IN THE NEWS...
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Each house has a “mother” or “father” in charge of a team of their “kids” and the one leading House of Escada on the show is artist London 'Fleur De Lis'. London is the Mother of Escada and says their purpose is to create performance art within the house to show the world and mainstream media what ballroom and voguing are about. (When asked which pronouns he prefers, London said, "I take him or her... I'm both — I'm a Gemini." We used the gender-neutral 'they' to encompass both.)
House of Escada, Third Place. Originally named the House of Evangelista (like the supermodel Linda Evangelista and Blanca's house in Pose), founding house father Tony Escada changed the name in 1995 to House of Escada after discovering a building called "Escada Plaza" in Chicago. The current overall mother is Lila Escada while the overall father is Teo Escada. As part of their appearance on Legendary, the group landed in the bottom twice; having to battle the House of Gorgeous Gucci in episode four and the House of Ninja in episode six. Show Father: London Escada. Members: Jazzul Escada, Shyanne Escada, Twilight Escada, and Yyoyo Escada
15 July 2020 | LA Weekly | L.A.’s Ballroom Scene Slays on HBO MAX’s Legendary
“House of Balmain are all from L.A., raised by Jumari Amour ‘Balmain’ locally, Ninja is a little spread out- they do the international thing but they have an established house parent from Italy; the House of Escada are all from Boston and London ‘Escada’ is their house parent…
Father London Escada, Jazzul Escada, Shyanne Escada, Twilight Escada, Yoyo Escada. The members of Escada are incredibly close and depend on each other like a family. They received praise for their sharp voguing and creative outfits, and have one of the catchiest cheers of all the houses.
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09 July 2020 | TRILLFIT Blog | Pride Series: London Fleur De Lis, House of Escada
While Pride is nationally celebrated in June, at TRILLFIT we believe it should be celebrated every month and every day - as we should all be proud of who we are, who we love, and what we stand for. To continue honoring Pride, we’re showcasing members of Boston’s LGBTQI+ community and the safe spaces they have created. Our second interviewee is London Fleur De Lis, a proud, talented Black man and vogue performer. Asides being a vogue performer, London is also a vogue instructor and a fashion icon. London is the mother of the House of Escada, a house that is competing on the new show, Legendary - a vogue competition show that you can now watch on HBO Max. Check out the interview below to learn more about London Fleur De Lis, his work for LGBTQI+ communities of color, and his voguing journey.
09 July 2020 | PAPER Magazine | Meet Eight Members From HBO Max's 'Legendary'
London Escada made Jazzul Escada want to vogue. Though he had been intrigued watching Vogue Evolution on America's Best Dance Crew in 2009, there was something in London's performance specifically that he wanted for himself. "I was just like that person right there is so good, I need to do exactly what he does" Jazzul says of watching his gay mother — and house mother on the HBO Max show Legendary — perform for the first time in 2017. "Ever since then I've wanted to vogue like him. London is really masculine and feminine at the same time and I wanted to be like that." So, Jazzul researched and found out that London had an upcoming voguing class. There, the pair hit it off and London asked him if he wanted to meet the other members in New England's chapter of the House of Escada with intentions on becoming a member. He absolutely did.
In the teaser that HBO Max has released for the upcoming episode, viewers now know that one of the categories features participation by all four house parents - Eyricka, Jarrell Gucci, London Escada, and Jamari. Judging by the looks of all of them, we are guessing the category requires them to bring in their best fashion to the runway with a twist of bizarre. We also see Eyricka calling her rival megahouse "virgins" while a visibly horrified London looked on. The latter also went live on his Instagram page to address the situation but stopped midway as the episode is yet to be aired.
For the primary class titled ‘Queen Titan’ one member from every home was required to stroll the runway after which come to the ground once more to end it off with voguing. Father Jamari Balmain was extraordinarily assured with the supervillains coming in. Within the rehearsals he was heard saying that, “I’ve created such good friendships on this competitors that when its time to battle folks I am like ‘Aww, I’ve to eat you up’ however now there is no love misplaced and also you’re identical to ‘okay see you bye’.” He’d named his superhero avatar, ‘The Dark Ninja’ to symbolize the Home of Ninja who had been eradicated within the competitors final week. Balmains and Ninjas had been extraordinarily shut and to symbolize them additional within the competitors, Jamari had a shiny “N” etched onto his costume on this episode. Additionally strolling the class from the remaining homes had been ZayZay Lanvin, Scrumptious Gucci, and London Escada. Jamari gained the class 3-1 (Megan voted for London).
