Ruba Abu-Nimah and Willy Chavarria discuss activism, PFW and holding conviction in fashion

Strolling the streets of Brooklyn, coffee in hand, renowned creative director Ruba Abu-Nimah reunited with her friend, fashion designer Willy Chavarria. The cover star of Dazed MENA’s second issue, Chavarria is a creative not in the traditional sense, but rather a force of nature bulldozing through an industry resistant to the change he aims to make. Provocative, tailored, and sentimental, he often dives into the fashion industry’s barriers with depth and substance, values often overlooked or dismissed as trivial in the orthodox industry.

Abu-Nimah, herself a season veteran of the industry, having held positions as executive creative director for marketing and communications at Tiffany and Co. as well as working at Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, speaks to Chavrria here on his first show at Paris fashion week, the sh*t of the global fashion industry and nourishing a convictional and political voice in a suppressive environment as well as the intrinsic connection between activism and clothing.