Making one’s way through airport security is a chore for anyone, let alone Alexis Stone, who found herself stuck in customs at Heathrow this past Friday laden with a diva’s suitcase worth of prosthetics including a set of double G silicone breasts. But such is the norm for Stone, real name Elliot Joseph Rentz, the famed London-based drag queen and pro “transformer” who showed up at today’s Balenciaga show at the New York Stock Exchange as country superstar Dolly Parton.

“They wanted me to come as an American icon and the first person that sprung to my mind is Dolly Parton,” Stone told Vogue. It’s not the first time that Stone, who has transformed into over 250 celebrities (including Cher, Madonna, and even the Pope), has caused a viral stir at a Balenciaga show. Last season, she appeared as fashion’s favorite hip old granny Mrs. Doubtfire, sitting front row with the likes of Kim Kardashian.

It was just a few weeks ago that Stone embarked on her journey to Dolly in collaboration with Balenciaga. While the fashion house got to work on her fashion look—including a glittery silver wrap dress, matching crystal boots, and as Stone puts it, an “obnoxiously large purse”—she made a game plan for executing her shapeshift into Parton. “It’s been madness,” admits Stone, “but I wanted to go into this doing it as accurately as possible.” Her first call was to Neill Gorton, a director at Millennium FX and Stone’s go-to collaborator in bringing characters to life.

“We are doing Dolly in 2022, as realistic as what you are used to seeing, so have hundreds and hundreds of images of Dolly, which are sort of plastered across a wall in the studio,” explains Stone of their forensics-like approach. “We dissect every single detail, from the fold in her eyelids to the nasal folds, you name it. We look at these people’s faces at an unhinged level of detail.”

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Photo: Sam San Román

Photo: Sam San Román

Photo: Sam San Román

Photo: Sam San Román

To capture Dolly’s signature facial features, soft, skin-like silicone prosthetics were molded for the nose, forehead, cheeks, eyelids, eyebrows, teeth, and neck to reflect her current age. “When doing a transformation, it’s important to work in fine lines and the effects of aging as those are the details that make things a lot more believable,” says Stone. “You won’t really know what’s real and what’s not. As an artist, that’s my goal–to make sure people don’t know where something starts and where something finishes.”

Of course to recreate Parton’s famously ample bosom, generous breast prosthetics were a vital part of the equation. “I’m six-feet tall, so trying to find breasts that are not only large, but large enough to give my proportions the right volume was a challenge, but we landed on a double G,” she explains. “The breasts are all silicone and filled with liquid to give them the movement of real breasts.” But of course just as important as the foundational elements were the tell-tale Dolly signatures brought to life through in-depth research.

“The beauty element is the most important thing because no one’s ever seen Dolly Parton without makeup,” says Stone. “Dolly is the ultimate drag queen out of us all.” For Parton’s larger-than-life platinum bouffant, Stone worked with Milan-based wigmaker Marco’s Wigs, while she did her own makeup including indigo blue and ruby red lids, stacks of false lashes, overlined dusty pink lips, and the beauty mark on the chin. Of course, Parton’s extra-long, hit-making talons, which spelled out “Dollywood” were also in play.

Photo: Sam San Román

Photo: Sam San Román

Photo: Sam San Román

Photo: Sam San Román

Stone’s admiration of Parton goes far beyond skin-deep. “Dolly has always been unapologetically herself as a woman, not just in today’s society but over the last 20, 30, 40 years, while keeping her integrity as an artist and being a really beautiful, kind human being,” explains Stone. “Dolly is an icon, not only within the gay world, but on planet earth. I think her kindness and generosity is something that resonates with a lot of people. By giving people a visual representation of what Dolly embodies, I hope it brings as much laughter and warmth as Dolly does herself.”

Stone’s transformation marks the continuation of a beautiful relationship between Stone and Balenciaga; one that’s nothing short of pop culture catnip. “Demna is not a man of many words, but as he described it, it’s an iconic duo,” says Stone. “I’m really enjoying being Balenciaga’s mascot at the moment.”