Meet Dorian Electra, the Electrifying Artist at Collina Strada

Collina Strada’s sun-soaked runway show yesterday, held on top of the Brooklyn Grange at Sunset Park, ended with a creeptastic, thumpy rendition of “Happy,” with twisted vocals more akin to the chatter of Teletubbies than the song’s original singer, Pharrell. The performer, Dorian Electra, grooved down the runway in a full Collina Strada look, including a blouse printed with adorable animals and a pair of wide-leg pants with swirly aquamarine prints. (The green pants matched their neon green streaked hair.) Electra and their pencil-drawn mustache—two tiny wisps above the upper lip—created a truly hypnotic performance, lunging at spectators while singing down the catwalk.

Electra, a Texas-native who now resides in Los Angeles, was a perfect fit for the chaotically blissful runway show. They had first heard about Collina Strada from the musician Angel Emoji back in 2019. From there, they had seen their circle wearing Collina Strada’s magical, earth-minded pieces. Worlds collided when the Collina Strada team invited Electra to perform at the spring 2022 show. “The whole show is very fun and chaotic,” says Electra.

Electra’s genderfluid identity plays a role in how they dress. Take a look at their music videos in which Electra vacillates between wearing a gladiator uniform in “Man to Man” and cosplaying as a totally camp version of a pumpkin spice-latte guzzling brunette who sweetly sings in “F the World”. While Electra notes that they are “new to the fashion world,” they seem at ease navigating it. Electra doesn’t pull punches while dressing up. In some instances, they will mix a 17th-century costume piece with a pair of sneakers, a total visual clash. “I think about fashion the same way that I think about my music,” says Electra. “I like to purposefully juxtapose the most historically and aesthetically incoherent genres.”

Their style came together after they graduated college in Chicago, Illinois, and got involved in the drag scene. “During that time, I really started to embrace my gender fluidity and it had a huge impact on my sense of style,” they say. “It felt really freeing to be able to wear whatever I wanted, and feel like wearing highly gendered clothing became a deliberate conscious choice that I could fuck with and remix at will.”

To get the garments, Electra prefers actual costumes from the likes of Party City. “When the costume is made so cheap it ends up looking totally different from the picture, I love mixing that kind of stuff with things that people will send me, like Margiela shoes,” they say. As for their next look? Electra has a few tricks up their sleeve. “I’m on a mission to bring back steampunk.” Whatever they choose, we’ll be watching.