THE DOVE

THE DOVE is a speculative editorial photography series imagined for the Willy Chavarria x adidas collaboration. The project seeks to highlight the cultural heritage carried by Willy Chavarria without reducing Mexico to an accumulation of folkloric symbols, while remaining faithful to adidas’ immediately recognisable language of sport, collectivity and performance.

Mexico is approached as a lived territory: ancient architecture, semi-arid landscapes, vegetation, handcrafted materials, weathered walls and domestic spaces. These locations give the clothing a sense of origin, memory and substance. They extend the encounter between Chavarria’s culturally rooted world and adidas sportswear through questions of identity, representation and self-affirmation.

The outfit functions as a contemporary uniform. Its oversized proportions, football references, badges, number and “MEXICO” inscription express both collective belonging and individual experience. adidas introduces the ideas of teamwork, discipline and preparation; Willy Chavarria adds cultural pride, dignity and a more intimate and political presence.

At the centre of the series, the dove becomes a partner, almost a teammate. The subject encounters it, walks alongside it, feeds it and prepares it. Peace is not treated as a passive symbol, but as a force that must be maintained, protected and strengthened.

In the final image, the dove is confronted by a snake. This encounter gives form to an internal conflict: fear, doubt or instinct testing the balance that has been built. The subject remains in the background and observes. He does not intervene, because the peace he has cultivated must now face the threat on its own.

THE DOVE is less about the search for peace than the trust placed in it.