Fashion and costume designer Zaldy Goco has worked with superstars ranging from Britney Spears and the Scissor Sisters to Gwen Stefani and Lady Gaga on their spectacular three-ring concerts and world tours, but his latest project is quite literally his biggest circus of all.
“‘Volta’ is my third Cirque du Soleil show after the two Michael Jackson shows I designed, but this is also my first proper tent show,” says the 52-year-old designer, who was born Salvator Goco and attended St. Ignatius High School in San Francisco. “It was fun to go to that kind of setting in the round — it’s a real traveling circus.” The Chronicle spoke with Zaldy, as he’s known professionally, about his work for the new production, opening in San Francisco’s AT&T Park Nov. 15, as well as his time as a bi-gender model in the 1980s. Zaldy also spilled the tea on his long, Emmy-winning collaboration with drag superstar RuPaul.
Q. What’s the style story for “Volta”? One group of performers seem very vivid, while the other is more subdued.
There’s different performer families in the show that I got to help define. Some were multicolored, called the Free Spirit Family, another was called the Grays. It was about families coming together. The Free Spirit Family are meant to be an evolved group that lived off the land. I asked, “Where do they shop?” I wanted it to be sustainable, upcycled-looking, bags, and backpacks and netting get cobbled together in a look with hand techniques like braiding, things you’d do on your own. They’re the colors of life, of being out in the sun.
Q. How did growing up partially in the Bay Area influence your desire to go into fashion?
In school, I was a mix of preppy meets skater. After high school, I met people outside of school that were more glam and into Prince. It got me out there into playing around with myself as the muse. When I moved to New York, I started doing shoots with Steven Meisel and Steven Klein and people thought I should be a model. I became a model and a drag queen. It sort of entered my life without my thinking, and I went with it.
Q. What was modeling like in the late 1980s and early ’90s?
The experience was many things. Remember also that I was a special model — you could hire me as a boy or a girl. I was androgynous. I wanted to work for Thierry Mugler as a designer but ended up as one of his models. It was so glamorous then; fashion shows weren’t as available as they are now. When I walked for Mugler in Paris, it was in a production with Diana Ross, Tippi Hedren and Patty Hearst. That would never happen today! Then you get to the set full of supermodels: Linda (Evangelista), Christy (Turlington), women who I only saw in George Michael videos. It was the height of glamour. My first shoot for (agency) IG was with Kate Moss, I mean, that was WOW.
Q. Your work with RuPaul on “Drag Race” has won you two Emmy Awards. After 10 years, is it hard to think of new gown concepts for each show?
I remember when Ru approached Matthu (Anderson) and I. We were with Susanne Bartsch in Japan for a party, and Ru asked us to be his image designers. I had no idea what the responsibility would be, but of course we said yes. It was a great working relationship that really hasn’t changed; the joy and respect is still the same. We knew we were pushing buttons but it was all for fun. Now it’s all been elevated into a new arena with these awards. It’s pleasantly unexpected to find ourselves here. It’s remarkable — the 11 seasons I’ve done of “Drag Race” and “All Stars” that the deep trust of knowing someone’s shared progressive vision is still there. I don’t sketch, we don’t do fittings — I just design them and send them, and Ru wears them. That’s how much we got “Drag Race” down. It’s almost telepathic.
Q. What else is currently in the works?
Ru and I are shooting a new series called “AJ and the Queen” on Netflix by Michael Patrick King, who also created “Sex and the City.” I’m doing sketches for that — Ru and I are left alone to create the best character with the looks for each episode. We get to do things on a scripted show I wouldn’t do on “Drag Race.” I’m also creating some custom looks for Katy Perry on “American Idol,” and we just started work on Gaga’s Vegas residency. It starts Dec. 28; the looks will be really big.
{ SOURCE: San Francisco Chronicle }
