There is no place for contradiction in fashion. There is a show on Tuesday at the home pulpit of President Richard M. Nixon, and it is hosted by a man who wrote a book about positive thinking.
The designer Mr. Chavarria took us to church with a Spanish-language hymn about crossing the metaphorical and actual borders that divide us. The collection was inspired by clerical garments, surplices and priestly capelets, as well as the huge proportions and subtle references to unassimilated Latin subcultures.
There were a lot of pleats under the double-breasted jackets, and their pockets were roomy enough to fit out beyond the shoulders. There were T-shirts draped to knee length and inside references to the geography of Mr. Chavarria’s upbringing in California. Mr. Chavarria may have been referring to prison tattoos with the huge roses pinned to the waists and collar.
Since Mr. Chavarria left New York, the city has not known a designer whose work is as emotional and inventive as he is. Mr. Adrover, who was born on the island of Majorca, abandoned this city and country to go to Spain. Mr. Chavarria has already been through a lot of hard knocks and appears to be here for a long time.
Mr. Chavarria has a voice and vision that is crucial to continuity. He embraces hybrid identities as well as centering aesthetic and beauty ideals less from European than from Mexican and Central American cultures. Mr. Chavarria was raised in the fields of California’s agriculturally rich central valley. As a senior vice president at Calvin Klein, he is one of the best-paid Latinx designers in the world.
In an interview with Vogue years after his retirement, Mr. Adrover said that his main goal in fashion was to give a voice to the less well-off. He said it was important to bring up people that had never been on a runway. It had been a long time since a successor to Mr. Adrover appeared.
The industry found Mr. Chavarria hidden.