"I learned to become a man by dressing as a woman."
Nicky Doll, the French fashion queen on "RuPaul's Drag Race," tells Brut her story.
Nicky Doll, the French fashion queen on "RuPaul's Drag Race," tells Brut her story.
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00:00I learned how to become a man by dressing up as a woman.
00:04Niki Doll was born at the Gay Pride in Paris in 2009.
00:06I needed to express my femininity and go to the extreme,
00:12so I created this character from scratch.
00:30Niki is like this superhero outfit that I couldn't develop on my own
00:36because I lacked self-confidence.
00:38And by creating this character, it gives me this boost of self-confidence.
00:41When I take off my wig, when I use one or ten make-up remover wipes,
00:46I become a man again and I learned the next day how to discover this person I was
00:50and I'm much better in my skin.
00:52I discovered the universe of drag queens by chance
00:54by watching an old ad for MAC Cosmetics,
00:56which was the ad for Viva Glam 1994.
00:59And I saw this huge person with a huge wig,
01:03and it was RuPaul, dressed in red leather.
01:05I was fascinated by RuPaul's confidence
01:09because she was on a set with a lot of people who are not necessarily from the community.
01:14And she was not only wearing a wig and necklaces,
01:17but she was also wearing an extremely sexy outfit, showing her legs.
01:20And I said to myself, I aspire to reach this level of confidence.
01:25I do this little finger-raising to society by putting myself in drag in 2009.
01:30The first time I put on a wig, a pair of heels and necklaces,
01:33I was petrified because I was called by all the bird names
01:37by being younger, by being too effeminate.
01:39And in fact, doing it was kind of giving them a reason.
01:41And in fact, I realized very quickly that by doing it, it was taking back the power.
01:45So I felt free.
01:47And in fact, afterwards, I completely flow into the gay community,
01:51in the middle of the night.
01:53And I realize that I want to be part of it,
01:55to raise this community that needs voices and figures.
01:59And in fact, I continue, alongside my studies.
02:01So I did studies in communication in Paris 8.
02:03And alongside that, I work at night to pay not only my rent,
02:05but also my high school degree.
02:07At the time, even in the gay community,
02:09people thought I was in transition,
02:11that I was taking hormones,
02:13because it was not normal for me to dress as a woman,
02:15but that I was not trans,
02:17and that I was not transformed into a cabaret.
02:19And what must also be said is that
02:21Karl is a make-up artist.
02:23How did you go from
02:25communication studies to make-up?
02:27So, I realized that
02:29communication, at least in high school,
02:31was a bit too theoretical for me,
02:33and I really needed practice.
02:35I was also broke, so I needed to find a job
02:37that would allow me to pay my bills more easily.
02:39And I fell in love with make-up,
02:41because I always liked it.
02:43I was already starting to do drag.
02:45It didn't look at all like what you see now.
02:47But in any case, I had this passion
02:49to not only
02:51play with the texture,
02:53the colors, etc., but also, once again,
02:55to bring self-confidence to my clients.
02:57It's something I love to do.
02:59I left New York in 2015,
03:01because I needed new challenges,
03:03and it was also love that brought me
03:05to the other side of the ocean.
03:07And I needed to see
03:09other things and challenge myself,
03:11because it became easy
03:13in Paris, and so I really wanted
03:15to be this little star
03:17sailing against the current.
03:19I was lucky, from the start,
03:21and French Touch also helped me,
03:23to have auditions
03:25and to succeed.
03:27So I applied once for World Drag Race,
03:29and I was accepted right away.
03:31The thing I'll always remember
03:33when I do this show,
03:35is that when you're told it's a race,
03:37it's a race.
03:39Everything happens very, very fast,
03:41but it was always very moving for all of us
03:43that we were in this machine
03:45that allowed the whole world
03:47to educate themselves about our art,
03:49to educate themselves about gay,
03:51trans, people of color,
03:53people of...
03:55different types of people,
03:57and to educate them
03:59privately, outside of the competition.
04:01And for me, it was an honor to be there,
04:03especially being in the French competition.
04:05Drag, before being glamour,
04:07beautiful wigs,
04:09and fashion, it's still a political message.
04:11And for me personally,
04:13the fights I'm trying to defend
04:15is tolerance towards the trans community.
04:17With the Black Lives Matter movement,
04:19I focused mainly
04:21on trying to collect money
04:23by doing free shows online
04:25for the black and trans community,
04:27because, unfortunately,
04:29it was the community
04:31that always stayed in the back.
04:33So I'm always trying to focus on that,
04:35and especially the gay community
04:37in Islamic communities
04:39and Muslim countries,
04:41where I really try to help
04:43to advance mentalities.