Willy Chavarria joins ACLU’s Artist Ambassador Programme

Mexican-American designer Willy Chavarria has joined the Artist Ambassador Programme of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In stepping in as a member of the initiative, Chavarria will back the organisation's efforts in championing immigrants’ and LGBTQ rights.

The move builds on Chavarria and ACLU’s already long-standing relationship. The designer, known for his politically charged fashion shows, previously exhibited an ACLU-branded T-shirt in a past collection on the New York Fashion Week stage and had hosted a pre-election conversation, ‘America: Real Talk at Parsons’, for voters.

Chavarria’s choice to join the ACLU comes “during a pivotal year”, the union said in a press release, as several high-profile legal challenges take precedence in the US, including “the Trump’s administration’s illegal deportations” and the “fight to protect gender-affirming care for trans youth”.

In a statement, Chavarria said he was honoured to join the ACLU, citing his own Chicano culture, queer culture and his family’s immigrant roots as drivers for both his and his team’s creations and their activism. “I believe in using our creative gifts to defend the rights of humanity and all impacted communities not given the same rights as others for who they are or because of where they’re from,” he added.

ACLU ambassadors work with the organisation on specific civil liberties issues. Chavarria, for example, already joined the likes of Gabriela Hearst and Padma Lakshmi to launch Creatives for Freedom for the ACLU in April 2025.

The designer, who most recently took to the Paris Fashion Week SS26 stage with a runway addressing the nature of the Terrorism Confinement Centre in El Salvador, has been recognised in Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025 list and had won the 2023 and 2024 CFDA Award for Menswear Designer of the Year.