The world of high fashion designers is often described as glamorous and sophisticated, made by the elite for the elite. However, fashion cannot be boxed in so easily and it is the people who take risks and break the mold in the industry who make a lasting impact on fashion history. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” has been my binge-watching vice of choice since March of this year, and some of the greatest fashion innovations and creations I have ever seen have strutted out of that show. 

When most people think of drag, typically big hair, bold makeup and padded figures come to mind, but it is very common for drag queens to be talented at designing their own costumes, so sewing challenges appear frequently throughout seasons of “Drag Race.” Naturally, these are my favorite challenges to watch because they gave rise to some of my favorite queens who have taken their viral fashion moments from the show and cemented themselves into the creative, expressive world of high fashion where they belong. Here are some of my favorite queens and how their fashion knowledge and skill put them ahead both on and off “Drag Race.”

First and foremost, you could not pay me to say a single negative word about Violet Chachki. She is potentially my favorite winner of all time and she set the bar for so many future fashion queens. If you go back and watch season seven, she was never as nasty or cruel as some people would make her out to be. People were just intimidated by her confidence, fashion knowledge and young age. The very first episode of season seven already had the girls walking the runway for a mini challenge where Chachki delivered one of the most iconic moments in “Drag Race” history with her plaid, belt jumpsuit reveal. 

Some of her other viral moments include her “Death Becomes Her” runway with her black corset and oxygen tank, her Hello Kitty runway with the beautiful hand-crafted headdress, her purple season seven finale look and her season eight step down dress, which is still regarded by many as the best step down look of all time. Chachki takes inspiration from vintage, burlesque silhouettes, pinned-up hair, ‘50s cat eye makeup and classic designers like Dior and Mugler. Her famous penchant for dramatic corsets brought boldness and creativity to “Drag Race” and showed the world that she was not here to just be pretty. Tie it together with her brilliant design skills and edgy, yet glamorous choices like wearing pants instead of a traditional gown for her best drag and you’ve got a winner. She has used her large platform from her season win to make a name for herself in the fashion industry and continuously sits front row at prestigious Fashion Week shows like Schiaparelli, Prada, Christian Siriano and Miu Miu. She even booked a Prada campaign film and walked for multiple Moschino shows after becoming collaborators with Jeremy Scott. 

Speaking of iconic winners, another one of my favorite high fashion drag queens is Sasha Velour of season nine. Season nine is undoubtedly one of the greatest seasons of “Drag Race” thanks to its top four: Sasha Velour, Peppermint, Trinity the Tuck and Shea Couleé. Although each of these talented competitors had many iconic runways, only Velour took home the crown. I could talk about Sasha Velour for hours because she had such a clear vision for her colorful, kooky, outside-the-box drag and her powerful artistic voice allowed her to be a formidable underdog. Her intelligence and self-confidence made her stand out from the second she walked into the work room and she has never been afraid to be weird and different, which is so admirable to see. 

Velour is famous for not wearing wigs and instead creating elaborate headpieces, which often worked in her favor. Sasha Velour is full of surprises and some of my favorite runways of hers are beloved to me because of their unpredictability, including her Lady Gaga “ArtPop” era look, Russian faux fur look, punk big hair runway, pink clown finale look and Garden of Eden step down look. Her influences are the bright, pop art aesthetic curated by artists like Andy Warhol while tapping into the sophisticated structure and purposefulness of a designer like Karl Lagerfeld. After winning her crown, Velour dedicated her fashion skills to bringing drag into the mainstream by writing an illustrated drag manifesto, attending Fashion Weeks and conducting a high-fashion drag performance for the Opening Ceremony of NYFW 2018.

The season I finished most recently is season three, so I have to talk about its winner Raja Gemini, more famously known as Raja. Early into the “Drag Race” run, Raja had skill and talent that made her a stand-out winner. In fact, due to Raja’s talent as a makeup artist both as a drag queen in the ‘90s club scene and working on “America’s Next Top Model” in the early 2000s, she never had to audition for the show like everyone else, as she was invited by Rupaul directly to compete. She is the only queen in history to not have to audition, stating on the subject, “I think what was needed at the time was they needed other voices of drag, other opinions, other points of view – I was immediately invited because I was local, I was familiar, I’d already worked with Ru and Mathu but I don’t think I was immediately imagined as the winner. I think I was thrown in there just to change the game a little bit” .

Raja’s style is very punk, dramatic and unique, taking clear inspiration from underground club culture as well as big-name designers like Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen, who also have avant-garde, edgy roots. My favorite Raja runways are her Marie Antoinette look,  Holiday thrift runway, chocolate lava cake dress, “Carrie” dress and money-inspired dress. After winning the season three crown, Raja’s already blossoming career took off even further. She starred in a Diesel campaign directed by David LaChapelle and recently walked the runway for Louis Gabriel Nouchi’s menswear fall 2024 show during Paris Fashion Week. Raja even competed on “Drag Race” again in 2022 for the first-ever all-winners season and, despite not winning a second crown, continued to deliver on the runway and her legacy as the first real fashion girl on “Drag Race” was nowhere near tarnished from this loss.

“I think drag and fashion have always influenced each other. Fashion is about confidence and creation, and that’s what drag is about too,” Violet Chachki said in Fashion Magazine, and I couldn’t have said it better myself. Drag plays a crucial role in shaking up the fashion world and keeping it fresh, inclusive and daring. Drag queens are artists, and art and fashion have always been one and the same. It is important to keep art, especially queer art, protected and celebrated now more than ever.