After a busy fashion month, the drag queen sits down with Wonderland, telling all on his chameleon-esque performance art, childhood heroes, and his intimate relationship with beauty.
When granted an invite to a much-anticipated fashion show, the typical reaction presumably involves a detailed overview of your wardrobe, perhaps a flurry of panicked mirror selfies sent into the group chat, resulting in an anthem of your most prized garments. It’s an opportunity to put yourself on the map (read: patiently waiting to see if you made it onto a ‘fashion week’s best street fashion’ roundup, most likely to no avail). For self-professed transformer, Alexis Stone, to hell with looking his best! The makeup maven speaks in his own vocabulary, and his most prized possession are his exceptional SFX skills, which help him transform into the cream of the pop culture’s crop.
In the hands of Alexis Stone, fashion week gets a dose of the A-list life. The beauty aficionado has morphed into Miranda Priestly, Mrs Doubtfire, or even the Mona Lisa (fear not, it wasn’t a second heist attempt from Le Louvre, no e-scooters were used in the process of his transformation, we promise). Under the guise of a familiar celebrity, Stone gives onlookers an IRL magical illusion that sends eyes into a dizzy frenzy, as we second guess what we’re witnessing. Well, it’s not magic, per se, more eschewed to months and months of careful preparation accompanied by Stone’s transformation squad. But the end-product is uncanny, to say the least, rivalling the same level of production you’d see on the big screen, every detail – from top to bottom – is considered.
But, behind the many masks, prosthetics, moulds, and even custom-made scents (Stone worked with a professional perfumer to craft a bespoke tobacco-scented fragrance for his rendition of Jack Nicholson in 2024), of Alexis Stone, lies Elliot Joseph Rentz. The 32-year-old spent his formative years in Brighton, but it wasn’t quite the bubbling zeitgeist of Queer culture that the coastal city is revered for – Stone grew up in the suburbs, watching the fun from afar. Still, it didn’t take long for him to grow a penchant for the drag and makeup community, and now he gets to reap the rewards, escaping into whatever alter ego he chooses.
“Becoming these characters lets me inject humour into a world that can take itself a bit too seriously, and I think we need more of that,” Stone laments to Wonderland, and we couldn’t agree more, after all, we’re not exactly saving lives here. But Stone’s many alter-egos are no more than a human piñata to the online world, as his comment sections become doused in extensively opinionated digitally-literate viewers, all of which are eager to evaluate Stone’s success on whichever parody is his latest viral moment. The makeup artist’s most recent stab at a celeb transformation seems to have the internet popping off, pun intended, to enter his humorous approach to wellness – The Crunch Corntour Face Wrap.
PROPER has called on the expertise of Stone to unveil its first piece of Crunchwear, reinvigorating the beauty and wellness landscape with a much-needed dose of satirical fun. The Face Wrap has been constructed intentionally to lift, support, and align the jaw whilst chomping on PROPER’s mighty crunch. Entirely Vegan, their new crunch corn range comes in four flavours: Sea Salt, Crispy Chilly Oil, Barbecue, and Maple Bacon.
To commemorate PROPER’s comedic take on wellness, Stone’s transformation muse was obvious. With the blessing of the merkin queen herself, Stone transformed into Kim Kardashian – if there’s a viral product stepping onto the beauty market, all jokes aside, Kim K probably has something to do with it.
Now in the throes of settling into his Glaswegian studio, Stone sat down with Wonderland to talk us through the project, making sure to leave some insight into his transformative world of beauty. Read on for more…
Hey Alexis, how are you! What are you up to at the moment?
I’m good! It’s been a busy year, I’ve worked on a number of dream transformations and I’m plotting away for next year – bigger and better always. Most recently, I channelled my inner Kim to launch the PROPER Corntour Face Wrap. It was a tongue-in-cheek nod to the sometimes crazy world of wellness. It was such a fun, slightly ridiculous idea, and I had a lot of fun with it. I’m in the process of settling down in a studio in Glasgow where I live which will be a really exciting development to continue to hone my craft.
