Getting Ready for New York Fashion Week With Sasha Velour

Here's how the drag queen — and soon-to-be-published author — prepped for the Markarian Fall 2023 presentation.

It's nearly impossible to attend a fashion show without Sasha Velour's presence captivating the entire venue, whether she's posing from her seat in the front row or making an entrance at Markarian's Fall 2023 presentation in a velvet-gloved, red-sequined gown from the brand, like she did on Wednesday.

"I feel like things are shifting, at least, in the institutions to maybe consider broader voices who are involved in making fashion and influencing culture," she says, on the phone from a car leaving the Chocheng show earlier that day. She reflects on the overlap between drag and fashion that's finally starting to be acknowledged: "I feel like drag often kind of leads the fashion industry. Maybe people get ideas from us. Maybe we're who they get ideas from [on] what not to do! But I think having drag artists as part of the conversation makes a lot of sense. I'm so happy to see it."

With her new book "The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag" on the horizon, it's safe to say this is only the beginning of Velour's world takeover.

When it came to picking out her showstopping look for the Markarian presentation, she describes gravitating towards the brand's bridal collection, but ultimately going with a more colorful option.

"They pulled this red dress for me out of the archival collection," she says. "It just spoke to me immediately, with [its] sequins and rose-inspired shoulder and back details. I love the color red — it's such a powerful color."

Power is part of what has attracted Velour to Markarian. Reflecting on President Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021 — where First Lady Dr. Jill Biden wore the brand — she says: "There's a slightly traditional, conservative [aesthetic], but with beautiful details and finishings." Markarian, she concludes, feels like "American royalty fashion."

This wasn't Velour's first fashion week: In 2018, she hand-picked a cast of models for an Opening Ceremony show, and curated everything from the lighting to the direction. When I ask if she has any interest in diving back behind the scenes of the fashion industry or even creating her own line, Velour says she "cannot imagine mass-producing" her designs. She doesn't shoot down the thought of assembling another fashion show, though.

"We (drag artists) are used to putting on shows with no time at the last minute, throwing it together and making a huge spectacle," Velour says. "I'd love to do that for another brand, if the opportunity ever arises, because it feels like I put on my own fashion art show every month."

In many ways, drag performance is the ultimate training ground for fashion week.

"Anywhere is kind of a drag show in my mind, whether I'm in, or out of drag [...] You've got to get the look together, prep the energy, the story you want to tell, and then, you know, show up and serve," she says.

The one difference Velour can think of is adjusting her aesthetic to match the essence of the brand she's supporting. "Sometimes I get to wear clothes from the label [or] designer, and then it's fun trying to give it my personal spin [...] getting to play off another person and their style is really, really fun too," she says. "It's kind of a fun challenge."

The winner of season nine of "RuPaul's Drag Race" also looks forward to the inspiration fashion shows can offer.

"I'm always looking at the little details, from the shoes to the nails to the makeup," she says. "I think [the drag and fashion] business are always in conversation. At the end of the day, it's all about the clothes and what kind of stories we tell with them when we put them on. I just tell a more dramatic and over-the-top one."

When I ask Velour if any shows had looks that she thought would make great drag costumes, she shouts out Puppets and Puppets' Fall 2023 debut (which she attended): "I saw really theatrical pieces. There was an oil painting printed on silk that was absolutely stunning. It turned into living fashion art."

She also noted the more minimalist closing look from ChoCheng — "this one-shoulder, white silk dress that was just flowing like sea foam from the ocean with this little scalloped finishing [...] I think the way it moves was what was inspiring, and that belongs on stage."

As we wrap up our conversation, we lean into Velour's book (which you can pre-order on Bookshop.org). "I feel drag voices are sometimes a little separate or sometimes at odds with the fashion industry," she says. "But [I have a] deep love of fashion as an art and what clothing can do to transform you and help your relationship with yourself and your body."

When I see Velour enter the Markarian presentation later that day — donning the dress she described, styled with velvet opera gloves, gorgeous costume jewelry and a blunt blonde bang — all I can think was, she was right: Red is an extremely powerful color, but this dress, on this queen, who's intent on breaking boundaries in this space, made it all the more striking.

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