Middle East retail firm Chalhoub Group announced on Wednesday that it had invested in New York-based ready-to-wear brand Willy Chavarria. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Chalhoub Group joins FAE Fashion Ventures — a brand-building platform within entertainment company First Access Entertainment, led by music executive Sarah Stennett and investor David Grimber — which quietly invested in the brand last year.
The partnership brings together a “trifecta of retail expertise, creative innovation, and cultural relevance,” according to a statement by Chalhoub Group, which operates over 950 stores and works with a number of international labels, such as EssilorLuxottica and Jil Sander-owner OTB, in the region. The team will look to scale Willy Chavarria, including into new markets such as Europe and Asia.
Chavarria, who held design roles at Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, launched his namesake label in 2015, and received the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s menswear designer of the year award in 2024. He became known for his bold, Chicano-inspired take on menswear, as well as his outspokenness, and politically-charged shows. This year, his showcases at Paris Men’s Fashion Week in January and June featured an allusion to the US’s increasingly hostile immigration policies and a recording of a sermon by Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde calling for compassion from Donald Trump. Lately the brand has been making a more dedicated expansion into womenswear, having put on an old school couture-style salon with Printemps in New York in September.
Chavarria “represents the evolving face of luxury — rooted in culture, identity, and community,” said Zahra Kassim-Lakha, chief investment officer, Chalhoub Group in a statement.
So far, FAE Group has helped Willy Chavarria expand wholesale and notch collaborations with Don Julio, Tinder and Adidas, according to the statement. (Chavarria’s most recent collaboration with Adidas landed the brands in hot water with Mexico for launching a shoe inspired by an Indigenous sandal to no benefit of the population.)
Learn more:
At NYFW, Willy Chavarria Puts Politics Aside for Womenswear Debut
In a salon-style presentation at Printemps, the designer showed his first full women’s collection — a departure from his politically charged menswear shows.
