Violet Chachki Is Blending Burlesque & High Fashion With Her Unapologetic Approach To Drag

PHOTOGRAPHY Justin Atkins
STYLING Sachin Gogna, Lily Bling
HAIR Jean Baptiste Santens
NAILS Brixton Klaws
COVER TEXT DESIGN Peter Bonomi

COVER IMAGE Violet wears Bodysuit: Poster Girl, Jacket: Stylists’ Own

When pondering the fashion favourites of the drag world, those of us with taste would be hard-pressed to think of an artist quite as memorable as Violet Chachki. Known for her couture runway-ready style, outspoken opinions and signature snatched waist, Violet has made a name for herself not just as a drag performer, but as a unique, creative force that seamlessly blends burlesque aesthetics, aerial acrobatics and high fashion into one transfixing presentation.

Violet’s fascination with drag began in the thriving days of Tumblr, where she first discovered icons such as Divine, Bettie Page and Lady Miss Kier, building a love for the powerful and feminine. Competing in local contests on the Atlanta drag scene sparked a competitive spirit that would catapult her in the direction of stardom. With the help of her friend Davey Swinton, an accomplished aerialist, Violet trained with aerial silks before moving on to the suspended hoop. The incorporation of these elements into her drag performance has become a defining feature of her shows, adding a layer of athleticism and spectacle that sets her apart from her peers.

Since winning RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 7 in 2015, Violet and her teeny-tiny waist have travelled the globe, attending Fashion Weeks in London, Paris and Milan, walking the runway for Moschino, and even gracing the pink carpet of MET Gala in 2019 for the Camp: Notes on Fashion exhibition, becoming one of the first drag queens at the event, alongside fellow Season Ten winner Aquaria and RuPaul. The artist most recently underwent a residency at the infamous Parisian cabaret Crazy Horse, a “bucket list moment” which saw the likes of Dita Von Teese and Christian Louboutin seated in attendance.

Despite the heights of her success, Violet hasn’t turned her back on her Drag Race roots, co-hosting the hilariously meme-able podcast and video series No Gorge, alongside Season 13 competitor and fellow fashion darling Gottmik. Their dynamic partnership is marked by their undeniable chemistry and long-standing friendship, spanning back close to decade, since 2015.

As drag has grown in its mainstream popularity, undoubtedly supported by the success of the global  Drag Race franchise, Violet remains both a proud participant in the art form’s mainstream acceptance and a staunch defender of its underground roots.

BRICKS’ Contributing Editor Liza Bilal hopped on Zoom earlier this month with the diva herself to chat about the superstar’s favourite fashion inspirations, her love for cabaret and the importance of staying authentic in your creative vision.

Liza Bilal: Where did your love for burlesque and aerial acrobatics stem from and when did you first begin to incorporate it into your drag performance?

Violet Chachki: I started doing local drag contests in Atlanta in 2012. There’s one called Dragnique, and on one of the nights, I thought I deserved to win, but I lost. The girl I lost to did a Florence and the Machine number and had two backup aerialists performing behind her. I was like, this fucking bitch. She wasn’t even the one doing aerial, she had backup aerial dancers, and I was like, I can do that.

I had a friend – Davey Swinton – who was an aerialist and hosts Costa Rican aerial retreats. He trained me and I started off doing aerial silks, then I moved on to the lyra, which is the hoop. After that, I started getting my own aerial apparatuses custom-made, and that’s how it started; because I lost a drag contest, so it was almost out of spite. 

When I began doing it, I realised it was a good way to get a workout in. It’s beautiful. I’m very flexible, but I have to say that I am not the best aerialist in the world. It definitely is scary, the heights I perform at, but technically the moves I’m doing are pretty simple. So, if you’re an aerialist reading this, yes, I know, I’m not Cirque de Sole. I see it as an extension of my costume, it’s part of a full picture. I’m in drag, I’m wearing a wig, the wig is staying on – mostly. I’m wearing heels. It’s rhinestones, it’s corsets, it’s a whole thing.

