Willy Chavarria is known for more than just his fashion. The Mexican-American designer has long been a champion of marginalized communities, using his platform to explore immigration, racism and other social issues.
Now Chavarria is being named Artist Ambassador of the American Civil Liberties Union, where he will focus on immigrant and LGBTQIA+ rights.
Chavarria will join Amber Heard, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Padma Lakshmi and others who have worked with the ACLU to protect the constitutional rights and freedoms of all people through litigation, advocacy and public education.
This year the organization tackled several high-profile legal challenges including protecting gender-affirming care for trans youth; litigation against the Trump administration’s deportations without due process under the Alien Enemies Act, and efforts to stop Congress from banning gender-affirming care from Medicaid.
By working with the ACLU, Chavarria’s mission to advocate for his community is expected to be amplified.
This spring, the ACLU launched Creatives for Freedom, an initiative aimed at bringing together leaders in fashion, film, television, social media, music, comedy and advocacy to draw attention to critical issues facing democracy. The kickoff party in April was cohosted by Chavarria and Lakshmi along with Gabriela Hearst.
“I’m honored to be an ambassador for the ACLU, the human rights organization whose work I greatly admire,” Chavarria said. “Art, music and fashion can have tremendous impact on how we realize and promote social justice and human dignity. I’m happy to further utilize my own platform for the empowerment of others.”
Jessica Weitz, national director of artist and entertainment engagement for the ACLU, added: “Let it be known, Willy earned this ambassadorship because of his lifelong commitment to celebrating the beauty and diversity of all people. While this official role with the ACLU is new for him, it’s also true to him. I hope people are already familiar with how the ACLU advocates for the legal pathways for citizenship, protects the Constitutional right to those seeking asylum, and fights for LGBTQ+ people to experience the same rights as their straight and cisgender peers from their workplace to the playing field. Through our Artist Ambassador program, though, we also get to use artists like Willy as our secret weapon to change hearts and minds on all of these issues.”
