Creative Direction & Photographer / Jordan Millington Liquorice
Stylist/ Phil Gomez
Glam/ Esteban Martinez
Producer / Elizabeth Kline Murphy
Set Design / Philipp Haemmerle
Digital Tech / Matthew Kanbergs
BTS DP / Karl Elchinger
Photo Assistant/ Adam Dicarlo
Set design Assistant / Oscar Haemmerle
Stylists Assistant / Brandon Norfleet
Production Assistant / Lexxe
Post / ND Creative Studio
Studio / Smash Box Studios
In conversation with makeup visionary and longtime collaborator Esteban Martinez
In a world obsessed with filters and fleeting trends, Amanda Lepore remains a living, breathing masterpiece—a woman who turned her life into an act of radical, enduring beauty. To step into her presence is to enter another dimension: one that smells of powdery florals, shimmers with rhinestones, and hums with the disciplined rhythm of self-invention. “You should smell me before you see me,” she says, her voice soft but assured, recalling the perfumer who once told her that a signature scent is a declaration of existence.
From New Jersey girlhood dreams to New York nightlife royalty, Amanda has always known who she is—and who she refuses to be. “I didn’t let anything get in my way,” she tells LADYGUNN. Her body, her art, and her image are all deliberate creations, refined with the same care she gives to the rhinestones she hand-sets on her couture outfits. Every detail glimmers with intention. Every inch of her is performance, discipline, and poetry.
She’s part Marilyn, part Warholian muse, part self-made mythology—crafting herself with the precision of a sculptor and the devotion of a saint. For Amanda, transformation is both a form of rebellion and meditation. She speaks of glamour not as vanity, but as happiness; of femininity as freedom; of discipline as the invisible scaffolding behind her legendary image.
From her devotion to perfume and high heels (even in bed) to her thoughtful advice for the next generation of trans icons, Amanda’s world glitters with intention. Every rhinestone, every red glossed lip, every moment of stillness between shows is part of her sculpture—the one that moves, breathes, and commands a room before she even enters it.
Esteban: Where do we start? If you had never left New Jersey or moved to New York City, what do you imagine you would be doing right now? Would you still be drawn to performance, fashion, art, or being a showgirl, or something completely different?
Amanda Lepore: I don’t really know.
Esteban: Would you still be drawn to performance, fashion, art, or being a showgirl? I think so, right? Because you were always doing it even when you were there.
Amanda Lepore: Um, I would probably be doing this. I would probably end up doing the same thing that I’m doing now. I think it’s just my destiny.
Esteban: Mhm. Okay. So, how would you describe your identity with a scent, a smell, a taste, a touch, or a sound? What would Amanda’s scent be?
Amanda Lepore: My skin is as soft as a flower. My boobs are like cantaloupes. My scent is probably flowery, I think. Flowery sweet…
Esteban: Your scent is very distinctive because you can smell it as soon as you walk into your building, to your floor, all the way.
Amanda Lepore: Yeah, I do like perfume a lot. I slather myself in perfume. I always did. As far as I’m concerned, it’s part of the look, the whole experience.
Esteban: Yeah. How would you describe that scent?
Amanda Lepore: Like floral, a little sweet, powdery. I like the sexy, dirty kind of smell, you know, but not too much. I do like a very strong scent. And I like scents that stay for a long time. I spray it on my clothes, like, spray it on everywhere, you know, like anywhere you could think…
Esteban: I think one of the most iconic and memorable things, even for me, moving to New York City, was entering a room where you were, and I could smell that you’re there. It’s very unique.
Amanda Lepore: Yeah. Well, the guy who made my perfumes, you know, always said that you should have your own perfume and people should smell you before they see you. And that always stuck with me. He said, It’s really important for someone to smell you to know that you’ve arrived, you know, like without seeing you, and they should recognize, ‘Oh, Amanda.” So, that really stuck with me, that was really important, the first thing that you should do is smell me.
Esteban: What advice would Amanda give to 17-year-old little Amanda after the final step of her transition? What would you want her to know about resilience, fame, or being unapologetically herself?
Amanda Lepore: Um, I don’t know. If you told me when I was 17 what would happen to me, I probably wouldn’t believe it.
Esteban: You wouldn’t believe it?
Amanda Lepore: Yeah, it was like the farthest thing from my mind. I was just very happy, having a sex change and just being a girl, you know, and doing girl things and being left alone, like, you know, having peace. It gave me inner peace. But, I didn’t really have goals like, to be like certainly not a model. Maybe I would have the singing, yes. I think I always had in the back of my head that I wanted to perform, but the modeling thing was like the farthest thing from my mind. I mean, I didn’t really fit into that mold.
