STITCH Please!

Zoha Castelino chats with the drag artists who design their own fantasy

- Zoha Castelino

Behind every sequin is a story. For India's new wave of drag performers, those stories are stitched into every seam. They aren't just serving looks—they're making them by hand, with heart.

Costume isn't just a part of the performance; it is THE performance. And when you're designing and crafting it yourself, it becomes something far more intimate. "It's not just fabric and thread," says DeeDee Pls. "It's time, intention, emotion. Wearing something I've made feels like honouring every version of myself I never thought I'd be brave enough to live out loud."

FIRE STARTER

For many, the journey began long before drag ever took centre stage. Childhoods spent watching mothers sew, impersonating gods and goddesses in school plays and even running fashion brands. "My grandmother ran a tailoring shop in Khar market, Mumbai, for 70 years," says Gurleen, a non-binary designer and performer whose drag name is The Mermellion. "We've always been a family of tailors. Though I never made clothes for myself before drag, now I can't imagine not doing it."

Hiten Noonwal recalls learning to sew by sneaking in time on his mother's machine—the same one he still uses today. ZeQuinn (Harleen), on the other hand, didn't come from fashion at all. "I make apps for a living," they say. "But my partner Gurleen is a fashion designer. They helped me turn my chaos into craft."