Biography: Sasha Velour is the stage name of Alexander Hedges Steinberg, a drag queen, performer, visual artist, and hostess of Brooklyn "Nightgowns" show, as well as the Season 9 winner of RuPaul's Drag Race. Sasha's parents named her after Alexandra Kollontai, a Russian feminist leader, but for most of her life, she’s went by "Sasha", a common Russian nickname for either Alexander or Alexandra. Because she was told her whole life that she had a girl's name, she kept it. "Velour" comes from a fabric often used as a cheaper substitute for velvet, which Sasha thinks is the perfect metaphor for drag.