From the moment it kicks off with its inaugural pink carpet promenade, DragCon Los Angeles sets the stage for a weekend filled with fashion moments. And while the two art forms have been in close conversation for decades now — from 1970s ballroom culture to RuPaul’s 1990s ode to fashion, “Supermodel (You Better Work)” — attendees this year might have noticed that the bar keeps being raised.
With former Drag Race contestants walking the runways of Paris and New York fashion weeks, wearing iconic designers on the show and appearing in major fashion campaigns, it should come as no surprise that the annual event — which took place July 19 and 20 in L.A. — is now a place that you can expect to see some serious fashion (in addition to the spooky, punky, pop-star inspired, comedic and other types of drag that are also regularly featured on RuPaul’s Drag Race). And there are few better examples of this than two of this year’s attending artists, La Grande Dame and Gottmik.
La Grande Dame, or LGD (who goes by she/her pronouns in drag), already has quite an impressive resume at just 25 when it comes to the fashion industry. The Nice-born, Paris-based queen (né Yannick Martin Androf), who received a baccalauréat in design, began her drag career at 18 and later joined the iconic House of Gorgeous Gucci. Cut to today: She’s walked the runway of prominent Parisian designers, donned Jean Paul Gaultier on the most recent Drag Race UK vs. the World season (she was previously a finalist on Drag Race France’s first season), and starred in a recent campaign for the Jacquemus x Nike collab shot in the City of Lights.
