El Salvador Criticizes Paris Fashion Week Glorifying Mega-Prison Inmates

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has strongly criticized a Paris Fashion Week show by Mexican-American designer Willy Chavarría, accusing it of glorifying criminals by depicting models dressed like inmates of El Salvador’s maximum-security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT). The show featured tattooed men kneeling in white T-shirts and shorts, clothing similar to that worn by prisoners, including 252 Venezuelans deported from the U.S. and accused without evidence of gang affiliation. Bukele responded on social media with a quip about sending prisoners to Paris, emphasizing his firm stance against what he called an attempt to glorify criminality. While Bukele enjoys popularity for his stringent anti-gang campaign, his state of emergency allowing arrests without warrants has drawn criticism from human rights organizations citing thousands of wrongful detentions and abuses. Chavarría’s show also symbolically paid tribute to ICE deportees and framed the presentation as a statement on immigration and humanity, contrasting with Bukele’s narrative by highlighting the plight of deported individuals. The controversy highlights tensions between Bukele’s hardline policies and artistic expressions critiquing immigration and incarceration practices.