Violet Chachki Wants You To Dress Like Yourself (If That’s in a Padlock Speedo, Even Better)
It only took a few episodes into the seventh season of RuPaul’s Drag Race for RuPaul herself to realize that Violet Chachki’s runway looks stemmed from a deep well of fashion knowledge and love for the art form. After she took home that season’s crown, the fashion world proper would take notice, too. She’s been on the cover of Vogue Czechoslovakia, walked the runway for Moschino and Richard Quinn, and appeared in campaigns for Prada, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Christian Louboutin. Naturally, the logical next step was starting her own brand.
Design had led Chachki to drag in the first place, and not the other way around. She spent time studying fashion at the Savannah College of Art and Design before dropping out to pursue drag instead, but during the pandemic, she began tinkering with the idea of starting her own label. The result is Dardo (after her government last name), a celebration of Chachki’s love of fetishwear. This is no quick cash-in or easy collaboration either. Chachki spent time dealing with factories, making sure sizing worked on multiple body types, and even hand-sewing the line’s leather sunglasses. The first drop is summer-themed, but Chachki has aims to expand the label in the fall. “I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel here,” she says. “I'm trying to make fun clothes for fun people. It's very simple.”
Below, she talks the design process, the custom gown she wouldn’t even lend to a museum, and her thoughts on the recent state of runway fashion:
I'm sure that you must have thought about getting into design before, but how did Dardo come about?
I was studying fashion design at the Savannah College of Art and Design when I lost my scholarship, and then I dropped out to pursue drag full-time. I've been designing all my drag costumes and my out-of-drag wardrobe forever. It just felt like a natural progression.
What attracted me to drag in the first place is women's clothing. I've always collected women's clothing from thrift shops and vintage stores. Then I started wearing it. I think every designer, even for major fashion houses, has at one point put on the dresses they're making in their studios. I'm just exploring the design aspect of drag to a different degree.
How long have you been working on this?
I started working on it during the pandemic because I had time. I've been wanting to do it for so long, but it's hard to put all my focus into this project and also maintain my drag career—performing and keep the machine going. Violet is very expensive to maintain. Each time I started working on [Dardo], I learned a little more about production, factories, and everything it takes to launch a ready-to-wear collection.
Originally, it was supposed to be six full head-to-toe looks with shoes, accessories, the whole thing, but it was just so difficult, pulling teeth. So I ended up just thinking, let's start small with a few items that I want to wear and go from there. I have another drop coming in the fall with a wider range of clothes. I’m just trying to get these Speedos sold before summer's over.
Speedos on the runway or elements of leather or fetish were always the most scandalous thing to me about fashion growing up. The collection definitely reminds me of a classic Steven Klein editorial. Were there any specific references you had?
He was definitely on the mood board. We love Steven. One of the pieces I have up right now is this pair of leather sunglasses that are inspired by this illustrator, John Willie. His work is one of my most famous tattoos, with the blindfold. I'm surprised anybody bought them, but somebody ordered them already. So I have to make them. They're a really specialty fetish-y item. We're using really, really thin lambskin. They’re also the only handmade item. I wanted an actual leather item in the line, so I had to flex a little bit with my little lamb skin sunnies.
What were some of your earlier memories of fashion?
My grandmother is Ecuadorian, and she would sew all of our Halloween costumes. Halloween was my favorite time of year, because you can be whatever you want. That's the one time of year my parents were like, okay, you can dress up, you can paint your nails, you can put makeup on. One year, I picked two contrasting knockoff Pucci prints from Joann Fabrics, and my grandmother made me a jester costume.
I think my first taste of high fashion and what really got me hooked was in middle school. My friend had a Teen Vogue, and I remember seeing Heatherette, Richie Rich, and Traver Rains’s label, and being like, "Oh my God, what is that? Who are those people? I'm obsessed." Heatherette was my introduction to how whimsical and fantastical, how escapist fashion can be.
Have you been following the designer sea change lately?
Oh God, I can't keep up. I just saw that Moschino has new creative directors. I need a graph, a flow chart. I don’t know if I want to keep up, especially now I've seen so much bad design. That's one of my motivators for launching my own brand and trying my own hand. It's way more difficult than you would think it is, but sometimes I'm seeing these creative directors, and I'm like, I don't know how they got that job.
Is there anything you like right now?
I mean, Demna’s Gucci. I like shiny things, and I like guys with muscles, and I like sexy things. So I guess I like those clothes. Those are cute, but it's not like, anything new that I haven’t seen so far. I guess the answer is no, I'm not seeing anything that I'm gagging for. The last collection that really stunned me was Ludovic de Saint Sernin for Jean Paul Gaultier, the Couture collection, which was two or three years ago.
What’s the best piece of fashion advice you’ve ever received?
Commit to your look. Know who you are and then do it on purpose.
What’s the most prized possession in your closet?
I have four custom Prada gowns, and I have my Moschino Met Gala look. I have a few custom Moschino looks, actually. And a bunch of custom Prada and Miu Miu shoes that are like sculptures to me. They’re from back when my friend Fabio Zambernardi was Prada’s design director.
I still love that video you did for Prada with Sarah Paulson.
Yeah, that was a really special time for me. The pieces that they made for me are museum-worthy.
Someday, some museum is going to do a drag exhibit and ask for them.
Well, they're not getting these. Okay. They can have my Tartan runway from Drag Race.
What was your first major fashion purchase?
Right after Drag Race, I bought myself a pair of Louboutins. Just a simple black So Kate Louboutin in patent leather. I've always wanted some, and finally was like, "I'm just going to march into the store and buy them.”
What’s a current trend you hate?
I hate the fake scene-kid Y2K thing. All the kids are doing it. I don't know. It's weird to have lived through MySpace, Electroclash, and all of this stuff, and then to have somebody wearing it ironically. When we were wearing that, it was scandalous to leave the house in low-rise girl jeans or whatever the fuck scene-kid outfit. We would get beat up at the mall when we went out looking like that. It feels like appropriation to me. It’s so inauthentic.
Who are your ultimate style icons?
Lady Miss Kier is always on my mood board. Dita Von Teese, of course. Who else do I love? Dovima. Vampira. I think Mr. Pearl would also be one of my style icons. The fetishism of the work and the attention to detail is amazing.
It’s Pride season right now. What’s your recommendation for a go-to Pride party outfit?
I have a few Pride Parties coming up, and I am going to go pull some looks from my friends at Lidow Archive in LA because I've been working on this brand so much. I don't have time for any fuck-ass pride outfits. But my rule of thumb, especially when I'm DJ-ing, is to put something sparkly on, just because I like to catch the light. I feel like even I think, “Oh, I need to wear colorful rainbow things.” Then I'm like, I don't think so. I think I can wear spooky all-black outfits and still be proud. I'm having a difficult time this year with Pride. What about the other eleven months? I don't know if I need to get my rainbows out and participate. I'm gay 365. I'm allowed to just show up and rock whatever I want and still be proud.
