Luxx Noir London enters her Emmys era with Marc Eram styling collab
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Luxx Noir London proved herself throughout RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 to be one of the most exciting fashion queens that we’ve met in recent herstory. Between her nods to iconic RuPaul outfits, winning the design challenge, and her legendary looks for The Crystal Ball, Luxx made it to the top-four of the season and competed for the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar alongside Sasha Colby, Anetra, and Mistress Isabelle Brooks.
At 24 years of age, Luxx has been making major career moves since her television debut. And it all came full-circle this week when she attended the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards and got to walk the red carpet with RuPaul, Drag Race judges, World of Wonder executives, and her season 15 costars. The night ended gloriously, too, with RuPaul’s Drag Race winning the award for Outstanding Reality Competition Program for the fifth time.
In an interview with Out, Luxx talks about collaborating with stylist Marc Eram on her look — a Versace dress — for the Emmy Awards, releasing a brand-new album in 2024, and the cosmic relationship she’s developed with RuPaul.
Out: We’re just getting started with 2024. How’s your year going so far?
Luxx Noir London: So far, my 2024 is going very well. I'm very excited for the rest of the year. I just got off of a 38-city tour, so I am excited to have a little bit of time to wind down, but not too much time.
I wanted to talk about the look you wore for the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, which was styled by Marc Eram. How did this collaboration come about?
We kind of just found each other. I'm so excited to be styled by Marc. This is my first experience being styled by someone else besides myself, and I feel like we both have a very similar aesthetic and style. So I'm excited to be wearing a look styled by Marc.
We all know that you style yourself and have a great sense of style. How different was this collaboration process as you’re working with another stylist?
I just enjoy the creative process, not only for myself but seeing another person's creative process, too. It kind of inspires my own process when I do things alone. I really enjoy doing that with all of the looks that I get made that are custom. It's really just a collaboration between me and the person making them. So I am very excited to be having this collaboration on one of the biggest moments of my career.
Courtesy of Luxx Noir London
How excited were you to attend the Emmy Awards?
I was so excited to go to the Emmys. This is kind of really major and it's exciting to be on the red carpet representing not only myself but also a whole community of people alongside the rest of my castmates and all of that. I think that visibility for drag queens, especially in this political climate, is very important. It's exciting to be visible on a scale as large as the Emmys.
And a reunion with mother — Mama Ru!
Yeah, it's very exciting to be reunited with my birth mother RuPaul. It was very fun. I couldn't wait to see her.
Luxx Noir London - Let It All Hang Out (Official Music Video)
The title of your most recent song, “Let It All Hang Out,” feels like a reference to RuPaul’s first book. I’m honestly obsessed with your new song. This is tricky for me to say, but original songs from Drag Race queens aren’t always super great…
I agree.
…but I feel like you’re a part of this group of queens who put out incredible songs. Is your music career a priority for you at the moment?
It's definitely on the top tier of things that I am focused on at the moment. I don't like to prioritize just one specific thing at a time because I feel like that limits your avenues of success. I would love to focus on multiple things at one time, and music is definitely at the top of that list.
Looking at your discography, you dropped a few singles and an EP in 2021, then “Killer” in 2022, and “Let It All Hang Out” in 2023. Are you planning to expand that output in 2024?
There will definitely be an album in 2024, and I've been very excited for everyone to hear it. I've been working on it and I think that it's going to be very major. Also, I didn't even connect the fact that RuPaul's book Lettin' It All Hang Out was called that, because it was never in the thought-process of when I was doing the song. So it's kind of crazy that we were intrinsically in sync like that… even though she did it like 20 years ago.
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
I feel like there’s always this synergy between you and RuPaul. It’s kind of an odd and fascinating thing. On Drag Race, of course, we saw RuPaul recognizing your outfits that referenced her past looks… but it’s exciting to see that this synergy has carried over after the show.
Yeah, it's very weird. Maybe it's just me being facetious and weird about it, but I do definitely think that there is something cosmic that goes on between the two of us. She would say it all the time. She'd be like, 'I don't know how you are like this. It's something beyond you.' And sometimes I feel that way too. I don't know where it came from. It just hit me one day.
Speaking of which, “Let It All Hang Out” was produced by Skeltal Ki who produced songs for RuPaul.
He just announced that he's going by the name Fred Velvet, which I think is kind of cool because RuPaul gave him the name Fred Velvet.
We connected on the set of Drag Race when he was doing the “Blame It on the Edit” rumix. We're both from New Jersey, so we kind of instantly connected. And then the first thing I said was, 'Am I able to do a four-part harmony?' And he was instantly like, 'Yeah, you can do that. That's amazing.' I did the song in like one or two takes, so at the end of the recording session I was like, 'I'd love to work with you.' And he was like, 'I'd love to work with you as well, we'll connect after this.' And then we did, and the rest is history.
