Nicky Doll: the French queen of 'RuPaul's Drag Race'

Brut America

"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.

Transcript

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.

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