It was Velour’s parents who introduced the aspiring artist to classic cinema. “For a while, my favorite movie was Vertigo,” says Velour. “Everything in that movie was captivating to me. [Novak] had a couple different looks because she plays two characters—or one with a drag transformation—with dark hair and as a blonde.” That duality, along with the actress’s wardrobe and attitude, had Velour sold on ’60s fashion: “I feel like the the geometric silhouettes are very satisfying to me because they look like a drawing.”

This informal education would work its way into the runway-worthy confections she created for RuPaul. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do,” says Velour of Drag Race. “The fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants element of drag is quite real; some of [the looks], I only had two weeks to create.” But the end results were a fashion critic’s dream: One moment would see Velour modernize flapper fashion in the spirit of Marc Jacobs, while on other occasions, Velour unleashed her inner punk à la Vivienne Westwood. “It’s a smattering of different references,” says Velour, who cites Annie Lennox, Björk, and Grace Jones as inspiration. “I love seeing what icons like that are able to do when they push against the traditions of beautiful femininity and do more experimental, out-of-the-box looks. That’s the queen I want to be.”

Indeed, some of her most memorable looks this season could have been pulled from the runways at Chanel, Margiela, or Prada. Process-wise, “I sketch it over and over again and figure out what I could add to it and make it more fashionable in my eye,” Velour says. For a challenge that saw her create a drag persona for a crew member, Velour employed color to offset the vintage feel. Another occasion had the contestants re-create a memorable Madonna moment, which Velour interpreted through corsetry and leather. “I loved that something could be both simple and extreme at the same time,” said Velour of her ensemble, which mimicked designs from Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel’s Pre-Fall 2016 collection.

After creating so many eye-catching looks in such a short amount of time, does Velour have ambitions to design her own line? “I’ve been playing a lot with designing textiles,” she says. “It relies heavily on my background as an illustrator and graphic designer.” As for future ensembles to test out for herself, “I’m excited to go in an even more opulent direction,” she says. “Captivated and terrified—those are the influences for glamour that always got to me. The ones that scared me a little bit and surprised me.” Whatever she wears, one thing is certain: She’ll pair it with her signature geometric brow. “I’m never going without it, ever again.”

How Valentina From RuPaul’s Drag Race Becomes Fabulous | Beauty Secrets