Esteban: And if you were to see yourself when you were 17, would there be a specific piece of advice that you would give to yourself, like, “Hold on tight,” or “Be patient,” or do you think you knew what you were doing by the time that you were 17?
Amanda Lepore: Um, well, by the time I was 17, I think I figured out what to do. So, I was like, pretty good. I was pretty… I was in very good shape for a 17-year-old. But I mean, because I started hormones when I was super young and a guy was going to marry me, you know, like me, I was really lucky. His father paid for my change, and I had it a lot easier than other girls of my generation. So, I feel fortunate that I figured it out so soon.
Esteban: I also think one of the most iconic things about you, and that’s the reason why you’re an icon, is that I feel like you had your vision very clear from such a very young age. You know, I think since you were very young, you were already like, “No, I want a fully functional vagina. I want to be the most beautiful woman.”
Amanda Lepore: Yeah. I mean, there was no question about it. It was what I was going to do, and I spoke of it as a child, you know? So, like, I didn’t let anything get in my way, you know? I just did what I wanted, and I still do what I want. I don’t like to be told what to do.
Esteban: So, looking back at all the many transformations, looks, surgically, aesthetically wise, culturally wise, what was the one that changed you, that made you feel the most rebellious or more punk or perhaps misunderstood at that time, but now it’s so essential in your now Amanda Lepore life?
Amanda Lepore: I got a lot of shit for plastic surgery and things. I don’t know. I guess it was extreme, but I didn’t think it was so extreme. Like, everything was done tastefully, in proportion, and I put a lot of thought into it. I didn’t do anything really crazy. I mean, so many people went way beyond me.
Esteban: Yeah, you’re like normal now.
Amanda Lepore: I think like all the surgeries that I did and the things that I got made fun of, like, Kim Kardashian has done all those too, you know, but they just did it later at a time when it was more accepted, I think.
Esteban: Yeah. Is there something that you think they didn’t understand?
Amanda Lepore: I mean, plus like, she did neutral makeup. I never did neutral makeup, for sure. I did glam makeup. So there were a lot of things going on that people didn’t understand.
Esteban: Yeah. Do you think there’s something that you did, like something that was your statement that now is your weapon, like maybe your lips or maybe your boobs? I think everything, right? But I think when I think about you, I think about lips.
Amanda Lepore: It’s part of my look, I like big lips. I think I was obsessed with Marilyn Monroe when I was a kid, and she used to sometimes put cotton in her mouth to make it look bigger and she painted her lips like 3D so they kind of went forward and they were really prominent on her. She was blonde with pale skin.
Esteban: Yeah.
Amanda Lepore: I like that look, like it’s really sexy and fetishy, and very feminine because you have to have discipline to wear it because it’s very messy. You have to keep it tidy. You have to be careful of stray hairs. I always liked it a lot, and I was very prissy too. I didn’t want guys to mess me up. You know…
Esteban: Women these days are very scared of gloss, especially when it’s colorful, you know, like a red that is such a statement, which I think is so iconic that you rock your red glossy lips.
Amanda Lepore: I think maybe that’s part of the reason, too, because it’s like, “Don’t touch me.”
Esteban: I think one of my favorite stories with you was when we went to that party in Brooklyn. I think it was in Williamsburg. I think it was Kunst… Remember? And then we met this really handsome German boy.
Amanda Lepore: Yeah.
Esteban: And then you tell me, “Ask him if he knows how to kiss red lips,” and he knew how to kiss you perfectly so your lipstick wouldn’t get all over the place.
Amanda Lepore: Yeah. Usually, if I meet a guy and I think he’s going to kiss me or something, I’ll just say, “You could kiss me, but I’ll show you how. You can’t touch my lips. You have to just use your tongue and just very delicately go like that.” I said, “Later, I’ll take it off, and you’ll be very happy with what they look like because they’re very pink and pretty with no lipstick on. But just don’t mess me up.” And they’re usually really cooperative. I think the only one that wasn’t was a go-go dancer I dated. We all make mistakes. Before the apps, I would meet guys in clubs with the environment, and guys in clubs are usually aspiring models or bartenders or go-go dancers. This one was a go-go dancer, and I explained all this to him and everything. And of course, he kissed me, and right away I had big red lips on my head. So, I tried to stay away from knuckleheads so that the situation wouldn’t happen.
