The way Desmond Napoles, otherwise known as Desmond is Amazing, strutted down Grand Street with his mother Wendy in tow, rendered him undoubtedly recognizable as the 11-year-old drag kid my fellow Creator and I were supposed to be meeting with.
His walk should be soundtracked by a loop of âCover Girlâ by RuPaul, the sidewalk near enough becomes a catwalk. He turns and poses for invisible cameras, as we hadnât yet taken the lens cap off of ours.
Desmondâs cultural lexicon is more sophisticated than that of some RuPaulâs Drag Race contestants (a few of the contenders hadnât even seen seminal ballroom documentary Paris is Burning) and this became apparent when Desmond whipped out his Crystal LaBeija impression, rolling off lines as deftly as Aja in the All Stars 3 Snatch Game. Itâs no wonder he was named the face of New York City Pride 2018.
Desmond first became something of a cultural phenomenon in 2015, when a video of him vogueing down the streets of New York during that yearâs Pride parade achieved viral success.
Since that first video of Desmond, clad in a rainbow tutu, throwing shapes in the middle of the streets, emerged, Desmondâs profile has skyrocketed. Heâs been a guest at RuPaulâs DragCon, created his own drag house (the Haus of Amazing), been featured in Vogue and countless other publications, been named the face of New York Pride, opened the TeenVogue summit with a speech, among many other, for lack of a better word, amazing achievements.
And now heâs sat down with spoiled NYC. You can watch the interview here.
When asked about contouring, Desmond declares âI donât contourâ before impersonating Drag Race royalty Alaska Thunderfuck, quoting her âYour Makeup is Terribleâ song. When asked about how he came to be the face of New York pride, Desmond references his mother, dubbing her his âDrag-agerâ - watch out, Kris Jenner.
Unprovoked, Desmond specifies his preferred pronouns (him, he, his - in or out of drag, in case you were wondering) and elaborates on why he doesnât go by she, her etc, as is common for the majority of drag queens - at least when theyâre in drag. Desmond believes that drag queen is an âadult termâ going on to say âI refer to myself as a drag kid.â
Desmond first attended a pride parade while still in a stroller, but didnât walk the parade until he was 8-years-old. As to his viral vogueing, Desmond refers to it as his âfifteen minutes of fame.
I query this, telling him I think heâs extended it beyond that, Desmond mimes a steep incline with his hand (complete with âbloop bloop bloopâ noises) before sending the same hand plummeting towards his lap.
Yet, whatever post-2015 Pride Parade decline Desmond may have experienced, it seems the ensuing climb back upwards has reached a higher point than the virality he achieved three years ago.
Desmond has rubbed shoulders with the likes of RuPaul, and is represented by the same agency as Alaska, Adore Delano, Katya Zamolodchikova, and countless other Drag Race alumni. Desmond is also working on a childrenâs book titled âWe Are All Amazingâ in addition to releasing a single like many of his older, drag queen peers.
âAnyone who says this beautifulâŚâ Desmond trails off, searching for the term he just coined mere minutes ago, â...Drag-ager is forcing me to do this, they are 100% wrong! I love what Iâm doing. And itâs amazing.â
Desmond frequently interrupts the interview to get up, and sashay his way around the park amongst the statues in front of Stonewall Inn, much to the delight of the two girls sitting on the bench beside us. He manages to inject the motion of putting a plastic bottle in a bin with runway-ready grace.
As weâre leaving the park, Desmond vogues while talking to the camera, directly to his âAmaziesâ - the name he has dubbed his fans, crying out âI love you all, Amazies! You better work and keep being yourself - always.â
He caps off the sentence with an Alyssa Edwards-ian tongue pop.