I am:

Lola Popstickle. I’m the first daughter of Tess Tickle. My drag persona is very sweet, a little bit slutty probably, which comes from my mother. I have been doing drag now for about 17 years and these days I don't typically perform. I call myself a socialite. I like to just be out there, being seen more than getting hot and sweaty on a stage after spending so many hours of getting ready.

My fashion sense has been shaped by:

I'm inspired by glitz, glam, sequins and rhinestones, colour, and anyone who uses fashion as a form of storytelling. Beautiful gowns seen on the catwalks and the award ceremonies or black-tie events, pop art and cartoonish fantasy. And a lot of my aesthetic comes from wanting to look like a walking illustration – bold, curvaceous, and slightly too much in the best way. Drag fashion in Aotearoa has levelled up massively in my 17 years of drag, majorly from the Drag Race phenomenon.

There's more visibility, more local designers who get drag, and a community that celebrates experimentation. Watching that growth has given me the ability to push my own style further, to become more conceptual, more polished, and more unapologetically Lola. When the final lash goes on and the wig slips into place, something clicks.

I straighten up, I glow. I become Lola in full technicolour. The clothes just don't change how I feel. They change how I move, how I speak and how I take up and demand space. Fashion is my bridge to the audience. It invites people into my fantasy, my delusion, and lets them admire me as a hair stylist, a makeup artist, and a wig stylist.

My relationship with fashion is:

Fashion is definitely the core of Lola. As a self-proclaimed socialite, it's how I announce myself even before I open my mouth. My style tells a story using colour – the camp drag fantasy. It lets me take up space in the most delicious way possible. Without fashion, I'm still me, but with it I become the full-strength Popstickle experience.

Fashion and I are in a long-term situationship. It's dramatic, affectionate, slightly chaotic, but I'm definitely committed to a look. When people look at me and drag, I want them to see a character who is sugary, stylish, a little surreal and always intentional through the choices of colour, textures and silhouettes.

Putting together an outfit / inspiration:

I do a little bit of everything. I design, I style, collaborate and curate, but nothing touches my body without going through the Popstickle filter. I love having my hands in the process because it keeps me true to what my drag vision is.

Constraints are always budgets, always the time, always trying to hunt down the right materials and Aotearoa. But drag queens are resourceful and we can make glamour out of a piece of fabric and safety pins. A look takes hours, sometimes days. Sketching, sourcing, sewing, gluing, fixing, maintaining.

After the performance, it doesn't just magically hang itself up. She needs care. It's not just about the clothing, but it's also about hair, makeup, accessories designed to suit the specific look. I think the audience appreciate the glam, but they often don't see the labour behind it.

Other performers definitely do. We know the sweat that goes into it. The hot glue gun burns, the broken needles, the midnight meltdowns. And I know there's a real respect within the community for the craft.

My style is inspired by a cocktail of New Zealand drag icons, my drag mother Tess Tickle, the glamour goddess of New Zealand drag Buckwheat, Amanduh La and Kola Gin.

These are just a few of the most glamorous drag queens and the most lovely and caring people I always wanted to be like when I started drag.

When I’m not in drag:

Fashion is always a part of what I do. Offstage, my fashion is quieter but still essential. It's part of how I express myself day to day. Not as loud as Lola, but still thoughtful, still colourful, still mine. It keeps me connected to my creativity even when I'm not in drag.

Portrait by Denise Baynham, 2025.

Audio engineering by Finn Hopley.
Video by Rochelle Ivanson.

Last published January 2026.

This exhibition was created for the New Zealand Fashion Museum for Pride 2026 with support from Britomart Group, Foundation North and The Rule Foundation.