Fashion
'Drag Race U.K's Bimini Bon Boulash Signs With Major Modeling Agency
"This is huge for non-binary representation in fashion."
March 29 2021 12:58 PM EST
May 26 2023 1:26 PM EST
MikelleStreet
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"This is huge for non-binary representation in fashion."
Another day of Bon Boulash domination.
After becoming the queen of hearts during their run on RuPaul's Drag Race U.K. series two -- they not only became a finalist and favorite to win, but also was named Miss Congeniality by their fellow queens -- Bimini Bon Boulash has been releasing announcement after announcement. The drag star has done quite a number of photoshoots, has announced a book, signed on to a public relations firm, and more. Now, they are announcing that they have been signed to Next Models in London.
"Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought this possible," Boulash wrote to Twitter, posting a photo from inside the agency. "This opportunity is a huge crazy, mind-blowing moment for my gender-non comforting a*s and to top it all off they have signed me to the management's main booking list rather than special bookings."
\u201cNever in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought this possible. This opportunity is a huge crazy, mind-blowing moment for my gender-non comforting a*s and to top it all off they have signed me to the managements main booking list rather than special bookings. \ud83d\ude0d\u201d— B\u00ce\u043c\u00ce\u03b7\u00ce (@B\u00ce\u043c\u00ce\u03b7\u00ce) 1617007983
\u201c\ud835\ude49\ud835\ude4a\ud835\ude52\u00a0\ud835\ude4d\ud835\ude40\ud835\ude4b\ud835\ude4d\ud835\ude40\ud835\ude4e\ud835\ude40\ud835\ude49\ud835\ude4f\ud835\ude44\ud835\ude49\ud835\ude42\n\nBimini Bon-Boulash at Next Management London\n\n@biminibabes\n\n#BiminiBonBoulash #NextModels\u201d— Next Models (@Next Models) 1617000644
True to their word, Boulash appears on the women's board as a model as opposed to being marketed as "talent," "artist," or "special bookings."
"This is huge for non-binary representation in fashion and I'm so thankful that want to take this chance with me!!" they wrote to Twitter. It makes sense given that they just shot for British Vogue.
Boulash is the latest to follow in a pipeline originated by Miss Fame. In 2016, they became the first drag performer represented by a major modeling agency on the women's board when they were signed to IMG Paris. At the time, the agency helped negotiate Fame's contract with L'Oreal Paris after they first connected with the brand during a Cannes Film Festival appearance. They were later followed at IMG by Aquaria. Fame has also been signed to Wilhelmina Models as well as Supreme Models.
The nonbinary performer always had a deep connection to fashion. Even on their season of Drag Race, Miss Fame criticized for being a look queen. In a prescient scene, they told some of their competitors "Some of our aspirations are not to be at the club for the rest of our career!" They stopped performing in May 2017 and have arguably become one of the show's preeminent look queens shooting for multiple iterations of Vogue.
In March 2020, Fame announced that they left IMG Models.
"After being told to be patient year after year, my press kits I curated after every show run not being utilized at all, no paid work for the entirety of my contract (2015-2020), texts not being replied [to] or met with blatant disregard to my numerous visits to the agency, I realized the prestige of having their title above me was not worth its weight," they wrote on Instagram Stories. They went on alleging they were mismanaged by IMG and would continue on with Supreme.
Other queens have also been signed to agencies: Pearl signed to Wilhelmina and Milk signed with Q while Gigi Goode and Naomi Smalls are both represented by One Management.
RELATED | Miss Fame, The Look Queen
Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.
Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.