Symone is an LA-based drag queen and winner of Season 13 of Rupaul’s Drag Race, who sometimes goes by Reggie Gavin. Her drag combines high fashion with politics, often with a focus on Black culture and civil rights movements. She was an early fan favourite in Season 13 of Drag Race, with multiple articles speculating her win at the start of the competition.

Growing up in Conway, Arkansas, Symone met designer Marko Monroe at a party, where Monroe said “she was in her bathroom looking fish-drag stunning and I just thought, holy fuck, this girl is everything.” The meeting led to a collaboration that resulted in some of Symone’s most famous Drag Race looks, including a durag train, beadwork two-piece, and iconic Black Lives Matter dress. 

Her Black Lives Matter dress, which featured gunshot wounds and a headpiece emblazoned with ‘Say Their Names’, was a pivotal moment for Symone. She said in one interview that “I wanted people to see the beauty and the gorgeousness, then I wanted to turn around and be very striking. Because that’s the reality that we face, Black people in general.”

She has recently modelled Baja East’s collection alongside fellow Dazed100er Gottmik and fronted a campaign for queer-owned candle company Boy Smells. Symone is also part of The House of Avalon, a queer artist collective based in LA, which last month organised Avalon TV: PLUGGED IN!. 

Text Robin Craig