Aquaria made drag history in 2018 when she was the youngest queen to be crowned in the hit show RuPaul’s Drag Race. Now, she’s making history again by visiting Manila, where she wowed fans at the SM Mega Fashion Hall. SM brought Aquaria to Manila for their latest campaign featuring bags, accessories, and shoes.
Check out what happened during the epic day:
The show kicked off with a fabulous fashion show featuring some of the Philippines’ most beautiful drag queens. Those who are only familiar with drag culture through Drag Race will be pleasantly surprised that we are home to all sorts of queens: from fishy girls (a term meaning someone who can pass off as a real woman) to gender benders.
As the Pinay drag queens took their final walk, Aquaria came out in a sleek leather outfit, topped with a lush yellow fur coat. Everyone screamed. After all, she just won the crown last year and became a household name because of her lewks and her sickening choreography. As a result, she’s worked for global campaigns like Moschino and MAC Viva Glam, Jeremy Scott, and Nyx. She’s also appeared on covers for Vogue Italia, Gay Times, and Paper. She was also one of the first drag queens to be invited to the Met Gala, where she sat with organizer and Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
Aquaria did two lipsync performances, one featuring her song “Burn Rubber.” Songs from Drag Race girls are a hit or miss but Aquaria’s song is one I genuinely like. There were outfit changes and they all showed Aquaria’s stunting figure. She ended her performance with the classic song “New York, New York,” the city where she’s from.
The show closed with a Q&A from her fans, where she shared her partnership with The SM Store. Aquaria was hands-on in the styling process for her shoot, even personally selecting the merchandise she modeled. Prior to the show, we got the opportunity to personally meet the queen. She told me that out of The SM Store’s collection, she liked the suitcases, the funky accessories, and some bags for her mom.
During the show, I was surprised at the number of fans who showed up. It was, after all, a weekday afternoon. But we don’t get a lot of opportunities to meet someone like Aquaria. After all, the queen has 1.5 million followers on Instagram. Given this number, it’s clear that’s she’s an influence to young drag babies.
I asked her what advice she has to give performers who want to succeed in this industry, even just on social media. She said, “I stick to what I do and I’m not trying to impress anyone. On social media, I just posted what I like. Just be you, be encouraging to other artists, and create a community where you and the other artists can grow from.”
It was a great afternoon filled with Big Drag Energy. Can’t wait to see her when she returns next year for Werq the World!
Check out #AquariaAtSM on The SM Store’s Instagram and Facebook.
