14 DAY TRIAL // Conchita Wurst, aka the “Bearded Lady” who won the singing competition Eurovision 2014 earlier this year, is officially the newest “it girl” in the fashion industry, redefining beauty and stereotypes. The upcoming issue of CR Fashion Book magazine brings a spread in which Conchita wears lace Givenchy lingerie, shot by Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld.
If there ever was a name that could legitimize an “it girl,” that’s probably it, though to Conchita’s credit, she’s already modeled on the catwalk for big names like Jean Paul Gaultier, one of the few designers known to embrace and celebrate that which is different, instead of shunning it.
Included in the gallery below are just few of the shots that will appear in the magazine, in the edition called “The New Normal.” Besides the photos by Lagerfeld, it will also feature an interview with Conchita, conducted by androgynous model Casey Legler, who made headlines when she decided to pose almost exclusively for men’s fashion rather than for women’s.
The spread includes photos of pregnant model Ashleigh Good as well.
Conchita goes by the name of Tom Neuwirth when not in character, but she’s always been there, ever since Tom was a kid.
“Conchita is the story of my life. I grew up in a small Austrian village, a quite conservative one, and I was the weird little boy always dressing as a girl,” she says in the interview. “I'd done drag since I was 14, for special occasions, and in 2010 a friend of mine with her own burlesque group was looking for a host.”
The rest, as they say, was history.
“During a party I was just fooling around, taking the microphone, saying stupid, funny things, and she asked me afterward if I wanted to host her burlesque show every Saturday. That was the point when I started to do drag regularly. It was overwhelming for me, because besides having fun and dressing up every weekend, I got to learn from such great artists, people who are allowed to do whatever they want. It opened my eyes to a totally new world,” Conchita explains.
Winning the Eurovision opened even more doors to her because she is the first drag queen to take home the big prize. The decision sparked protests and outrage and even hateful campaigns on social media (here’s looking at you, Russia) but, then again, when isn’t the Eurovision winner a disputed choice?
The bottom line is that it proved a huge platform for Conchita, who now seems to be on her way to becoming a famous model. She certainly has Karl Lagerfeld’s attention.
“I like Conchita because not only does she really have a voice but she has done something that's never been done before. We have all heard of ‘bearded ladies’ but no one has ever seen a bearded man posing as a lady.....This brings new meaning to the term ‘drag,’” the Chanel designers says for the same magazine.
To highlight just how unique Conchita is, a skinny male singer who poses as a woman but won’t shave off facial hair, Karl paired her with a heavily pregnant supermodel and he calls the juxtaposition “a game of volumes.” The result is in the gallery.
