Gigi Goode Conjures Couture with 'Alchemy'

The silhouettes hit like armor: stiff, sharp, structured. But Goode’s process was anything but rigid. She followed her instincts, painting on cheap canvas, mixing house paint with silicone and letting the mess guide the magic. “I knew the girls who wore this shouldn’t have to sit,” she laughs. “The shoes were so severe their knees were buckling. But once you put them on, you just feel it.” It’s not just a collection; it’s a possession. And like any good haunt, it lingers.

Goode may have launched her name in reality TV, but she’s pushing her legacy far beyond it. “I don’t feel like I have anything left to prove through Drag Race,” she says. “Of course, I look back and cringe at like 50 percent of the things I wore. But that was who I was. It’s a short little diary of that chapter, and I’m proud of it.”

With "Alchemy," the next chapter is written in paint, stitched in silicone and soaked in something spellbound. PAPER caught up with Gigi over Zoom after she attended Primavera to discuss the new collection, paranormal activity and if she will go on All Stars.

Who did you see at Primavera? Who was your favorite?

FKA twigs was definitely the takeaway for me. There was a divide between the Charli and Troye twinks and the FKA crowd because they were one right after the other. Charli and Troye killed it. It was probably the best concert of the show. But Twigs... she did like eight wig changes, high heel changes, a stripper pole. I don’t know.

Congrats on the new collection, ‘Alchemy.’

Thank you.

This is your second collection, right? Let's start there. Why the title ‘Alchemy’? What does that word mean to you in the context of this collection?

Alchemy is, to me, sort of the manic storm of creativity. When I think of the word, the first thing that comes to mind is a mad scientist — someone in their space, the mess getting bigger, the space getting crazier, but the work is getting done. Through my process, I experience these weird losses of time. Hours and hours, even days, just disappear. Then I open my eyes and there’s a finished garment, complete destruction around me.

This time, it was more important for me to focus on the process rather than just the finished pieces. And because of that, the final garments ended up being some of my favorite things I’ve ever done.

It’s like you get abducted by aliens and wake up with a garment.

One hundred percent, yes.

Have you ever had anything supernatural happen to you? Paranormal?

God, yes. Are we going there? Okay, let’s go there. This is going to sound crazy, but when I was 16 in high school, I did these photo shoots with my English teacher. She was also a freelance photographer — very small town, everyone knew everyone. I’d get up in drag and do this 1940s housewife situation. I always wore yellow gloves. We called it the Yellow Glove Series.

We’d break into abandoned homes, mental hospitals, all these places in rural Illinois. We broke into what I think was an old folks’ home that had been evacuated. First shot, she told me to sit on a piano in the food hall. We took some pictures, I was twiddling the top two notes of the piano.

After that, we went into the room next to it, the one that shared a wall with the piano. We heard those same top two notes start playing on their own. She popped her head out — no one there. We busted through the window and ran. I was in full 1940s nurse drag. That’s the only paranormal thing I’ve experienced, but it was nuts.

That’s wild. And in an abandoned hospital in rural Illinois.

That was the easy part.

You did this with your English teacher?

With my English teacher. And sometimes my mom.

English teachers played a role in every queer kid’s life. They always got us.

They do. They really do.

You’ve described the line as a meditation on process and becoming. Was there a specific moment or material that unlocked the collection for you? An aha moment?

Yeah, totally. I kind of had a completely different idea and concept when I first started making this collection. Things were getting really dark in the U.S. — not that they're any brighter now — but I was just in such a sad place for women and trans women, and female identity in general. So initially, the collection was about the repression of women. There were high necklines that covered the mouth and all these motifs.

But as I kept creating, I felt less driven by that theme and more excited about experimenting with materials. Mixing mediums, paint with silicone, and figuring out how to take the fabric to a finished product. That tornado in my head of how to turn this into that started taking over the initial concept.

The first pieces I made were canvas. Cheap painter’s canvas I got downtown in LA. I painted on them using a custom mixture I made of house paints, silicones, and other materials that made the fabric flexible and not cracky. The first piece I painted was that red, almost New Look dress. It was a nod to that era of my drag, very 1940s and 1950s, which has always inspired me. From there, the chaos of covering my house in excess canvas and throwing paint everywhere—it was just me in my own little world. That was the kickoff.

What about the 1940s stuck with you? Especially since you’ve been referencing it since high school with your English teacher?

My love for fashion started with that era. My mom is a costume designer for theater, and since I was little, she had this closet in the basement full of dresses from the 1940s. When I hit 14 or 15, I was the size of a petite woman from that era, so I could finally fit in them. It started there. These pieces were just available to me.