30 June 2020 | OUT Magazine | 'Pose' Isn't On — Here's Why You Need to Watch HBO's 'Legendary'
Legendary truly gives you it all. While it is not a ball exactly, it's probably the best-televised version of a ball we're going to get — much like RuPaul's Drag Race isn't a direct reflection of how many of us experience drag, or any other competition show isn't a direct reflection of the community is based on. Where the show fails in editing — most times in pacing and context — it makes up with the unbridled talent of participants and heart. Led by awe-inspiring house parents like Erykah Lanvin, Jamari Balmain, London Escada, and Jarrell Gucci, who all clearly have a passion not only for the legacies of their respective houses, but also the children they've brought with them on the show, it's a show that works its way into your emotions and will have you rooting for it week after week.
25 June 2020 | Medium, UX Collective | Pride Family: a portrait project
Many people first ‘met’ members of the family that is the Iconic House of Escada watching the first season of HBOMax’s show Legendary. But the institution of the House itself has over 25 years of history. Current family members Jazzul, London, Shyanne, Twilight and Yyoyo are part of the Ballroom House scene, which means that there’s a formal structure of the house that follows the conventions of the scene. Of the families we had the privilege to hear from, theirs was the only one that provided multiple, named, individual answers to the questions through which we got to see their unique viewpoints and convergences. Theirs is a chosen family, as are many of the other participating families. But this distinction comes to the front immediately in their definitions of family: “Family is that love and support system and family is not always blood,” says London.
“We must create our own lane and develop our own culture for the LGBTQ youth of tomorrow. I have been in the scene going on 9 years and I am an up-and-coming Legend. I am in the [Iconic] House of Escada. For the kiki scene “Imperial house of Mulan.” – London Escada. Thanks for doing this interview with JBA. Could you tell us more about yourself and how you got your start in the ballroom scene?
27 May 2020 | Screenrant | Meet HBO Max's Legendary Judges Jameela Jamil & Megan Thee Stallion
The eight houses taking part in Legendary include The Houses of Lanvin, West, Balmain, St Laurent, Ninja, Ebony, Gucci, and Escada. The house parents of each of the eight houses are Dolores (Ninja), London (Escada), Michelle (St Laurent), Eyricka (Lanvin), James (West), Isla (Ebony), Jarrell (Gucci) and Jamari (Balmain). It all boils down to one thing: "If you slay, you stay" and this lineup of judges are slaying in everything they do, so it's safe to say the competition is in the best hands.
24 April 2019 | Emerson Today | EAGLE, House of Mulan Giving Emerson Campus Kiki Ballroom
Come on. Vogue. Emerson’s Advancement Group for Love and Expression (EAGLE) and London Mulan, father of the Boston chapter of House of Mulan, are hosting the College’s first ever Vogue Kiki Ball, a celebration of culture and creativity, on Friday, April 26, in the Bobbi Brown & Steven Plofker Gym (which you won’t recognize). According to Christopher Henderson-West ’20, EAGLE president and mother of Haus of Emerson, Friday’s event, with the theme, “End of an Era,” will be the first ever ball of its kind – with experienced competitors and $3,000 in prize money — put on by a college.
"So, in previous years, Haus of Emerson was just a lip-sync competition. This year, it was a whole process that involved workshops throughout the month. We had a workshop for vogueing, where we brought in London Escada, who has won various awards for his vogue performances. There was a photo shoot, where contestants took photos and shot a video that played during their runway walk on the day of the competition. There was also a makeup tutorial workshop with Mizery, a local drag queen who comes to Emerson pretty frequently. So it was a much more extensive process than years previous, which was essentially, “Come audition, the show’s in a month, tell us what song you’re going to lip-sync,” and that was about it."