“Avalon TV” offers an in-depth look at queer creative collective House of Avalon in a series streaming Monday on WOW Presents Plus.
Among the roommates in a group Zoom interview: Symone, the winner of season 13 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Gigi Goode, the fan favorite of season 12 of “Drag Race,” and fashion designer Marko Monroe, who co-founded House of Avalon as a queer art and fashion pop culture collective in 2016.
“For both of us,” recalls 26-year-old Gigi, “we knew then that ‘Drag Race’ was the starting signal. And that it would be something I would never forget.”
“Of course,” says 29-year-old Symone, laughing, “it was an honor. And I won the bitch!”
“But you’re always challenging yourself,” Gigi admitted, “and wondering what you’re going to do next. What are you trying to say? What can we build on?”
“It’s a way to show who you are in the brand. But then you have to do what you have to do. Like this show we’re doing now.”
“With Avalon TV, it was important to us to not only appeal to the fans,” Symone said. “But we also wanted to appeal to the fans who are in the space we’re in now: the fashion world. the television world. the celebrity world. We knew that was Step 1 of Drag Race.”
“Because two of us in this family are trans women,” she continued, the election this year is crucial. “It’s not just about everyone else’s rights, it’s about our health care.”
“For me, silence is just not an option. So our message is to be as loud as we can and keep doing what we’re doing. And I hope that other people can see that and support everyone in our queer family too.”
As a co-founder, Monroe has witnessed House of Avalon’s rise firsthand. “People understand our brand a little better now. When we moved here from Arkansas, it was hard for us to break into the entertainment industry and get seen,” he said. “Now people understand the thesis of our core collective.”
That means fashion, nightlife, drag, art, comedy. But House of Avalon is more than a concept; it’s a real house.
“We live on a street,” Gigi explained. “On that street, the House of Avalon is a house. On the top floor is Symone. Then there’s a driveway and next to it is our studio, which is where we are right now.”
“Across the street, my house is on the corner. We all took over the block.”
“Avalon TV” will stream on WOW Presents Plus on Monday
