbone – fierce, unfiltered and impossible to ignore.
Photography courtesy of Willy Chavarria.