Esteban: On your blonde hair? That’s so funny. Okay. So, another question. Glamour is such a huge part of your persona. Me, as someone who has worked with you for so many years, discovered this description of you, like I have never met anyone as glamorous as you. Like I’ve been at work with all the best people in New York City, you know, with Pat [McGrath], with MAC cosmetics for years, and I don’t think I have ever in my entire life met a woman as glamorous as you. So, I really think you are a glamour queen. You are the most glamorous showgirl I’ve ever met.
Amanda Lepore: Um, I, I really do love glamour. I think that’s why I definitely work in nightclubs, because I love the whole ritual of dressing up, and I like other people. I appreciate so much other people that, um, put time in their looks, and like I like all different kinds of things. Like, they don’t have to, they don’t have to be my aesthetic.I like anything that’s done well, and like I really, really appreciate it.
Esteban: You like people who put the work in and who put the time in to polish.
Amanda Lepore: I think a lot has to do with like my mother was mentally ill, and when she was ill, she, she wouldn’t, she wouldn’t wear makeup or do her hair or go to the beauty parlor or, or she would look very unkempt and she would be like depressed. So I from when I was a kid liked it when she was happy, when she was happy, she would get really dressed up, wear lots of makeup, and she was down for like anything. She liked to dress up too.
Esteban: So, as glamour being such a huge part of your persona, what feels authentically you when you’re in private, when there are no cameras and no people, you know, when it’s just you by yourself, like getting into this glamour?
Amanda Lepore: I think the only time that I’m not doing things, you know, is when I go away and I, I stay in a hotel and and like I will really rest because you can’t really do it. I don’t really watch TV, I’ll I’ll just like actually, really sleep.
Esteban: Yeah. So then, for you, what feels authentic in private is basically rest and then work on your looks and yourself pretty much.
Amanda Lepore: Yeah. Yes.
Esteban: I think it’s also very important for you to share that you do all of your outfits. You store all of your outfits.
Amanda Lepore: I do. I’m really small. I’m five feet two, so I try to make myself look taller. So, I just like to tweak everything, like everything that I buy, I tweak and redo to fit better, yeah.
Esteban: And you stone everything too with the color that you’re wearing, which is so amazing and so mind-blowing that you have the time and the dedication to stone it all. What’s in your mind when you’re stoning, when you’re putting all these outfits together?
Amanda Lepore: Yeah. And I’m very good at making things. Um, well, I usually know what I have to do. You know, if I’m working on an outfit with stones and things, I usually know what I have to buy and what it takes and what I have to get made and things.
Esteban: Do you play any kind of music?
Amanda Lepore: Um, I usually have the same movie. Lately, it’s Enigma. Like I must have listened to that like 200 times. One time, it was Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Sometimes I would just put it over and over and over over again, I just liked it in the background.
Esteban: How would you like the next generation of queer artists or trans stars to build upon what you have done? Are there things that you would like to change in how you are represented, or beyond what’s being done now?
Amanda Lepore: Well, I mean, everybody, you know, we all are different. I feel especially like the trans girls, I think they are very individual, pretty much. I mean, once in a while, you get those girls that like this surgery and want to be like the other girls, or they are a fan of one girl and they think she’s the most, or something, and they want her facial features and her skin. Um, I don’t think that’s a very good idea because I think that you have to go with yourself and figure out what looks best on you, and your surgeries will come out better. I feel like trying to look like someone else, you know, it doesn’t seem like the way to go because you’re a different person, you know. It doesn’t make any sense.
Esteban: Yeah. And everyone is different. I think one of the things I have learned with you through the years and everything is I understood proportions more than ever with body shapes and body types. You know, you can be a big girl and just make the hair bigger. You can be thin. You can just make everything longer. You know, it’s like I learned so much about proportions with you.
Amanda Lepore: I think you have to embrace your proportions and everything because you’ll figure out what clothes are the best, you know. So all that is like really important, you know.
Esteban: I think it’s part of understanding references—knowing references and knowing where things come from—or people that you look up to, or styles that you look up to, or eras that you look up to. Because I feel like a lot of these days, the kids don’t know too much of a reference. More references these days are like TikTok or Instagram, you know. And like, before, we used to kind of go to films, books, magazines.
Amanda Lepore: Yeah, references are really, really, really important for me. I love it. I think because I spent a lot of time growing up looking at makeup books, fashion books, and movie stars and everything that I loved, you know. So I learned references when I was extremely young and looked at old movie stars as role models, more than, I don’t know, someone I went to school with—they didn’t impress me at all. It was more really the movie stars in old Hollywood, like, they would transform them into different looks and things, and I love the transformation of that, you know. And I still love people that kind of transform that, you know. It’s always more interesting, I think, than someone natural because it looks just more done, you know.
Esteban: Yeah. More like you put in an effort, you took your time.
