"I faced the monster that was hiding under my bed": Karl Sanchez aka Nicky Doll, star of Ru Paul's Drag Race France

Some boys marvel at the agility of the footballers, others at the mastery of the designers.

This was the case of Karl Sanchez, child traveler and dreamer.

Born in Marseille on March 14, 1991, Karl traveled the world with his mother, from Saint-Martin, in the Caribbean, to Tangier in Morocco, where he spent his adolescence between shadow and light.

A joker, but also the target of mockery at school, he keeps his sexual orientation secret.

And, in private, takes refuge in worlds that reassure him: manga and fashion.

For him, both share “the same magic”.

Browsing on Youtube, Karl Sanchez discovers the parades of Thierry Mugler, Jean Paul Gaultier or Christian Lacroix, which allow him to "enter an alternative reality".

An obsession that turns into a refuge.

Then on the step.

“I learned to become a man by dressing as a woman”

2009. Karl Sanchez, 18, arrives in Paris.

On the occasion of Gay Pride, the young man in search of affirmation goes out and disguises himself as a woman.

“I kind of faced the monster that was hiding under my bed.

And by embodying my worst nightmare, I regained power, ”he analyzes.

Karl then falls in love with this art of transformation, and creates the character of Nicky Doll.

This powerful woman, fashion plate in the sense of the pest repartee, becomes a tool of acceptance.

"I learned to become a man by dressing as a woman," he said at the microphone of Brut.

Full screen

Host Daphne Burki, Nicky Doll and artist Kiddy Smile are the three members of the Drag Race France jury.

(June 2022.) Endemol

When Karl becomes Nicky, his wardrobe pays homage to the crazy 1990s, the decade of the supermodels and heyday of John Galliano at Dior.

But what happens in the dressing room, once the false eyelashes have taken off, is crucial.

"It wasn't until I embraced my passion for glamor that the day after the show, I put away 'the monster' in a suitcase, and that I really took the time to ask myself who Karl was. .”

Intrinsically linked by their obsession with fashion, the man and the drag queen make their way to New York City and the limelight together.

wax doll, silk doll

The world discovered Nicky Doll in February 2020, during the first episode of Ru Paul's Drag Race season 12, which popularized cross-dressing around the world.

Having become a make-up artist in the city, Karl Sanchez won, with his character, a place in this contest of legendary drag queens.

Naturally, among the labels that are commonly stuck on the candidates, Nicky Doll wins that of “fashion queen” for her impeccable look.

Funny and gifted with brushes, she shines with her looks inspired by Jean Paul Gaultier.

Which, if they do not allow him to win the competition, are enough to make him notice.

From then on, in his photo shoots, costumes inspired by Versace or Azzedine Alaïa rubbed shoulders with real fashion creations by Patou, Fendi or Lanvin.

Better, Instagram becomes a place of exchange with young creators who dress it, like Weinsanto, Ester Manas or Thebe Magugu.

Nicky Doll even becomes a muse: we can see her posing for Jean Paul Gaultier and Mugler perfumes or even for H&M.

But the parade has only just begun.

In 2022, she landed the role of mistress of ceremonies for the French adaptation of Ru Paul's Drag Race broadcast on France Tv Flash.

When Karl met Nicky

For his stylist Marion Renoux, Karl Sanchez is not a simple aficionado: “He is interested in the industry and above all, he understands the fabric”.

Creation is a way to satisfy your passion, but also to keep control.

Because Karl Sanchez "likes to have control" over his stage appearance.

He draws all his drag-queen silhouettes himself.

Thus, when Nicky wears a creation signed Jean Paul Gaultier, her happiness is mixed with the feeling of letting go of the reins a little.

The prerogative of a true fashion designer?

“It's funny, a clairvoyant once told my mother that I would work in a fashion house,” he notes.

If he does not claim to have the stuff, Karl Sanchez has, undeniably, the minimalist costume.

And the filming of the Drag Race program has just come to support where it's fashionable.

New moult

Because the show features Nicky Doll on stage, but also Karl Sanchez behind the scenes.

He who, until now, has lined up behind his character, faces a new challenge: to affirm his personal look.

The fan of the

, slim, Doc Martens, Perfecto, then calls on his stylist to dress him when he does not embody his character.

Marion Renoux, who has been working alongside her since 2019, is responsible for developing her “branded, sharp, but neutral” style into a more television look.

Karl works on the subject, lends himself to the game, and even surprises himself in changing his look towards elements that correspond more to the flamboyance of the drag universe.

Karl has "built his look the opposite of Nicky", but one no longer goes without the other.

A sartorial fable where opposites pull each other up.