Are men okay? We’re not entirely sure — but on the runway, they seem to be thriving. Paris Men’s Fashion Week wrapped just ahead of July Fourth weekend, closing on an appropriately American spirit: having fun on the outside, slightly afraid and confused on the inside. Read on for our favorites from the week, and the one that moved us the most: Willy Chavarria’s Comunión.

Last Friday, Mexican-American designer Willy Chavarria debuted his Spring/Summer 2027 collection — unveiling one of the season’s most emotionally charged shows, staged at the most fitting venue imaginable: Espace Niemeyer, headquarters of the French Communist Party.

Chavarria, who made headlines last season for a collection paying tribute to immigrants detained by ICE, dedicated this show to joy as sustenance in times of chaos and darkness — drawing from what he described in his promotional video as “a constant state of simultaneous horror and optimism.” Watching it as a Mexican-American myself and wheelchair user, I can only describe it as balm to the soul.

Flowers bloomed everywhere: a man’s wide-leg trouser printed with the kind of bouquet you’d find at your grandmother’s kitchen table; a sheer trench coat and high-low organza gown with its petals heat-imprinted on them, and along them, a color palette responsible for giving much of the collection its warmth. Soft evening pieces and top coats, all adding another emotional register to the collections’ references of Chicanos and community. 

Though, the collection’s greatest achievement is that identity wasn’t simply referenced here — it was truly seen. In a world where marginalized people are simultaneously hypervisible and invisible, where disabled people are threatened to be legislated out of public existence and immigrant lives are under siege, Chavarria did something tender: imbuing clothes with memory, vulnerability, and desire, truly translating culture rather than citing it. Closing on the thought that the only way out is injecting joy to the pulse, together — it was as reenergizing as it was satisfying.

While I was still obviously craving to see disability on the runway, that future doesn’t feel far off — this season’s cast ranged from models in their sixties walking alongside seventeen-year-olds, with wide gender and racial diversity throughout.

As far as for the other designers on the European docket, it seemed like resisting cultural doom was the popular American mood. Rick Owens infused the runway with ballooning, inflatable and oversized silhouettes, taking a more literal approach in response to rigidity and social stagnation. Michael Rider at Celine celebrated youth culture; making a deliberate choice to place a focus on chaotic and cheerful youth energy by bringing back indie-sleeze. 

All of these were nice moments to see in contrast to watching Clavicular walk down the runway for 424; a moment that frenzied timelines and ironically, perfectly encapsulated the shock that many are still feeling at seeing extremist figures bleed into the mainstream. 

So are men okay? On Chavarria’s runway, at least, they were more than okay — they were together. As he put it: “As the hands of evil get tighter, we look beyond and to our past. To the brilliance of our ancestors, and the great insurmountable power we have when we come together in communion.”