RED HOT RAJA

RuPaul's Drag Race winner covers the current issue of LA's gay mag Frontiers:

What is the story of the creation of Raja, your drag alter ego?

I started going out, ya know, sneaking out of my parents’ house and going out to clubs, when I was 15 years old—going out to The Arena. The first place I ever did a show was at The Arena. At that time, there were a lot of younger kids, and we were all sort of broke club kids starting out. We made our own costumes out of saran wrap and trash bags and duct tape and barbed wire and just did weird things and experimented.

It was a great place for kids to experiment. We were kids who were hungry for fashion and culture, and so we just made it for ourselves. And I’ve always been that kind of kid who did my own thing and thought a little outside of the box. As much as being a club kid was my look at the time, people were also like, wow you’re a little too pretty to be doing these crazy costumes, so I was able to incorporate the crazy ideas and still give beautiful drag at the same time, and somehow I married the two together.