Want to look like pop star Chappell Roan? She tells you how in new series

NEW YORK – She writes chart-topping queer love songs, proclaims proud allegiance to the world of drag, draws huge crowds at festivals and is quickly gaining ground on the twin deities of parasocial fandom: Beyonce and Taylor Swift.

And while Kayleigh Rose Amstutz – Chappell Roan to you – seems as if she came out of nowhere, flame-haired and defiant, it took almost a decade for the 26-year-old American pop star, who went from posting pop covers on YouTube to drawing huge crowds at music festival Coachella, to attain overnight stardom.

Naturally, early shout-outs from Australian singer Troye Sivan comparing the newly minted Best New Artist Grammy winner with English music superstar Adele were a big help, but her upward trajectory has had as much to do with crafting a canny pop image as with garnering celebrity likes.

This is clearly underlined in Faces Of Music, a new Hulu docuseries created in collaboration with multinational beauty giant Sephora. The show highlights the mechanics of contemporary pop fame and the multi-platform strategies required to achieve it.

The theme of the series – which also features American singers Victoria Monet and Becky G – is the link between beauty and music. That focus mostly entails taking viewers through one of the make-up routines that, in the social media era, are equivalent of oil strikes.

For her episode, Roan recreates the make-up she devised for her 2023 album, The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess, which featured the hits Pink Pony Club and Hot To Go!. More tellingly, she discusses the inner workings of fame creation and how she meticulously constructs her persona, in much the same way American pop star Lady Gaga, with her monster platform shoes and meat dresses, did roughly an aeon ago in internet years.

“I am inspired by artistes who create ecosystems for their projects,” Roan says, citing American singer Lana Del Rey as a prime example. Roan’s view may lack some historical perspective. Still, the point holds.

Unlike their pop culture predecessors, Roan and her cohort have an ability to send fans direct to merchandisers. Logically, this might be a cue for collaborations and brand tie-ins. Yet Roan, who uses her social media accounts to promote specific looks and themes of what fans should wear to her shows – in ripe and unpublishable language – has been notably resistant to turning the events into marketing opportunities.

Themes for her concerts have included Midwestern Princess, Mermaids, Duos and Pink Pony Club. Many are devised in collaboration with her stylist Genesis Webb, who became YouTube-famous at 14, claims drag deities like Divine as her inspiration and works from a “dungeon-esque” studio in Los Angeles.

Unlike, say, Madonna – another trendsetter whose stage costumes grew increasingly elaborate as she scaled pop heights and were created in collaboration with couturiers like Jean Paul Gaultier – Roan’s looks remain accessible to fans, do-it-yourself and relatively affordable.

“She wears Rabanne and Y/Project,” said Ms Dani Cabot, owner of the storied Manhattan vintage store Screaming Mimi’s, of a few trendy designer labels Roan is known to feature. “But there’s a lot of vintage in the mix, and she also works with smaller, independent designers.”

She cited Roan’s selections from Zana Bayne, whose harnesses and chokers are far from cheap, but can be replicated on bargain sites dedicated to Halloween and cosplay.

“The customers view her looks as aspirational and accessible,” she said, adding that Roan’s constantly evolving wardrobe – overtly inspired by drag – is fuelled by the ceaselessly evolving microtrends core to platforms like TikTok.

“What’s brilliant about Chappell Roan is that what she’s doing harkens back to the club kids of the ’90s,” Ms Cabot added. Her themed day concerts are much more than an outlet for creativity, but “a way to bring into real life communities that most people get to experience only online”. NYTIMES