Before we get into your makeup transformations, let’s go back to the beginning. You grew up in Brighton, what was that like?
It was a coastal playground up until I left towards the end, from birth, to teens. However, it was more a village, rural areas with hourly buses that finished at 7pm. Schooling, growing up, and discovering partying, were maybe not as joyful as everyone’s idea of ‘The Gay Capital’ is but it was home growing up.
When did you find yourself gravitating to the drag and makeup world? Do you remember the first time it really clicked for you?
It took different turns throughout my 20s, but creativity has always been at the core of it.
Who were some of your biggest heroes/heroines growing up?
I mean I love a lot of people’s work, contributions, minds, and beauty, so it’s vast. Growing up I was really drawn to visually stimulating people like the Dame Edna’s, Joan River’s, and the Michael Jacksons of the world.
Tell me a bit about your relationship with makeup, how did it turn into this love for transformations?
I started concealing my teenage breakouts with concealer and powder, which evolved to drag as I was around it, but as a kid I was wearing fat suits and old lady dresses and wigs, I wanted to be Mrs Doubtfire in real life so when films like Mission Impossible were introduced, Big Momma, or White Chicks, I knew the art of transformation was doable. My love comes for Transformations before makeup, makeup is an important tool in my kit.
Talk me through what components go into turning into one of these alter egos? How do you go about picking who makes the cut?
Fashion is a collaboration of course, so initially I’ll get to know the Creative Director more personally as they also have their own interests and visions outside of the brands they work for. Everyone is gay and also loves the divas so it’s usually a quick whittling down.
With PROPER, it was especially fun because they encourage taking risks and leaning into parody. I’ve worked with Kim Kardashian before and transformed into her with her blessing, so when the idea of recreating that over-the-top wellness moment with the Crunch Corntour Face Wrap came up, I couldn’t say no.
What are some of the biggest physical challenges, has a transformation ever gone wrong? Are there any effects on your actual body?
I mean doing drag for years put my body through the ringer: corset blisters, chemical burns, it’s the same now but concealed in Couture (Thank god). I will always push the physical limitations on the gender swaps, it’s a part of my DNA and I love that it shows throughout the tone of my work. If I can land within the House Of Wax Realm, I’m happy.
What’s the reaction from people been like? Do you have a favourite icon who you’ve become?
I’ve experienced some very unique reactions and interactions with people, they look cool in videos and images of course but to experience them in real life is different. I’ll try and submerge myself as much as I’m willing to, which for some is everything to embody. I felt my most powerful as Jocelyne Wildenstein.
What is it about becoming these characters and taking on these roles that you enjoy most?
I love a production. I love putting a detail-focussed look, with different challenges together and being able to do the impossible. Becoming these characters lets me inject humour into a world that can take itself a bit too seriously, and I think we need more of that.
It’s the same energy I brought to my recent collab with PROPER as part of their Practice Proper Snacking platform to parody how absurd the wellness world has become – recreating the viral Skims face wrap as the Crunch Corntour face wrap, to turn snacking into a full-blown act of self-care.
Tell me a bit about how you became entangled in the fashion world? Why do you think it struck a cord so well?
Before Balenciaga reached out in 2020, I actually had my own brand that was represented by B Akerlund. I always collected archival Thierry Mugler, but from a consumption point of view rather than being ‘a part of it’. I think people in fashion gravitate towards the importance of identity, style, creativity, and expression, we all want to feel something and I think maybe my work reminds them about why they fell in love with the idea of fashion, film, and movies.
Looking forward, where do you want to take your career looking towards 2026?
There are lots of things on the horizon, there is one particular baby that is years in the making and involves many creative collaborators I care deeply about – I can’t wait to share that with the world.
Words – Freya Goodchild
