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WChicken Lady Isabelle Brooks has taken over the world’s screens. RuPaul’s Drag Race, Houston was encouraging her from her hometown, and this support was in two ways. Season 15’s self-proclaimed “Heavyweight Champion” features many of the looks that were created by Houston designers Gene Martini and Yahira Dehill.
Even those who did not follow Drag race. You may have seen Martini and DeHill’s work on stages around Houston, as both designers are active in the local drag scene with several clothing projects in the works.
Before discovering their passion for designing costumes for drag shows, Martini said, “I couldn’t is not Make it fashionable if I want. This shit is in my blood. From his mother to his great-grandmother, with a sewing machine sitting in their studio, Martini was determined to follow the fashion of the future.
Martini, who is pansexual, started designing clothes in high school and founded the school’s fashion club. Growing in confidence, after being asked to create “simple dresses” for local drag performers, they enrolled in the HCC School of Fashion Design. “If it wasn’t for them, I probably wouldn’t have had the confidence to do things, because they loved all the original designs. They literally looked at my sketchbook and were like, ‘I want this.'” Martini remembers.
“Then it snowed. Honestly, most of it is just doing things for my friends – the ones who ended up doing great things [my fashions]. Lady Isabelle was like, ‘Hey, girl, I need to use your machine, because mine’s broken,’ or something like that. And then she used things. Drag race. As I did her and ‘Oh I trust you!’
DeHill already had an impressive track record under her belt when she was involved in designing costumes for drag shows. After graduating from Prairie View A&M with a degree in architecture, she began designing cakes and participating in recycled runways, which led to her involvement in the Houston fashion world.
Six years ago, Dehill and her husband attended an island drag contest at a local club and “fell in love.” Since then, her husband has been competing in drag, with Dehill building his costumes and doing the make-up for shows.
“At first the family thought it was weird, because ‘What are you doing? Why are you putting makeup on your husband?” recalls Dehil.
Now, Dehil says her mother is one of her biggest supporters and helps her with sewing. She will be joining DeHill at her first DragCon this year and is now “part of this world.”
“I think people don’t really know what’s going on [with drag]. They only think They know what’s going on and get over it right away,” DeHill said. But once you get to know the whole community, you fall in love with the people and the culture.
When others in the drag community learned that Dehill was designing and making her husband’s clothes, they began asking her to make theirs. “I had to learn things quickly. Sometimes I would make costumes for three of the five people performing. [at a show]So I had to learn to be very fast,” she said.
That speed continues to be a virtue with a large customer base. She often has several projects going on at once. “Every day there is a show. There’s always a need for costumes, so it seems like we can’t go out of business,” laughs Dehill.
Martini had a similar experience, having long forgotten how many clothes he had packed. But she was well aware of how quickly they had to shape and act.
Fashion and clothing design, Martini notes, has always been a female-led industry, with many famous designers following in the footsteps of their mothers and grandmothers before them.
“Although there are many male fashion designers, the nitty-gritty in the actual clothing departments and in these fashion houses, it’s always women. You rarely see men on the floor. I’m not saying it can’t be done by men or anything like that, but it’s a mostly female-led industry when it comes down to it.
They released their own music and Martini, who won Houston’s Pride Superstar competition in 2015, believes there is no “right way” to become a fashion or apparel designer. For example, Martini has been drawn to creating designs for short films, music videos, and especially drag shows.
“You have to create the look of this character, which is what got me into fashion in the first place,” emphasizes Martini. The Wizard of Oz For Beetlejuice’s signature gestures, he says, “These characters can’t exist without these costumes, so for me it’s creating what this character looks like. That naturally led me to drag queens, because most queens have their own personalities.
Dehill describes working with drag queens as “a dream come true”—a sentiment echoed by Martini. DeHill is motivated by competition and enjoys watching people do what they love to do, whether it’s on the Houston stage or on national television. Four sewing projects in her kitchen, three more in her studio, and a house currently commissioned for DragCon show her passion for costume design.
“When someone asks me for something, I try to make it happen. I try to make their vision and my vision – both things – come together,” says Dehill. “It’s fun working with different people, and drag queens have just been a dream to work with, because their costumes are crazy!”.
Continue with a gin martini Instagram @ginmartinidesigns_.
Continue with DeHill on Instagram @yahairadehilldesigns.
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