Amanda Lepore: Yeah. And you kind of like know what where they’re going.
Esteban: If you were to collaborate with someone from the past, it could be an artist, a performer, a movie star, a writer, who would you choose, and what sort of project might it be?
Amanda Lepore: Um, maybe Tennessee Williams.
Amanda Lepore: He’d maybe, um, I don’t know, write a movie of my life or screenplay. I think he would do it justice because he was a great writer. I think he would understand me and really do a good job with that.
Esteban: Oh, interesting. Wow. Yeah, he would. That’s a really good one. He would do amazing, but yes. He totally understands. Okay, so another one: What is the question about your life or identity that you wish people would ask or think to ask, but nobody ever does?
Amanda Lepore: Um, I, I don’t know because I’m kind of shy a little bit.
Esteban: You’re very open.
Amanda Lepore: Yeah, I mean, I answer whatever. I’m really polite.
Esteban: In your view, what’s the most misunderstood part of trans glamour? Something that mainstream still doesn’t get?
Amanda Lepore: Um, well, I think trans people were always very glamorous. Some types aren’t glamorous, but for the most part, um, especially the younger ones, I think they are very glam. They have some sort of glamour. I think because it’s like we don’t really do it for men, we do it for confidence and who we are, you know, to express how people want to think of us. But like for sure, if they see tits you know, a lot of people they think, oh my god, she has everything hanging out and all this stuff and, you know, the lips are so big and it’s like, well, this is who I feel I am and I feel more confident, put together and, you know, that’s how I want to represent myself.
Esteban: You have been called a living sculpture. If a museum asked you to create an exhibit of objects that influence your aesthetic, not just fashion, your aesthetic what items will you include? What items would you include in this exhibit of objects that have influenced your aesthetic? Not just fashion. It can be anything. It can be a boudoir. It can be a vanity. It can, you know what I mean? It’s like things that have kind of inspired and influenced your aesthetic and your look.
Amanda Lepore: Um, well, hair and makeup is definitely a big thing that I always did, you know. I always liked that. I even went to hairdressing school when I was a kid, you know. I think hair and makeup is really important.
Esteban: Yeah. What about Hollywood films?
Amanda Lepore: Yeah. Um, pinups, definitely, like illustrations of girls, for sure.
Esteban: A little bit of punk?
Amanda Lepore: Yeah. A little bit of punk, for sure.
Esteban: Yeah. Um, I also think lingerie.
Amanda Lepore: Lingerie.
Esteban: Yeah.
Amanda Lepore: A little bit of fetish. A little bit of perfume.
Esteban: A little more fetish. Yeah. High heels, perfume, scent, like strong scents, right?
Amanda Lepore: Yes.
Esteban: And then all different kinds of updos.
Amanda Lepore: Yes. I love it. Yeah, nails.
Esteban: Yeah. And then what else, when I think about you and I think about your aesthetic, something that would be included in a museum to describe Amanda, I would think about lipstick, hair, makeup, stones, nails, pinup…
Amanda Lepore: Um, dilators. It’s a big part of my life.
Esteban: Yeah, dilators. Yeah. How often do you dilate?
Amanda Lepore: Um, I try to do it every day if I can, you know.
Esteban: So, what is one of the things that you feel the most proud of that you have accomplished in your life?
Amanda Lepore: Um, probably like when young trans girls say that “Oh, you changed my life, you influenced me so much,” that really makes me feel good that I did something good when people tell me that. I mean, because that’s what life is all about, really, is to just keep on, um, getting your point across, but when people actually say, “Oh, you changed my life,” like, it makes me feel really good that I could, that’s very powerful.
Esteban: That’s beautiful. What is something that has kept you going, because you have mentioned to me in the past that you thought that you were not going to make it by 30.
Amanda Lepore: I think being a transsexual and just having to take hormones and be medically maintained, kind of, like, set me up for me not to do drugs and things, because when I first went for, you know, they said if you drink or you do drugs, they’re not going to work as well. So I always had that in the back of my mind. So, that was the most important to me.
Esteban: Do you think that protected you in a way?
Amanda Lepore: Yes, I mean, probably. I mean, if I were born a genetic girl, I probably would have been a hellion. I probably would have done everything.
Esteban: You would have done everything.
Amanda Lepore: I would have drank, done drugs, done everything, I think.
Esteban: Yeah, that’s interesting. In a way, your identity as a trans woman actually protected you from addiction. It kept you from falling into drugs and alcohol, allowing you to stay focused on your career. In my experience with other trans friends, addiction has been a major issue. Many queer kids, unfortunately, fall into that. For you, it was a protective barrier. It was almost like saying, “I’m trans, and if the doctor tells me not to drink or do drugs, then I’m going to listen.”
