Our runway draws from the Harlem Renaissance,  a Mecca of Black arts, but also a multicultural, multilingual, multi-diasporic movement shaped by:Black American visionaries, Caribbean migrants, Afro-Latinx communities, Puerto Rican and Dominican creatives, Desi/South Asian workers and artists and Creole innovators

The Renaissance was a queer cultural revolution: rent parties, drag balls, cross-dressing clubs, and gender-bending cabaret performers shaped the nightlife that inspired modern ballroom culture itself.

This era was fashion as rebellion. Identity as resistance. Luxury as defiance. Art as survival. The runway honors this truth.

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FQ RUNWAY — “Harlem Heiress”

Step into the lineage of Black femme luxury. This category embodies generational wealth, sophistication, and the soft authority of a woman who owns every room she enters. Your walk should radiate confidence, glamour, and heirloom elegance with your FUR stole serving as the crown of your presence.

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BQ UP IN PUMPS — “Stiletto Enforcer”

Heels sharpen your power now use them to dominate the runway. This category is about masculine precision elevated by femme height. Your HAT must become part of the storytelling.

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WOMEN’S RUNWAY “Catwalk Sovereign”

Pure editorial femme energy. Think Paris Fashion Week meets Harlem glamour. Your CLUTCH is an extension of your dominance.

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ALL AMERICAN RUNWAY — “Classic Authority”

Timeless, clean, undeniable. Give us traditional silhouettes with a modern edge sharp, simple, powerful. Your SUNGLASSES should heighten the unbothered aura of someone who doesn’t follow trends… they set them.

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EUROPEAN RUNWAY — “Editorial Noir”

High fashion. Drama. Precision. This category celebrates the sculpted, exaggerated silhouettes of European couture with a Noir twist. Use your GLOVES to accentuate lines, angles, and mood. Everything should feel intentional, exaggerated, and camera-ready.

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DRAGS RUNWAY — “Harlem Cabaret Royalty”

This runway honors the drag queens, cabaret divas, and gender-expansive icons of the Harlem Renaissance who shaped queer nightlife as we know it. Your TRAIN should amplify your drama, elegance, and theatricality. Walk like you belong on a Harlem stage in 1932… and in 2026.

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NB/GNC RUNWAY — “Fluid Architecture of the Diaspora”

Harlem’s history is multicultural — African American, Caribbean, Afro-Latinx, Creole, Desi, and beyond. This category honors that truth. Your fashion must blend gender fluidity with diasporic brilliance. Your zoot suit, flapper dress, saree, dhoti, Jíbaro, or bomba dress, can be traditional, reimagined, or deconstructed — but it must move with intention as you walk.

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LEATHER RUNWAY — “The Leather Syndicate” (For our Leather community)

The Harlem Renaissance was an act of rebellion — against racism, policing, respectability, and gender rules. Leather symbolizes that spirit. This category is raw power, underground glamour, and queer resistance. You full leather outfit is symbol of authority, control, and Noir revolution.

8 trophies 1 cash prize

FQ PERFORMANCE — “Velvet Femme Precision”

Wear lace gloves it to frame your dips, hands, or face.

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WOMEN’S PERFORMANCE — “Showgirl Stealth”

Bring it with feathers for soft femme theatrics, Moulin Rouge style.

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BQ PERFORMANCE — “Noir King Vogue”

Let suspenders accent your lines.

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GNC/NB PERFORMANCE — “Androgynous Voltage”

Use a bow tie, tie, or neck ribbon  to switch energies soft, hard, fluid.

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PERFORMANCE LEGENDS — “Hall of Shadows”

Bring it in Black satin gloves a symbol of status and legacy.

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NEW PERFORMANCE — “First Light”

Make a statement. you are the new kid on the block ready to Vogue down. Bring it in white gloves. 2 years and under. 

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REALNESS W/ A TWIST — “Dual Illusion”

Must reveal the face through a mask mid-presentation to transition from realness to twist.

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DRAGS PERFORMANCE — “Cabaret Diva”

Show stopping diva energy , bring it in a jeweled necklace or top, celebrating  Harlem’s queer cabaret culture.

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8 trophies , 1 cash Prize

THE ART OF VISIBILITY-$500

Noir lighting. High cheekbones. Soft lips. Luminous skin. Let your face tell the story.

