As one of the world’s most glamorous drag superstars, Violet Chachki has spent years as a close witness to fashion’s all-time greats — collaborating with everyone from Prada and Moschino to Jean Paul Gaultier and Pat McGrath Labs. “I actually went to school for fashion design before dropping out to pursue drag full time,” she says.
Now, she’s channeling that eye into her own label, DARDO, rooted in fantasy and unapologetic self-expression, with a debut ready-to-wear drop that includes trompe-l’œil swim briefs and a “100% Pleasure” tee.
For DRAFTING, Chachki takes us inside DARDO’s creative process — the research, moodboards, sketches, and back-and-forth texts with designers — along with the wild, in-between life moments that spark her best ideas.
I wanted to do a graphic tee, similar to my drag merch, but a bit more special and nothing to do with drag. I love the Y2K slogan tees, like the iconic Britney Spears “Dump Him” shirt and what they wore in Mean Girls. I was shopping in Joshua Tree at thrift stores, which is my therapy, and I found a book about desserts, called 100% Pleasure. It says, “From appetizers to desserts, the low-fat cookbook for people who love to eat.” I thought it was such a fabulous book and phrase, and I liked the double meaning. It has this Devil's Food Cake on the cover. And that’s what I want my brand to be about: pleasure, self-love and freedom. So it was my first message to put on a shirt and I had my graphic artist that I work with draft up a few ideas. We did some back and forth, and here is me doodling over his sketch. In this screenshot, he made the male figure me in drag, but I had him change that because this project is supposed to be off stage.
Me in 2009. I was probably 16 in this picture and going through my scene kid phase. That's my bedroom behind me, and I had a whole black and white editorial wall of images I had taken out of magazines I’d stolen from Barnes and Noble. You can see a Hedi Slimane Dior Homme ad right behind my right shoulder. I cut my hair into that style and I was stretching my ears out, and it was the time when indie sleaze, scene kids and being emo was real. MySpace was real. I've been thinking about it a lot lately because the new generation is doing a similar aesthetic in an ironic way, but I remember when I was doing it in 2009. Wearing these outfits in public was dangerous. A lot of people had never seen a guy wearing skinny jeans before, especially in Atlanta. It was really counterculture back then. So now that I'm seeing the scene kid aesthetic come back, I’ve been going down memory lane. This is also on a MacBook Photo Booth, which is so appropriate and authentic, as well.
I recently got a boyfriend for the first time, like ever. We were doing long distance for a minute and I was really missing him. I took myself out to lunch and I sent him this little doodle because I missed him, and I think it's really funny and cute. There are certain features that I really like about him and I tried to feature those in my doodle.
A selfie I took in Fire Island. I'm wearing DARDO out for the first time ever. We were on our way to a pool party in the Pines, and I felt cute and sexy. I love that Fire Island is a sacred, safe space for queer people. It's definitely one of my favorite places in the entire world. I actually brought a whole suitcase of speedos and belted swim briefs and shirts to give out to people, but I partied for seven days nonstop, so I didn't take pictures of anyone in the outfits. This is the one pic I got from Fire Island when I was meant to do a full shoot.
Me performing in Barcelona, Spain, back in March. I love these two ladies in the front row, who are gagging. I think I had just dropped into a split and done a hair flip, which is one of my go-to cheap drag tricks. I just love these two girls in the front: the one with her hand out and the one with her phone out in a zebra top and a bob. I live for it. There’s also a guy in the background gagging and a goth girl in the front gagging. It makes the split worth it. I'll break my hip for these people.
Pride had just happened and it was intense. I saw this post on Instagram and I couldn't relate to it more. I was at this crossroads a while ago when I chose to not transition into a woman, and to just identify as gender fluid and be a cis man and do drag as my gender expression. Now I feel like I'm back at this crossroads again because I would like to go to the gym more and maybe lean into my Butch Queen-ism a bit. So I thought this graphic was so funny. It made me feel better because it made me realize that a lot of people deal with this, and a lot of people are going through trying to figure out who they are and what they want to be and where they fit in. It was really comforting just scrolling and seeing this.
This is from a guy that I was trying to hang out with, so I invited him and put him on the list for this party in Los Angeles. He said he was coming, but he never showed up. It was 2:24 in the morning, which in LA, the night is basically over. So I texted him, "Going to bed,” and sent a picture of the grandma from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as my response. I'm gonna start sending the grandma from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a response more often. I am a grandma now, so I'm going to bed.
A very crude sketch of an unreleased zip-up hoodie that I think will be dropping in early fall. I designed it because I love going to gigs in a hoodie and leaving in a hoodie, and I have to have a zip-up hoodie because of my makeup when I'm going to gigs. I also designed the hood to be extra long so that when I'm flying on an airplane, I can pull the hood down. I'm very excited for this to come out, I wear this all the time. Here's a little sneak peek.
To create anything, really, I'm constantly referencing. I’m such a visual person. I'm always screenshotting and saving things. I collect magazines and take pictures of everything that could possibly inspire me, aesthetically. So for the launch of DARDO, I physically printed every single possible piece of inspiration out, and went through it all and made physical moodboards. It's nice to look at everything and physically touch it, and I'm going to continue to work in that way.
My feedback on the DARDO Lace Me Up One Piece.
Violet your a forever icon 🥲
Love. Love. Loved this draft. 🩵