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: Beyoncé 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 pop star, who went from posting pop covers on YouTube to drawing huge crowds at Coachella, to attain overnight stardom.
Naturally, early shout-outs from Troye Sivan comparing Ms. Roan to Adele were a big help. Yet as adherents of her Pink Pony Club can attest, 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 Sephora. The show highlights the mechanics of contemporary pop fame and the multiplatform strategies required to achieve it.
The theme of the series — which also features the singers Victoria Monet and Becky G — is the link between beauty and music. That focus mostly entails taking viewers through one of the makeup routines that, in the social media era, are equivalent of oil strikes.
For her episode, Ms. Roan recreates the makeup she devised for her 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 way Lady Gaga, with her monster platform shoes and meat dresses, did roughly an eon ago in internet years.
“I am inspired by artists who create ecosystems for their projects,” Ms. Roan says, citing Lana del Rey as a prime example. Ms. Roan’s view may lack some historical perspective (Blondie, Talking Heads and Parliament-Funkadelic, anyone?). Still, the point holds.
Unlike their pop culture predecessors, Ms. 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 Ms. 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.
Past themes for her concerts have included Midwestern Princess, Mermaids, Kink Is My Karma, Duos or Pink Pony Club. Many are devised in collaboration with Ms. Roan’s 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 that were created in collaboration with couturiers like Jean Paul Gaultier — Ms. Roan’s looks remain accessible to fans, D.I.Y. and relatively affordable.
“She wears Rabanne and Y/Project,” Dani Cabot, the owner of the storied Manhattan vintage store Screaming Mimi’s, said of a few trendy designer labels Ms. Roan is known to feature. “But there’s a lot of vintage in the mix and she also works with smaller, independent designers.”
Ms. Cabot cited Ms. Roan’s selections from Zana Bayne, whose harnesses, chokers and assorted kink wear are far from cheap but can be replicated on bargain sites dedicated to Halloween and cosplay.
“The customers we have coming in view her looks as aspirational and accessible,” Ms. Cabot said of Ms. Roan, adding that her constantly evolving wardrobe — overtly inspired by drag — is fueled by the ceaselessly evolving microtrends core to platforms like TikTok.
“What’s brilliant about Chappell Roan is that what she’s doing hearkens back to the club kids of the ’90s,” Ms. Cabot said. Her themed day concerts are much more than an outlet for creativity, she added: “They’re a way to bring into real life communities most people only get to experience online.”