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Women’s Face: “Goddess of the Night”

Barely-touch-me glow, soft glam, divine femininity. A plume, or boa, used to unveil your natural glow.

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FQ Face: “Silken Siren”

Radiance, symmetry, and effortless seduction , the face that stops the room. Let a feather fan flirt, tease, and sculpt your face under the lights.

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BQ Face: “Noir King”

Clean, moisturized, structured beauty that captivates in the spotlight. A rhinestone detail that catches the light and highlights your bone structure.

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NB/GNC Face: “Androgynous Muse”

Fluid, undefinable, magnetic. A face that exists between worlds. Bring it with a hand mirror.

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MF Face: “Pretty Prince”

Soft masculinity, tender glam, and a glow that plays with duality. Bring it with a silk scarf to unveil your glow.  

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Drags Face: “The Painted Diamond”

Precision, boldness, jewels, exaggeration, beauty a masterpiece under cabaret lights. Wear bold earrings to frame your masterpiece.

6 trophies, 1 Cash Prize

THE ILLUSION OF POWER

Bring the fantasy. Bring the life. Bring the Noir.

FQ Realness: “Queen of Harlem Realness honoring Stephanie St. Clair”

Bring it serving Queen of Harlem  spirit, poise, and untouchable presence of Stephanie St. Clair, widely known as the original “Queen of Harlem” for her powerful influence in the 1920s–30s numbers world. Have your receipts, a ledger, or checkbook to show who the Queen B is! 

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Executive Realness: “The Black Corporate Elite”

Silk ties, sharp tailoring, quiet money. Step into your corner-office fantasy. Bring the aura of quiet wealth and strategic power. Your briefcase should complete the look. 

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Thug Realness: “Street Noir”

Grit meets glamour embody the confidence, swagger, and danger of the block. Bring it with a chain 

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School Boy Realness: “Prep Academy Noir”

Think vintage prep, collegiate charm, and polished innocence with edge. Your notebook or schoolbook should frame your boyish charm.

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Trans Man Realness: “The Gentleman’s Club”

Suited, suave, undeniable. Bring the masculinity you walk with every day with a pocket square. 

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Drags Realness: “High Femme Chameleon”

Serve a flawless illusion glamour, softness, and hyperfeminine. Serve your look with a feather boa.

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Stud Realness “Masc of Center on Malcolm X Blvd”

Serve it with a wallet chain or key ring worn at the hip of your suit.

7 trophies, 1 cash prize

Dark luxury. High evening fashion. Couture elegance with diaspora flair. Your look must read expensive, intentional, and unforgettable. Your outerwear should offer a moment of drama that seals your place as best dressed of the night.

1 Trophy 1 Cash Prize

OTA Sex Siren – “Noir Seduction”

Slither, tempt, command. Serve sensuality with artistry. Bring it in red.

1 Trophy

In Memory of James Ashby

Honor the lives of LGBTQ+ artists and individuals with an original poem or spoken word piece. This piece should also honor those we’ve lost to suicide, shedding light on the struggles faced by many in the LGBTQ+ community. Through your words, create space for healing, raise awareness of mental health, and pay homage.

1 Trophy 1 Cash Prize

OTA Body – “Divine Physique”

Soft. Cut. Stacked. Sculpted. Celebrate the body you crafted in  Black. 

1 Trophy 

Body vs Sex Siren- 1 GP $200

OTA BIZARRE — “The Burlesque Oddity: A Tribute to Lola Loquacious”

This category is a love letter to the unforgettable Lola Loquacious This category is dedicated to the one-of-a-kind Lola Loquacious the legendary Unicorn of Burlesque. Lola was unapologetically Black, unapologetically fat, unapologetically queer, and unapologetically herself in every room she ever touched. She showed up loudly, proudly, boldly, and beautifully never shrinking, never apologizing, always expanding the stage for others.

Tonight, we honor her with a celebration of sensual oddity, rebellious glamour, and the fearless embodiment of self that Lola championed. Walkers must channel burlesque through the surreal merging tease with transformation, seduction with strangeness, beauty with the unexpected.

Your structural adornment should turn your body into a living spectacle:

part burlesque fantasy,

part avant-garde creature,

part Lola’s magic —

joyful, mischievous, bold, and liberating.

This is burlesque through Lola’s universe where the body is celebrated, identity is sacred, and the performance is a declaration:

“I am here. I am enough. I am unforgettable.”

1 Trophy, 1 Cash Prize