Amanda Lepore: Yeah. And, like, you wear really high heels and you’re corseted and you have tons of jewelry on, and like, your hair is done. So, you’re not going to get messed up. Like, you’re going to want to preserve that, you know? I mean, you can’t be a mess and look like me. It’s impossible.
Esteban: I agree. I agree. It takes so much time and dedication and discipline. More like discipline and perseverance and resilience to be where you’re at. You know, it’s a work of art, and you can tell that you have, it shows that you have been a person that has been so disciplined in so many ways
Amanda Lepore: Yes. I’m a, but I’m a very disciplined person.
Esteban: When you think about glamour, what’s the first thing that comes to your head?
Amanda Lepore: Happiness.
Esteban: I know you have mentioned to me in the past that when you’ve been with guys in sexual encounters, you never take off your heels. And that’s something that has stayed in my head because I was like, I don’t know. I always think about if I was a girl I would be doing the same thing.
Amanda Lepore: Well, I do that for me, you know, like I like lingerie and I like having high heels on and you know, the presentation, ’cause, sex is like the theater.
Esteban: It’s a performance.
Amanda Lepore: So like, if I want to be that kind of woman, I’ll leave it on. You know, sometimes, they’ll tell you to take it off because they had, like, um, a bad experience with the heels. I don’t know.
Esteban: Do you see yourself living in any other place that is not New York?
Amanda Lepore: Um,I could, there are a lot of places that I really love. Like I love, Spain, and I love, um, I love Paris.
Esteban: What is something that makes you very happy? that when you think about it automatically makes you really happy?
Amanda Lepore: Um, I do like performing and, like the audience, that makes me happy. Yeah. Because I feel really appreciated, you know.
Esteban: Yeah. And what is one of the things that makes you very sad?
Amanda Lepore: So, um, when someone’s not doing well or, like, a friend is in trouble in some way or, um, you know, they can’t figure things out. It’s sad, I don’t know, like some, someone closeted, I think, is sad, you know, like that they can’t be who, you know, they really are.
Esteban: Yeah. Another thing that has helped me a lot through knowing you, through being around you and working with you for such a long time, is that you have remained yourself. You’re very good with your mental health. You’re like a very zen person, and you’re also very positive. I’ve known you for more than 10 years, and I don’t think I have ever seen you out of character. So how do you accomplish that?
Amanda Lepore: Um, I think, a lot of transsexuals, you’re alone a lot when you’re younger, you know, like you don’t fit in at school and things aren’t right, you know? So you get to know yourself really well and things that you like and that’s because you kind of create a private thing because you have to have some kind of happiness in your life. So you make your own happiness.
Esteban: Yeah. You make your own happiness. You make your own reality.
Amanda Lepore: Yeah. Like I did it, I think, with like books and references and I like to look at makeup and movie stars and drawings of girls and things and I would kind of escape with that, you know, like when I was a kid and I think that made me more, you know, I don’t have to be with people, like, I could be by myself and I’m just fine, you know, when the pandemic happened and you had to be by yourself and not go out or anything I, was, like, “Well, this is just like when I was a little kid,” and I was, like, “It’s not any, different,” you know.
Esteban: Yeah. What advice would you give to the new generation that’s coming out as trans, as queer?
Amanda Lepore: Maybe to treat yourself to things, you know, treat yourself to a day at a beauty spa or something instead of TikToks all day or the likes and approval from other people, like, do what you really like, you know.
Esteban: Ground yourself.
Amanda Lepore: Yeah.
Esteban: Okay. Is there something that you want to share with the magazine, with the world that you, that people don’t know?
Amanda Lepore: Um, well, good things are happening. Like they’re going to re-release, Jason Wu is going to re-release my doll. And we have a meeting with, like, someone to do, like, a movie of me, either a documentary or a movie. And, um, that’s really exciting as well. So things are good.
Full Look, Garo Sparo. Earrings, Amanda’s own. Ring, Ray Griffith. Shoes, Christian Louboutin.
Coat and Shoes, SEKS. Earrings, Alexis Bittar. Pasties, Tableaux Vivants.
Bra, Corset and bottom, Tableaux Vivants. Belt and shoes, Luar. Tights, Gucci. Earrings, Ray Griffith. Gloves, Stylists own.
Coast, Catherine D'lish. Earrings, LADYGUNN x SEVILLE MICHELLE. Shoes, Amanda's Own.
Earrings, LADYGUNN x SEVILLE MICHELLE.
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