Good for you, Luxx. Seizing the moments and opportunities.
Of course.
“Blame It On The Edit” ft. Anetra, Luxx Noir London, Mistress Isabelle Brooks & Sasha Colby 🎵
You're collaborating with high-profile fashion designers and making music with producers who have worked with RuPaul. How does it feel to be in this moment in your career?
It feels pretty good and validating. I've worked very hard to get here. I've put in a lot of not only physical attention to my career, but a lot of manifesting and a lot of metaphysical work. I'm glad that it's all kind of paying off.
It feels very correct that it's happening. I believe that when you put in enough hard work, when you tell yourself enough times that it's going to come true, it's bound to happen. I'm just glad that I'm finally seeing the fruits of my labor.
Drag Race season 16 is just getting started. As someone who competed last year, do you have any thoughts or hot takes about this new season so far?
I'm very excited for the new season. It's a really stellar cast and I'm super excited for all of the girls competing. I know exactly how it feels to be in their shoes and I want to give them what I feel like I didn't get from a lot of the other alumni, or even my cast in general. Before anything, I'm a fan of drag and I'm a fan of Drag Race, so whenever I can show my support to the girls or be someone they can talk to, I'm always there for that.
Did you know any of these queens personally prior to them being cast on Drag Race?
I knew a couple of them personally before I got on Drag Race, whether it was online or in person. I'm friends with Xunami Muse. I know Sapphira [Cristál], Morphine [Love Dion], Mirage, and Dawn. I've met Nymphia [Wind] and Amanda Tori Meating before. And I've met Megami once or twice, I think.
— (@)
Some fans complained about the queens of season 16 who lip synced to original songs for the Variety Show, and I saw that you shared your reaction to that criticism on X. Would you like to elaborate on the point that you were making?
I do think that an original song is a talent. I would be wrong if I didn't say that there is a lot of it happening, but that's what drag queens do. Drag queens perform to music, and most of the time, you can't perform to somebody else's music on Drag Race, so you have to make your own. People saying that performing original songs isn't a talent… so you're basically saying that Beyoncé isn't talented, and Lady Gaga isn't talented, and Christina [Aguilera] isn't talented, and Britney [Spears] isn't talented. They're all performing original music and they're dancing and performing to it. That's just as much a talent as anything else.
I agree. In season 14, on both episodes of the Variety Show, a queen won with an original song. Anetra also won with an original song. I don't understand how, all of a sudden, this is not a valid talent to have on Drag Race for a Variety Show.
I don't know either. I feel like I've given up on trying to dissect how some of the fandom thinks. It's just a game that you'll never win.
A part of me is fantasizing in my head… I feel like perhaps you and Mistress [Isabelle Brooks] would’ve had more fun with this cast of queens than the ones from season 15. It seems like this cast has a lot of queens who get it, who are cutting up and joking with each other. Do you get that sense too?
I do. I do get that. I don't know. It was weird being there and not really seeing the perception of the situation shared amongst the group. I knew we were there to compete, number one. But number two, it's a television show. You kind of got to, you know, turn it on a little bit.
Not saying that I was being a fake personality, because that's just literally how I am in real life on and off the screen. But it's TV, so you have to make moments and be yourself on more of a heightened level. I don't think a lot of people were really doing that. A lot of people were taking it a little too seriously. And RuPaul's number one rule is to not take anything too seriously.
Do you have any piece of advice for the queens competing on Drag Race season 16?
My one piece of advice would be: you have to really carefully pick which battles you think are worth fighting. There are certain things that you can only explain once and people are still going to harp on it, so you just have to leave it alone. You also just have to see what these people are saying as just words. You don't know these people.
Online perception is completely different from in-person perception. During the beginning of the season, when I was not doing as many gigs as I was in the middle of the season and after, I thought that everybody would hate me in person. But when you went to those gigs in person, everybody was like, 'Oh my god, I'm obsessed with you.' People's opinions on the internet just kind of need to be filtered throughout. I see it, but it doesn't matter. I see it, but it doesn't matter.
I'm not saying to be completely delusional and don't see valid critiques. But when people are just hating for the sake of hating, you kind of just have to let them do what they do and you focus on what you're doing.
What can we expect from Luxx Noir London in 2024?
You can see me anywhere and everywhere. I plan on taking 2024 by the ponytail, swinging her around a couple of times, and sitting her down at the end of the year saying, 'Thank you for making this the best year of my life.'
