Bob the Drag Queen’s clothing brand House of Bob is for everybody and every body

Bob the Drag Queen can do it all. From winning Season 8 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, to releasing her latest stand-up special Woke Man In A Dress, to opening for living legend Madonna on her Celebration Tour, Bob is proving there’s no limit to what a drag artist can accomplish.

In 2023, Bob also made the leap into beauty and clothing, first launching cosmetics company BOMO Beauty with her bestie Monét X Change, then opening House of Bob, a fashion label that’s equal parts stylish, ethical, and inclusive. INTO sat down with Bob to learn why gendered clothes are totally passé, what she and Monét would wear to the beach, and how to welcome “hoes and skanks” to the table.

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Hey Bob! Let’s talk about your new fashion brand. One thing that stands out about House of Bob is your commitment to your core values, including gender and size inclusivity. What does “gender-inclusive” mean to you when it comes to clothing?

If House of Bob were a department store, there would be no women’s and men’s sections. There’s just clothing, and you just shop for clothes.

And why was size inclusivity important to you?

The first batch of garments that we’ve made is pretty loose-fitting, so you can wear it whether you’re bigger or smaller. Specifically for larger bodies, for fat people, for big people, for big bodies, it’s really hard to find clothing sometimes.

Speaking of that first release, all of your clothes so far — the Sax, as you call them — have a similar relaxed silhouette. Why is that the look you were drawn to?

That’s our first one we’re doing — we’re gonna be releasing more items that have much more diversity in the way they look. But it’s just something that I wear a lot. It’s very comfortable. You can dress it up, you can dress it down, you can lounge in it, you can go to the airport in it, you can go to an event in it, and I’ve done all those things in these garments.

You mention diversifying what the House of Bob has to offer. What are you planning on releasing next?

We’re looking to do swimwear this summer. So I’m excited to get some swimwear out there. And for those of you who would like to show skin — for those of you who want to show off your slutty little bodies — we’ll have clothing for you. And for those of you who are a little bit more modest like me, we have clothes for you as well. We’re very ho-positive. Hoes and skanks, you are welcome here at House of Bob.

I think that’s implied by the name! What’s inspiring you as you work on your swimwear collection?

Even though me and Monét don’t work on House of Bob together, it’s a great pairing of us. Like, I would wear something more modest at the beach, and Monét would be out there with her ass cheeks hanging out. And I want to design something for me and my best friend to wear to the beach together, basically.

You also modeled for the brand and did a photoshoot with some awesome models. What was that experience like?

It was really fun. One of the models is actually my cousin Caroline Caldwell — I think you can probably spot the one who’s my cousin, we literally look alike. And it was nice to be able to get people who look different, are different, have different stories, different backgrounds, coming together wearing these clothes.

The other big pillar for House of Bob is responsible manufacturing. Why was that a priority for you?

The price point for my garments is a high one, and it makes sense, because they’re all made here stateside. I see the people who make the garments, we have conversations. I go and grab the fabric myself. And first of all, you don’t want to contribute to fast fashion for the pollution that it puts into the world, the underpaid workers — there are so many reasons why you don’t want to contribute to fast fashion. Everyone in the fast fashion world is getting stiffed except for the people at the very top, even the consumers.

You and Monét also launched BOMO Beauty last year. What led you two to start a cosmetics brand?

Monét and I obviously love cosmetics and makeup and glamor and fun and camp, and we really were inspired by companies like Juvia and Trixie Cosmetics and KimChi Chic Beauty. We were like, “Well, we would love to be able to offer our perspective on makeup.”

What do you see as the heart of BOMO? Why would someone go to BOMO instead of one of those other brands?

If you love camp, if you love glamor, if you love New York City, if you love the kind of raunchiness, but irrelevance, but also extreme reverence of me and Monét, then you’ll love what we have to offer.

Do you see this empire of Bob continuing to grow with more ventures, or are you settling into these two brands?

These two mean a lot to me, and this is where I definitely see myself wanting to spend most of my time, but who knows what I’ll want to do down the line. Who knows? ♦

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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