How did winning Drag Race Season 7 help you further realise your drag aesthetic?

When I did [Drag Race], the timing was divine. I had just figured out my makeup – I’m not even kidding you, two months before I started filming the show. At the time, in my brain, it was the ‘Olympics of drag’, and I think it sort of was back then. Now, looking back, it was a TV show. I was just filming a TV show. But at the time, in 2014-2015 when I filmed it, it was the best drag queens in the world competing together. The visibility alone provided so much. I got to meet so many people and a lot of people in the fashion world watched it. Watching yourself on television, you’re like, oh, not that wig, don’t do that makeup again, don’t dance like that. Watching yourself back is such a benefit, especially on a reality show where it’s so raw and real. You get to really look at the way you behave, the way you walk, the way you talk. Everyone that comes off the show has a big glow-up just off that fact alone.

I see [aerial performing] as an extension of my costume, it’s part of a full picture.

How do you feel that drag as an art form has grown and evolved, particularly with the increase in its popularity since Drag Race?

I mean, there’s just so many fucking drag queens, it’s wild. The first time I went out in drag was in high school in 2009 and Drag Race had just come out on Logo. When I was starting, it was all strippers and drag queens; the underbelly of nightlife. It was not fuckable. Being a drag queen was not a hot, desirable career path. Any drag queen that I met back then had an innate need to express this part of ourselves.

I remember doing [drag] when I was still living at my mom’s house, and she was freaking out. She was like, you’re gonna get mugged, you’re gonna get shot, you’re gonna get beat up, you can’t leave the house like this… [she was] so scared for my physical safety. I was discovering Candy Darling and Divine, and all these drag queens on Tumblr. I decided that I should go and support my local scene and find a drag queen to tip. When I would go, no one was doing the drag that I wanted to see so I was like, okay, I guess I’ll be the change I want to see.

Now it’s as if everyone is doing drag solely for the purpose of getting on Drag Race. That is so not the point – or it wasn’t the point when I started. Even Drag Race as a franchise, I almost feel bad because people approach me from different seasons and I’m like, I’m sorry I didn’t watch it, and it used to be that every Drag Race girl was sisters and I would know everyone. Now, I don’t even know who’s who. There are pros and cons; I’m glad that [Drag Race] exists, and I’m glad that drag is more accepted and there’s visibility. But I’m so old school that I want to gatekeep it at the same time.

You recently completed a residency at Crazy Horse Paris, which you described as a ‘dream come true’. How did that come about?

It was years and years in the making. I discovered the show through Dita Von Teese. I was deep on Tumblr and Dailymotion and discovered the footage of her performing there. I was obsessed, I just fell in love with the show. The first time I ever went to Paris in 2015, I went for a Miu Miu party – which changed my life – and I extended my trip specifically to see the Crazy Horse. I texted Dita, she made some calls, I got tickets and took pictures. Every time I was in Paris, I would go. Eventually, I met the creative director and we became friends. Whenever I would perform in Paris, I would invite her to come see me do aerial. 

In 2022, I did an audition. I got on some of the props and apparatuses, and we were going to do it, but it fell through. I was devastated. The creative director hit me up this year and said, let’s do it. We shot the video content and promotional stuff and I did a month of rehearsals. It was so much work. I filmed a documentary behind the scenes about the rehearsals, the photo shoots and all the press. If you’re reading this, you might want to mute my Instagram for the next couple weeks, because there’s so much that I have not posted yet.

Two weeks after the fact, I went to watch the show alone with my suitcase in the audience, and I started crying. It was like, whoa, that was me, I did that. It was a dream come true, definitely a bucket list moment.

Can you tell us about one of your favourite moments performing there?

There were so many… The person who taught me everything and trained me is this dancer named Psykko, and she is a legend; she created some of the really iconic numbers at Crazy Horse. Another one is Svetlana, who’s an iconic ex-Crazy Horse girl, and it was such a creative process, so beautiful and so special. I’ve never really been taken so seriously as an artist. The level of respect that I got from these professionally trained dancers – and I’m not professionally trained – they were just so patient and respectful.