From there, I figured out how to style hair, do roller sets... that era was my real introduction into glamor, fashion, hair, and makeup. There was also such a specific way of posing and posture that came with that fashion. The silhouette — the tight waist and big hips — was so enamoring to me. I remember not having access to corsets back then, but knowing I needed one, so I’d take packing tape and just destroy myself trying to get that shape. It all came from what was accessible to me, and I worked from there.

You’re kind of a trailblazer—no other Drag Race alum has really started their own couture atelier. There are queens who make garments, but you’ve taken it to a different level. Where do you think that drive comes from?

For me, Drag Race was obviously a dream. It’s still, to this day, the most incredible experience I’ve ever had. But getting on the show and making it to where I did, that was step one. For a lot of girls, that’s the dream. But once you achieve it, you ask, where do I go from here?

I knew so many people I admired in fashion, music, hair, makeup. They all watched Drag Race. So did I. I’ve always been a fan, and always will be. But I knew the show was my ticket to step two: going to Paris, attending shows, being dressed by designers I’ve looked up to for so long. Becoming friends with them.

Design has always been my passion. I’ve always been making things. But performing in drag, and Drag Race, kind of overshadowed that. I had to perform, do hair, help my sisters with their hair… all those aspects of drag. During the process of my first collection, it clicked: I remembered exactly why I started doing this in the first place.

As much as I love wearing the garments, being dressed in them, and sitting front row, which I fully intend to keep doing, I love, love, love building something out of nothing. Creating a visual story on a human being. It gives me butterflies.

Are you watching the new All Stars season?

I am. I'm like three episodes behind. I watched the first episode of the Bracket Two girls.

Bracket two! I honestly love this format. It’s kind of a lot, but it kind of ate.

It kind of tore. When I first heard about it, I wasn't so sure. But now that I’m watching it, I get it. It makes sense. Follow the sports formula. It clearly works.

So you would never do an All Stars?

Never say never. I don’t know. It’s risky. You don’t have total control over what happens to you — how you’re edited, the mental space you’re in. There are girls who are top of their game, but as soon as you're surrounded by 30 or 40 cameras and hundreds of people, everything changes.

I also feel like I don’t have anything left to prove through Drag Race. I’m so happy with what I did on the show and who I was at that point in my life. Of course, I look back and cringe at like 50% of the things I wore, but that was who I was. It’s like a short little diary of that chapter, and I’m proud of it. So to go back and risk something going awry... I’d rather keep a good thing a good thing. No pun intended. But never say never. I’d be happy to go back as a judge.

Yeah, I remember your season—your face is burned into my memory because it was the COVID season.

Yes. Girl, it was different. The amount of fans at Primavera for Drag Race… I should’ve expected it, but it was overwhelming. The main thing people tell me is, “You saved us from COVID. You were the reason we got through it.” I sometimes forget that.

It’s still one of the highest-rated seasons, because literally everyone was home watching. It was tumultuous, but I’m so happy that’s when I got to experience it.

I’m sure at the time, it felt like a loss to not have a real finale.

True, but we also didn’t have to film under COVID protocols. No one had heard of COVID yet. We were free to run around and hug each other. All the seasons after had to quarantine for two weeks, wear masks and shields, all of that. We were the last free season. I wouldn’t change anything.

Who are some underground or up-and-coming designers you’re obsessed with?

Not so underground anymore, but Fecal Matter — I’m obsessed. I actually met them two days ago while Chapel Roan was playing. They’re so sweet. I value when someone who’s that talented is also that kind. Eye contact, energy, physical touch. When someone mirrors what I give, it means a lot. They’re like that.

I also met Luis De Javier. I’d seen his work before without realizing it was his, and once I connected the dots and did a deeper dive, I was so enamored with his work. I love designers who push boundaries of glamour and shape — what skin is shown and what’s not. That kind of subversion really gets me.

Looking at this lookbook, it’s very wearable but still very couture. What kind of girl do you envision wearing this? In what space?

Good question. My first collection was meant for pure red carpet, award season, that kind of thing. But it was really hard to wear. Everything was uncomfortable. With this collection, I had that in mind. I wanted the clothes to feel as good on the body as they looked.

So I pushed myself with the internal structure as much as the external. They feel amazing to wear but still hit hard visually. Some of the shapes are so severe you definitely can’t sit in them, which is fine. I don’t need to sit. And the girls who wear this shouldn’t have to sit. The shoes are so intense that the models’ knees were buckling, but once they were on, the girls stood. You feel it when you wear them.

When I see all the pieces together, I picture a film. Like a dystopian, high-fashion, maybe less hot Dune type of film. Post-apocalyptic, mysterious creatures… but the girls still serve.

Where would it be set? What city?

Probably upper Los Angeles — once Los Angeles is swallowed by the ocean.

I love it. You live in LA, right?

I do. I'm giving her a break right now. I’m staying in Paris for the summer, maybe longer. Who knows?

Photos courtesy of Gigi Goode