Nymphia Wind

Nymphia Wind (Chinese: 妮妃雅‧瘋) is the stage name of Leo Tsao (曹米駬; born July 23, 1995), a Taiwanese-American drag performer and dressmaker. In 2024, she was crowned the winner of season 16 of RuPaul's Drag Race, becoming the first East Asian winner of the franchise.

Early life
Leo was born in Los Angeles and raised in Hong Kong until the age of six when Leo's family moved to Taiwan. Leo was bullied as a child due to gender expression, which led his mother to transfer him to the Holistic Education School. During high school, his interest in fashion was sparked by K-pop girl groups. Then, he developed a passion for drag, practicing dressing up and getting creative with makeup while studying at the university. In 2017, he received a Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Atelier from the University for the Creative Arts in Rochester, England.

Career
Since 2018, Nymphia Wind began performing in Taipei. Her first name "Nymphia" comes from the Japanese name of Pokémon character Sylveon, and her last name "Wind" means she likes to be free and invisible, also, "Wind" is a homophone of "craziness" in Mandarin. She is the mother of "House of Wind" (瘋家, use "craziness" in Mandarin). Nymphia's signature color is yellow, as fashion choice and her Asian identity, and her performances often incorporate banana and Taiwanese cultural elements. She calls herself "Banana Buddha" and her fanbase as "Banana Believers". Outside of drag, she is a seamstress.

In 2019, Nymphia Wind won "NYX Face Award 2019 Taiwan". In early 2021, she won "Make a Diva Season 2" in Taiwan. In late 2021, the documentary Leo & Nymphia was completed, which was nominated for the 57th Golden Bell Awards's Best Cinematography and screened at the 2022 Silver Wave Film Festival, the 2023 Thomas Edison Film Festival and the 2023 Queer East Film Festival. Nymphia produced her first show, Bye Bye Nymphia~ Farewell Drag Show, which used a Taiwanese electric flower car as a stage, in June 2022 in Taipei. She is dedicated to combining her Taiwanese cultural significance and aesthetics in her drag performances.

In July 2022, Nymphia Wind moved to Brooklyn to challenge her drag. In early 2023, she won the competition “Mother Season 2” in New York. In 2024, she won the sixteenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, becoming the first person of East Asian descent to win an installment of the American series, and the second queen of Asian descent to win after Raja Gemini. Her victory also won praise from Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen and was invited to perform at Taiwan's presidential office. In May 2024, Nymphia was listed in the arts category on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2024. Nymphia and the House of Wind are going to represent Taiwan as performers at the 2024 Cultural Olympiad in Paris. Nymphia Wind stated in May 2024 that the performance was to be titled Formosan Follies, and feature an all-Taiwanese cast.

Personal life
Nymphia Wind lives in a supportive family with her mother, who often watches her shows and helps her drag. Her granduncle was Ts'ao Yung-ho, a historian who specialized in the history of Taiwan.