Even in the drag world, I don’t know if I’ve ever received this level of respect. I’ll go to drag shows and there’s no DJ, no lights, no stage, no nothing, and gay people are just like, whatever works diva, figure it out, which is fun! There’s a punk element to drag which I will always love, but Crazy Horse was the antithesis of that. It was a level of taking the art seriously that I just haven’t experienced in the drag space.

Dita came to see me, which was full circle. Christian Louboutin also came and made me 12 pairs of custom shoes, plus I got to work with one of my favourite male performers, Johnny Boy, at this cabaret in Paris called Manko. He’s a sword swallower – so hot – and we did a duet together. It was my favourite number in the show. Crazy Horse gave me creative freedom on three of the numbers. The whole experience was something I’ll cherish forever.

There’s a punk element to drag which I will always love, but Crazy Horse was the antithesis of that. It was a level of taking the art seriously that I just haven’t experienced in the drag space.

You are co-host of the podcast/video series No Gorge, alongside Gottmik – which has had some highly meme-able moments. How did your friendship come about and who’s idea was it to start a podcast?

I’ve known Mik since 2015. After I won [Drag Race], Mik was doing makeup in LA, working the door, turning looks, hosting parties – I call it, ‘working it smoochy’. Then, Mik got on Drag Race and I was so excited for him. During [the COVID-19 pandemic] we did drive-in shows in abandoned mall parking lots and just clicked. I forget whose idea it was to do the podcast. We were just laughing so much, telling stories, kikiing, and we’re like, we should do a podcast. 

We were both saying “gorge” a lot because this photographer that we used to shoot with – his name is Vijat – got ‘gorge’ from Miley Cyrus, but he does it in the funniest way. Then me and Mik adopted gorge, and I went viral for saying ‘no’ on the Pit Stop, so it was easy to get to ‘No Gorge’. I literally drew the logo on the tour bus, on a napkin, and we said let’s do it.

We love doing so many different things together; we go out all the time, hang out, go on vacation, travel, and we work together. We just had Mik’s birthday on Friday and it was a rager – probably the most fun I’ve ever had. And then Mik was there at Crazy Horse with me, helping me backstage. He’s going on tour with All Stars and I’m helping him with stuff, I helped him get ready for Drag Race. We’re real best friends, not just podcast friends. True best friends.

A series that I loved on your channel was Runway Rewinds. Can you name your top three runway shows? 

That’s so hard. They can’t all be Mugler, but I want to say Mugler ’98 couture is a top one. I mean, any of the Mugler couture shows are life-changing. Galliano SS98 for sure. And, McQueen’s The Horn of Plenty show, or anything with Yasmeen Ghauri, I could watch her runway walk all day long.

Do you think we’ll ever go back to that era of the ’80s & ’90s supermodels having so much personality and attitude?

I hope so… I’ve done a few runway shows before where the creative director of the brand asks us to walk boring, they want a robot. That’s the brief a lot of the time. But you know who is a good runway walker? That Leon Dame. When he walks for Margiela, that is a personality walk. He turns it. That’s the only one I’ve seen who gives me that ’90s personality on the runway.

How have certain shows, designers or style icons inspired your drag?

I think the first reference that I really got into was Bettie Page. The women that Bettie Page portrays are very strong, powerful and beautiful, but very feminine at the same time. That’s really the woman that inspires me; strong, high femme, aggressive, knows what she wants and goes for it. Maybe they’re misperceived as a bitch. I feel like Mugler is that woman. The Mugler woman is powerful, she is strong, she is confident and she is feminine. I would be scrolling on Tumblr all day long and I would see Bettie Page, Lady Miss Kier, Mugler, Galliano, Anjelica Huston, Jennifer Tilly – all these women use fashion as a way to communicate their strengths and their confidence.

The Galliano woman is very fantastical. I think that’s part of it too; the escapism of telling a story, exploring a different time period, or over-the-top glamour. It transports you somewhere temporarily.

