THE LGBT community, while enduring oppression from major parts of the world, is generally well-loved in the Philippines. This became more evident when a big retail company such as The SM Store enlisted a flaming drag queen like Aquaria to give good face to its chain of malls across the country.
The holiday campaign, anchored on the New York queen’s “turning looks, stunting pretty” catchphrase, is all about self-expression through fashion, regardless of who you are, whatever style you go for.
As SM’s larger-than-life ambassador, Aquaria follows fashion icon Sarah Jessica Parker, British model David Gandy and street photographer Scott Schuman.
Aquaria won the 10th season of the Emmy-winning RuPaul’s Drag Race. At 21, she was one of the show’s youngest winners, alongside Tyra Sanchez (Season 2) and Violet Chachki (Season 7.) For her “sick’ning” runway looks, RuPaul regarded her as one of the show’s fashion queens in the same breath as Raja, Detox, Violet and…Miss Vanjie?
“When we began planning for our fashion campaign and the conversation was [on who should be our spokesman], Aquaria was our first pick,” said Geo Custodio, the marketing manager. “She was always on top of our list. There is an audience within SM [for Drag Race and drag in general; reportedly a next-generation Sy is an avid fan].”
Fiona Araneta, The SM Store’s junior marketing manager, added: “We chose Aquaria because she won Season 10 and she’s achieved a lot in her young age, and she is known as the looks queen. She also collaborates with other foreign brands.”
Along with other media colleagues, some with more pronounced fanaticism than others, I had a chance to interview the drag royalty at the Prestige Lounge of SM Megamall.
How much did fashion school, your drag mother Sharon Needles, drag icon Amanda Lepore and club queen SusanneBartsch influence your aesthetics?
Fashion school definitely informed a lot of my decisions when it comes to design and creation. I’ve always been inspired by the nightlife, the legends, the past, the current, the future. I think fashion in the club is always so on the edge of every trend and define the heart of a lot of styles of New Yorkers. People like Susanne and Amanda are bold, fearless women. No one can help but be inspired by them.
And Sharon Needles?
Sharon is evil. (Laughs) No, she’s really cool. She definitely has grown a speciality, more like a sleek, leathery, dark, perfect-silhouette kind of vibe. And that obviously constantly inspires me, as well.
For this campaign, what are your inputs?
For styles and trends that we’re focusing on the season or this year, there is a lot of animal prints, and some bold, red looks. But they are all categories and themes that I think are not only present in fashion today, but also often represented in the things that I wear. I love animal prints. I love to wear too much red…. Most of the trends were inspired by things that I already normally wear. So it just kind of matched.
Where do you get your inspirations?
All my inspiration comes from all sorts of things I love. I love being inspired by drag. The full circle aspect of being in drag, being inspired by drag is really interesting. I have a bit of a background in fashion history and art history in general. So, I love taking visual or creative cues from old works of art across all different types of mediums. Of course, as a drag queen, pop culture and the pop divas are always at the forefront of my inspiration and creative thinking. Queens like Madonna and Cher, and stuff like that are always major influences to my style. I think you can’t go wrong if your drag look is inspired by Cher. Where can you go wrong?
What’s your advice in terms of creating looks or accessorizing?
A lot of my love for drag and the fashion of drag comes from styling. Being on the road a lot, I don’t
get to travel with a lot of stuff, my suitcases, but when I’m home and in my closet, looking at all the silly jewelry and accessories and outfits that I forget I had, that’s where I find the most enjoyment, getting to
pick and choose and put things together—you know, hair, some crazy big yellow jacket from Italy with some easy-peasy vinyl body suit. I think for me, finding the perfect area where a look is in your
budget but still showing your creativity is important. So you can really make a lot of something out of little to nothing. And I think that’s what drag always has been. It’s always been that for me…. Try to have like a budget or something like that. So just like work within your means.
How do you integrate ready-to-wear into your look and elevate it?
I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing for me but I am notorious for rocking more casual fashion mixed with something cool like what I have now. This is a really easy, affordable bodysuit I bought somewhere online…. You know, sometimes, everyone is living on a bit of a budget. I remember when I was first getting started in drag, you could only afford so much. But the one thing I always knew that I had was a creative eye and creative gifts with my hands and my makeup. So, as long as I have some elements to create, I can do really whatever I want. I can just wear something boring on the bottom. But if you use the ability and the creativity and the skill that you have as a human to kind of elevate a look that makes it look more expensive, I think that’s where the perfect balance is. It’s about…convincing other people that you’re doing with the design that’s $15 look like $1500.
What do you think will make you last?
What a lot of drag queens have imparted to me is to be really mindful of your mental health, your health out of drag. Be really respectful of your body. You know, I am in high heels right now, but I’m not in high heels all the time. That will kill your feet. You know, there’s so many things that you can do when you’re young and you can’t do as you get older, and I think being mindful of those things is important.
A lot of drags are being accepted by a lot of brands. What are your thoughts about that?
It’s really cool. This past year, I think we definitely saw a massive amount of drag queens being involved in makeup collaborations and things of that sort. And just to see that is so cool. It’s nice for us to have jobs that aren’t always performing like at our clubs, and to be taken seriously and respected in a world that is not our immediate drag circle. It not only empowers us and our audience, but also shows that drag is very prevalent. It’s here to stay and it’s powerful. And everyone loves it. If you don’t love drag, you’re probably lying. It’s very much like Spongebob. Squidward hated the Krappy Patties until he tried them and then he was like, hold on, wait a second, you’re onto something. I think this is the same way. Just because you don’t think you love it or whatever doesn’t mean that you don’t actually.
How is it important that you have this platform now as a way to talk about issues?
I think it’s very important. Drag has always been a political statement. And I know for a lot of people—you, me, the next person—we all have things that we want to see in the world. And when you have a platform like I have or like the next drag queen, I feel like you have a bit of a duty to your fans and to your community to use your voice when you can. Sometimes shouting your beliefs…(a part) kind of makes it all just sound like “Ahhh” to some people but choosing important times to talk about important topics can really help make a more progressive and accepting community.