Section:GDN 12 PaGe:7 Edition Date:190731 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 30/7/2019 18:08 cYanmaGentaYellowbla

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PHOTOGRAPHS: GETTY/ISTOCKPHOTO

This is the outfi t I wore for my fi rst Mac campaign

in 2017 – it was fully rhinestone, head to toe. It was

a memorable look for me because I bought all the

material, all the stones and all the accessories for

it and had it made by a drag queen. It weighed 60lb

(27kg) – so it was like having another little person on

me; extremely heavy, but just so beautiful.

Having previously worked on a Mac counter,

I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be in

a campaign. I wanted to wear the most divalicious

outfi t I could so that I stood out. Because I’m plus

size, I prefer to design my own outfi ts and collaborate

with designers. When I started losing my hair, I began

wearing head-wraps and then

turbans, which I like to have match

the rest of my look. I also work

with my hair stylist to craft the

turbans – it’s beautiful when it all

comes together. I fi nd inspiration

on Pinterest, watch fashion shows

on YouTube and then I put my own

twist on it that will fl atter my body.

I don’t always wear bespoke items: I love Asos,

I love Forever 21, I love River Island – but it’s often

really hard for me to fi nd clothes that fi t. My shoes are

from Maya Shoes of Hollywood, which stocks shoes

for drag queens and actors ... Lady Gaga buys her

shoes there, too. It’s my secret weapon.

It’s not out of vanity that I wear these outfi ts – it’s

important for me to represent a community. I had an

actor approach me with his daughter, who was about

four years old, on the red carpet recently. She was

just like: “Wow, I like your dress!” I thought it was

cool that someone so young could admire a 29-year-

old, plus-size Filipino in a dress at a Disney premiere.

I use fashion to break down gender stereotypes

because I still identify as male. It was hard for me –

I used to always wear trousers and I worried about

breaking away from that from a branding standpoint.

But then I just thought: why not just wear what I want

and be the glamazon that I want to be?

As told to Leah Harper

The look I love

Patrick Starrr ‘It’s not out of

vanity that I wear these outfi ts –

I represent a community’

I use fashion

to break

down gender

stereotypes

Very bad things

can happen

on your period.

I don’t think

any of us should

discount any

other woman’s

experiences

with “urban skin” in mind. There

has also been a rise in so-called

“ menopause skincare ”.

The a dvertising consultant Cindy

Gallop is delighted that period

skincare now exists. She believes it

to be an indication that “there are

people out there taking women and

women’s needs seriously, especially

related to something that the

world at large – that is, men – are so

squeamish about: periods.”

With women’s skincare such a

lucrative market, some cynicism is

only sensible. Yet Gallop believes

we should pay attention to women’s

self-identifi ed needs. While she, at

59, is completely period-free

• “Hallelujah!” – she accepts that
  there are “women out there with
  very bad things that happen only
  on your period, to your skin, to
  your mood. So I don’t think any of
  us should discount any other
  woman’s experience.”

Of course,

sorting what we need from what

we think we need will never be

easy, especially when marketing

has become so sophisticated that

some companies are mining data

from period trackers in an attempt

to target consumers based on what

stage of their cycle they are at.

Period skincare can be seen as

part of the £500bn-plus “wellness

industry”. To its critics, this

is something for the already

“disproportionately well” , or a

way to wring more money out of

women’s insecurities. For Gallop, it

is a logical outcome of a world where

mainstream health doesn’t take

women seriously.

“Women cannot fi nd focus,

empathy and relevance within the

mainstream medical and health

system,” she says. “When you have

off shoots of health and beauty that

are female-driven, female-founded,

no wonder women fl ock to them.”

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