Bitede1162 Georgia Barningham

B TE ISSUE ONE

MAGAZINE

“BE YOURSELF. DONT LET ANYBODY PUT YOU DOWN FOR BEING DIFFERENT” - DIVINE

GETTING WITH

READY QUEENS

TEXT AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY GEORGIA BARNINGHAM

A storm hit LA fashion week when Marco Marco unleashed America’s sassiest drag queens onto the catwalk for his Spring/Summer 2014 collection.

Opening the show was Vicky Vox. With a fierce attitude, she lit a cigarette through her nose and paraded onto the front of the stage; she then dramatically ripped off her jacket and strutted away.

There’s no

mistaking it, this queen was oozing sass.

Marco Marco’s designs were distinctive, colourful and bold, the collection stamped its own personality through the styling, music and models.

Unfortunately, it’s only recently that drag queens have been associated with the fashion world. In the 1960s drag queens became known as a trouble-making anti conformist group in society.

However drag queens fought the police oppression/ One turning point was when drag queen Empress Jose campaigned to be San Francisco Community Supervisor. In 1969 another memorable event occurred during a riot, drag queen Marsha P. Jackson climbed a lamppost and dropped her handbag onto a police car, smashing the windshield.

Very Diva.

Recently, I interviewed drag queen Daisy from Leeds who has been in the business for over two decades.

Her experiences of being a drag queen, in her own words have been “fabulous and full of sass.”

Daisy is known for her sequined outfits, extravagant wigs and her prima donna attitude. I asked Daisy on life behind the scenes of a drag queen, she replied replied that anyone narrow-minded enough to question

her life choices got a swift comeback.

“Once I was doing a show and a mouthy brat walked in giving me the cheek. So I simply just said to him, “look, I’m a bigger man than you’ll ever be and I’m a better woman than you’re ever going to get!”

As Daisy demonstrated, drag queens today uphold a reputation for being loud and proud. High fashion connoisseurs are recognizing that drag queens are influential in fashion.

On the 9th of July, Euro-Visions winner Conchita Wurst made her modelling debut by closing the Jean Paul Gaultier show for Autumn/Winter 2014 in Paris. Not only has Jean Paul Gaultier spotted talent in drag queen Conchita, the father of fashion himself, Karl Lagerfeld has seen a spark in her. In August of this year, he photographed the Austrian drag queen for his issue of the CR fashion book.

Karl proudly spoke about Conchita, saying “He has done something that has never been done before.

This brings new meaning to the term drag.” If pioneers of fashion such as Karl Lagerfeld see the beauty of drag queens, so should we.

Since Marco Marco’s game changing fashion show, the drag trend has hit other fashion designers. Betsey Johnson’s spring 2015 collection was shown at New York Fashion Week this September. .

Ironically named “prenup” was based on marriage equality and starred drag queens Sharon Needles and William Belli.

In Betsey’s own words, the show was “trendy and transgendy”. The music for the show was upbeat and jazzy. Most of the models wore light pastel colours; their makeup was iconic with bright red lipstick, dark eyes and permed hair.

The whole look resembled a 1980’s pop music video.

Closing the show was Sharon Needles wearing a wedding dress that didn’t cover her modesty.

In drag queen fashion, Sharon Needles swept onto the stage, threw her bouquet of flowers into the guests and left. Overall, the show was totally diverse and captivating with a sweet and sour edge.

Drag queens are fast becoming muses in the fashion industry, and all that is left to say is: Watch out.

They’re coming for you.