Justin Atkins, this cover shoot’s photographer, described your energy as “fascinating, commanding, feminine and important”. Do you have reference points you’ve used to cultivate Violet as an energetic force, or do you feel this energy is something innate within you that Violet gave you the opportunity to express?

I will take that! When I was growing up, it was constantly drilled into my head to quit acting like a girl, boys don’t act like that, boys don’t talk like that, boys don’t walk like that, boys don’t wear that. So, when I finally started discovering drag, I had this aggressive feminine energy that was built up inside of me from never being allowed to express that side of myself for 16 years.

I’m having to get back to the fun element of it. I can get really caught up with perfectionism, or the way that I think something should go, whether it’s a performance or even going out. I have let go and not be so aggressive sometimes and teeter this line of when it’s appropriate to be determined in curating what I want, and when it’s appropriate to let go a bit.

It’s also true that one of the best accessories that a beautiful person can have is a cunty attitude. Sometimes it completes the look.

Absolutely. Sometimes I have an attitude just for fun. Then you can really see who can throw shade and kiki in a comedic way. That’s what I love about the drag scene. Backstage, it can get really shady, but it’s all in good fun and among a sisterhood vibe. 

I feel like we’ve lost that a little bit with everything being documented, especially on Drag Race. Nobody wants to be shady, no one wants to be real. Atlanta is cut-throat, like, they will cut your fucking wigs up. It’s a big Southern pageant place and that’s where I was raised; backstage with trans people of colour, bitches who have been doing this forever. They wouldn’t even fathom going on Drag Race, they’re above it. Legacy, iconic drag showgirls, throwing real shade, stuff you cannot say on TV. That is at the core of what drag is, at least for me.

Fran Lebowitz famously talks about the importance of a discerning audience – with a high level of connoisseurship – in making art and culture better. You’re a queen who has been known to be a harsh critic. However, it’s evident your critique comes from a place of deep knowledge of and respect for the art form. What is your relationship to critique like – is it something you’ve always readily welcomed? How did you come to understand critique as a powerful tool?

In my soul, I truly believe that being honest – and coming from a place of love and respect – will always lead you where you need to go. It may not be the easiest path, but it’s the right path for me. I’ve always stuck to my gut feeling. There have definitely been times I’ve said stuff I regret, I should have been more mindful or thoughtful, but ultimately, if I’m giving you critique, it’s because I care. I’m very like, bitch, if I see you and I don’t speak, that means I don’t fuck with you. That’s the Atlanta in me. There’ll be girls telling you your hair is fucked up and giving you hairspray, like, fix it. I can’t present solutions on the fucking Pit Stop, but that’s where I’m coming from.

If we don’t have honest dialogue, we’re going to be stagnant in any aspect; politically, artistically, socially. Conversations should be had, and they should be real. There’s so much darkness in the world – true evil that exists – and it’s not me talking about a wig, I promise you.

Even when I have a scandal or say something that people think is mean or rude, it may be rough for me to deal with in the moment, but in the long run, I’m always glad I stuck to what I believe in. And why do y’all care what I think, anyway? Especially if I’m being asked my opinion, it’s not like I’m going on people’s pages, commenting that their wig is ugly. People do that to me all the time. I only give my opinion when it’s asked, or if you’re my friend.

It goes back to what I was saying; keep it interesting, keep it spicy, keep the narrative moving. If we don’t have honest dialogue, we’re going to be stagnant in any aspect; politically, artistically, socially. Conversations should be had, and they should be real. There’s so much darkness in the world – true evil that exists – and it’s not me talking about a wig, I promise you. Alexander McQueen said it best; we’re just taking the piss, these are just clothes, this is just a distraction. This is escapism, so we can temporarily forget about all the bullshit.

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Violet Chachki is more than just a drag performer; she’s a force of nature, a knowledgeable critic, a fashion connoisseur, and a true artist who isn’t afraid to keep things ‘spicy’. Whether she’s on stage, behind a microphone, or pumping the runway, Violet remains committed to her vision, her friends, and the art of drag—unfiltered, honest, and always gorge.

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