Shea Couleé
Shea Couleé

We’re only two episodes into RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season 7, and it’s already must-see TV. If you’re not familiar with the series spin-off, eight RuPaul’s Drag Race winners are back to battle it out for a second crown and a $200,000 cash prize. The premiere episode is all it took for fan-favorite Shea Couleé to make Drag Race “her-story” by taking the fashion category to another level.

For the first runway of the season, themed “crowned queens,” the returning season 5 winner, whose pronouns are she/they, hit the stage in a floral-printed gown from Pierpaolo Piccioli’s Valentino Fall 2019 Couture collection. (There’s a reason her title is fashion queen!)

The look was fitting, considering the episode’s guest judge was Naomi Campbell, a long-time friend of Piccioli. As a seasoned winning queen, Couleé missed no details, pairing the florals with royal jade green earrings and gold jewelry. To tie the look together (which she described as “Nefertiti-inspired”), she opted for a braided wig wrapped tall like a crown.

The history-making look marks the first time a drag queen has ever worn Haute Couture on RuPaul’s coveted stage in the show’s 13 years on air.

Couleé explained how she felt in the moment in an Instagram post writing, “Having the ability to be the first queen to ever wear Haute Couture on the drag race runway will be a milestone I will treasure forever. Words cannot express the gratitude I feel towards @maisonvalentino @pppiccioli @iacopopedretti @yigit and the rest of the Valentino team.”

Couleé’s success spans to the larger drag community as a whole. Once seen as an outcast subculture, drag queens had to create their own garments. Now that they’ve gained a pop culture following, many drag queens are landing magazine covers, sitting front row at fashion shows, and even taking the runway. Many starred in campaigns for luxury brands including Coach (Bob the Drag Queen), Moschino (Gigi Goode), and Prada (Violet Chachki) to name a few.

Couleé alone has walked the runway for Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty lingerie line, and landed the cover of Out. With the season already off to a fiery start, we can’t wait to see what Couleé and her All Star peers including Trinity the Tuck, Monét X Change, Raja, Jaida Essence Hall, Yvie Oddly, The Vivienne, and Jinkx Monsoon wear next.