Tianyun Lan: A Conversation With the World.
Skene Staff
Tianyun Lan is a costume designer and stylist whose work lives at the intersection of fashion, performance, and the construction of identity.
Tianyun Lan is a costume designer and stylist whose work lives at the intersection of fashion, performance, and the construction of identity.
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In a desert town that didn’t offer much nightlife, Sauvignon Blanca built their own. That impulse—to gather, create, and transform—has shaped everything since. Today, she/they dazzle as a drag performer with a unique visual language that blends absurdity, biology, and bold vulnerability. One moment it’s a balloon-stuffed bodysuit shifting the silhouette into alien terrain; the next, it’s a low-budget look elevated by pure imagination and intention. But underneath every transformation is a serious question: what does it mean to take your art seriously without taking yourself too seriously?
Through drag, Sauvignon explores failure, fantasy, reinvention, and queer resilience. Their work resists polish for the sake of polish, and instead insists on something far rarer: honesty. Whether discussing the struggle to build confidence, the chaos of last-minute creativity, or the politics dragging down drag itself, Sauvignon’s reflections are refreshingly open and layered with self-aware wit.
If you’re seeking perfection, look elsewhere. If you’re curious what it looks like to keep creating anyway—with or without resources, validation, or a sense of direction—this is an edition of PROFILES you need to read!
I was in West Texas with my partner, and we really missed nightlife, so we threw a big party and I began my drag journey. I also find it fun to transform into something completely different. Over time, my drag has developed to transform the shapes of my face.
One of my favorite looks is my balloon blob look. It is simply wearing a body suit of tights and pantyhose, and placing inflated balloons within the sleeves. It isn’t sophisticated, but it completely morphed my silhouette into something much stranger than I had anticipated. While maybe not the most polished, it was the first time I had exactly translated an idea from my head into reality. I feel like that rarely happens. It gave me confidence, well, the confidence to start building confidence, in my drag and how I approach it. As I’m writing this, I’m working on a new iteration of that exact look.
A little mix of both. I tend to wait until the last minute to work on things, unfortunately, quality is sacrificed sometimes, but the pressure jogs new creative ideas. I find being forced to work with what is directly around me allows me to come up with new ideas. I want to move away from that operation method. Let the creativity flow from a less stressful place.
Consistency, technical ability, and confidence.
Consistency: Drag is an art form that exists, at max, for 12 hours, it’s expensive, and, for me, is made for an audience. It can be difficult to find the time, space, and finances to come up with and fabricate consistently with new drag ideas
Technical Ability: My sewing ability is…lacking, my makeup skills have improved, but aren’t where I want them, making headpieces and props is not something I would say I excel at. So much of drag is making something and elevating it, making others believe the illusion of reverence that you see. When my technical skills cant match what I want to portray or make, it’s challenging.
Confidence: Doing non-traditional pageant drag, and wandering off on my own little creative path, it is hard to see if I’m doing it “right,” or with “quality.” Does this look as stupid as I feel? Did what I think is chic look like a mess of string? What if what I’m making is an unintentional joke?
It shaped my growth by just keeping it going. The answer to all of these challenges, for me, is moving forward, learn, be “humiliated”, be a beginner, and seeing what exists on the other side of creation. Art, and drag, should be revered, the creator should take the art form seriously, but themselves…not too much.
Conceptually, I’m inspired by infinity, reinvention, morphing, adapting, and working with what already exists
Tangibly, what inspires me, biology, chemistry, science, strange combinations of objects, Club Kids, so many forward-thinking drag / MUA artists, pleasantly confusing visuals, light-based installation art, friends, and my biggest inspiration, my creative counselor, the reason I have physically constructed garments, the artist I look up to the most, my partner, Paul Chavarria.
The absolute disregard for outdated norms and politics. I feel like the large majority of drag artists I know or have worked with are just tired of the outdated and non-functional.
Creatively, even traditional Texas drag has super contemporary qualities now, in my opinion. It’s never about burning down the old, no. It is respecting what’s there and placing a contemporary lens over it. It’s so exciting to see what cool ideas people come up with.
Politically, we are all just really tired of being shit on, and seeing our friends and family degraded. It’s not just the drag and Queer/Trans community, but marginalized groups in general. We aren’t accepting our government, which in theory should be in our best interest, but has not been. I’m so inspired by the people who lead the charge to change things at the political level.
Do the work no one else is willing to do, and you’ll be rewarded like no one else. Creativity is a muscle. Commerciality, success, and creativity are not synonyms. And lastly, be willing to fail, frustrated, and surprised.
Be genuine, be strange, and be kind.
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