Fantasy (Tony Fran) photographed by Tom Pilling - from the exhibition currently at the Southgate Art Gallery
Go through a door a few yards from Southgate tube station and step into a different, more exotic, world, that of drag artist Fantasy and costumier Moira Stansfield.
Welcome to Our World is a new exhibition running at the Southgate Art Gallery until the end of November. It celebrates the collaboration between Moira - whose 45-year career as a fashion designer/maker includes thirty years creating costumes for the Hazelwood Schools panto - and Tony Fran, a film director and Fantasy's alter ego (or is the other way round?)
Moira is part of the team behind Talkies Community Cinema, and it was at a Talkies film screening that she first met Tony and they discovered a mutual love of costume, drama and storytelling, and a shared background in design.
When, in 2016, Moira played host at a screening at the Fox in Palmers Green of cult movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Tony/Fantasy made a guest appearance and answered questions that Everyone Wanted To Know About Drag But Didn’t Dare Ask…
Unsurprisingly, after so many years of costume making, every available nook and cranny in Moira's home was taken up by a large collection of costumes, accessories and fabrics. Teaming up with Tony offered Moira the opportunity to use them for new creative expression, designing and making outfits for Fantasy to wear. Tony wrote and produced a short film entitled Wannabee, starring the fabulous Fantasy in her signature Quality Street dress, designed by Moira.
Tony's brother Kevin is also a drag artist, using the name Veronica Green, and together with Moira they collaborated on costumes for Veronica when she appeared in series 2 and 3 of Ru Paul’s Drag Race. Both brothers and their drag alter egos were the subject of a full-page feature in the Daily Telegraph in 2021, written by local journalist Xenia Taliotis.
Tony now works as a film and TV art director and has created music videos for both Veronica Green and his partner Vangelis Polydorou, a finalist on The Voice in 2016 and now touring with Boy George and Culture Club.
Drag styles cover a wide spectrum from grotesque monster drag to glamorous femininity, but always seek to express the personality of the drag queens and the stories they are trying to tell. Drag is becoming increasingly mainstream now with shows like Ru Paul’s Drag Race on the BBC, giving the artists a platform on which to showcase their skills and creativity whilst emphasising the dedication and energy required to be a fully-fledged Drag Queen.
Photo of the Southgate Club by Colin Dale