Mr. Charles’s queens are now guests at fashion shows and fashion week parties, adored by the biggest names in the industry. Pat McGrath, the doyenne of runway makeup artists, posts images of contestants on her social media accounts. Miu Miu flew several contestants to Paris for a party to celebrate its perfume last July.

They also appear in magazines and ad campaigns. Mr. Meisel was on the vanguard when he shot Carmen Carrera (an early contestant who has since announced she is transgender) for W magazine in 2011.

In the years since, more have followed. Pearl, a contestant from Season 7, signed with Wilhelmina Models in 2015. This year, Mr. Jacobs featured Dan Donigan (better known by his nom de drag, Milk), a contestant from Season 6, in his spring ads, wearing his women’s collection.

And in April, Naomi Campbell gave a shout-out to Naomi Smalls, a Season 8 runner-up who chose a drag name in Ms. Campbell’s honor. “I’m loving Naomi Smalls,” Ms. Campbell told a crowd in London.

“It’s a kind of no-brainer,” said Violet Chachki, 24, the winner from Season 7. “There’s a strong crossover there.”

Known on the show as a “fashion queen” (as opposed to a “comedy queen” or a “pageant queen”), Ms. Chachki’s signature look involved corseting herself to a wasp-waistedness so extreme that one of her accessories was an oxygen tank.