Dita Von Teese is internationally recognized as the Queen of Burlesque, having set a history-making benchmark for this great American art form, with unrivaled artistry and flair as performer, creative director, choreographer and producer. She has sold-out some of the world’s grandest venues, from Paris to Shanghai, Sao Paulo to New York. As she readies for a show on London’s West End, and gets set to announce a groundbreaking tour, Dita and her talented troupe continue to dazzle audiences flocking to her Las Vegas residency.

A style in dress and beauty has made Dita muse to some of the greatest couturiers and designers—influencing their collections, appearing on their runways, in their campaigns and on red carpets. She has also led the way as a designer, collaborator and entrepreneur, with forays in fashion, beauty, music, publishing, spirits and entertainment production.

Heather Renée Sweet was born in Rochester, Michigan, the middle of three sisters, on September 28, 1972. The Golden Age of cinema on weekend afternoon TV captivated the young girl. As a teen in Southern California, she idolized burlesque icon Gypsy Rose Lee, not only as an entertainer but as a businesswoman. In 1992, this natural blonde changed her hair color and name and embarked on her own take of the art of striptease.

On stage, Dita is renowned for her nonpareil romp into fantasy and spectacle, her original and ornate “stripscapes” and haute couture costumes glazed in Swarovski crystals. Jean-Paul Gaultier, Elie Saab, Alexis Mabille and Jenny Packham create looks for her performances, and her custom footwear is always by Christian Louboutin. Many of her most awe-inspiring costumes are realized with master corsetier Mr. Pearl and burlesque star-turned-costume and prop designer Catherine D’Lish.

So extraordinary are her performances and productions that Dita is the undisputed marquee ambassador worldwide for the artform.

In June 2025, “Diamonds & Dust: A Tale of the Good, the Bad & the Lucky,” a provocatively glittering Western production Dita is co-directing, opens at the Emerald Theatre in London’s West End. Stay tuned, too, for the 2026 debut of “Nocturnelle,” an entirely new experience with a flourish of magic like only Dita can conjure.

Her critically acclaimed Las Vegas revue opened in Fall 2024 at its current home, the opulent, Deco-flavored Voltaire in The Venetian. This residency is on the crystal-speckled heels of a career-spanning staging of her signature acts that kicked off the previous Fall down the boulevard at the legendary Jubilee Theater—final home of the venerated Vegas showgirl. Both marquee revues, under her exacting creative direction, are the most lavishly staged burlesque productions ever.

Taylor Swift tapped Dita to play a burlesque-styled fairy godmother to the pop icon’s Cinderella in the star-studded music video “Bejeweled,” the chart-topping track off Swift’s 2022 bestselling album, Midnights. Dita shares two of her trademark martini glasses in the video, both superstars taking a sparkling spin within them.

Weeks before, Dita teased movie goers across the globe in the critically acclaimed film “Don’t Worry Darling,” with Harry Styles, Florence Pugh and Olivia Wilde. Off-screen, she opened the wardrobe to her Vegas show and shared her top dancers to Gia Coppola’s lauded 2024 film featuring Pamela Anderson, “The Last Showgirl.”

On TV, Dita and her Vegas show welcomed “Queer Eye” during its Spring 2025 season with much fanfare. It wasn’t the first time she brought burlesque to prime-time, the earliest being as guest star on CSI, in one of the hit series highest-rated episodes. Her TV credits as a fictional character and herself are extensive, and they include also sharing her penchant for baking with friend Christine McConnell on her Netflix show. In France, Dita kicked up ratings on “Dancing with the Stars,” a decade after she was the first guest star in the history of the Crazy Horse Paris, reviving the landmark cabaret club there.
Her sensual voice appears on an album of electronic pop songs with French composer-musician Sébastien Tellier. The 10-track, 2018 recording follows up her modern and vintage covers on the 2016 pink vinyl “Soundtrack for Seduction” LP. She also lends her vocals to tracks for Monarchy and Die Antwoord.

In books, Dita’s fourth is underway, a fashion companion to The New York Times bestseller, Your Beauty Mark: The Ultimate Guide to Eccentric Glamour (Harper Collins), available in several languages. Next up is Fashioning the Femme Totale: The Ultimate Guide to Glamonatrix Style (Harper Collins, 2026), teaming her up again with journalist-creative director Rose Apodaca, and emphasizing Dita’s singular vintage-tinged aesthetic.

It is a fashion and beauty style that Dita has also taken to market with namesake lines and limited-edition capsule collections in gloves, ready-to-wear, scarves, jewelry, cosmetics and fragrances. Since launching in 2010, her eponymous lingerie collection has revolutionized the category in terms of inclusive sizing and reviving vintage silhouettes.

Crowned the “Burlesque Superheroine” by Vanity Fair, Dita has appeared twice on its coveted International Best Dressed List. She has performed for Louis Vuitton, Chopard, Cartier and at the Cannes Film Festival; and was a premier guest star in Gaultier’s “Fashion Freak Show” at the Folies Bergère in Paris in 2019. She also walked the runway for the celebrated designer’s shows over the years, including his watershed 2020 finale.

Dita has long engaged her “superpowers” as an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, cancer and for feminist causes, the latter garnering invitations to address the Student Union at Oxford University, UK. Her commitment to AIDS fundraising, research and awareness, both private and public, includes serving as the MAC Viva Glam Spokesperson (2006-2008) to the many performances and in-person support for amfAR—which honored her with the Award of Courage (2008).

Always exploring new opportunities to spread the gospel of glamour and burlesque, Dita appeared on Perrier bottles (2010), and she served as global ambassador for Cointreau (2007-2013). Since 2021, she is a partner and creative director in Sweet Gwendoline French Gin, with branding and viral content inspired by the mid-Twentieth Century fetishistic art of John Willie.

It always comes back to the curtain call, and Dita’s four full-length revues are the grandest tours in burlesque history: “Strip, Strip, Hooray!” (2013-2016), “The Art of the Teese” (2017), “Dita Von Teese and the Copper Coupe” (2018), and “Glamonatrix” (2019 and 2022-2023). The latter sold out in historic theatres across Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the US—including five sold-out nights at the London Palladium, and packed houses at the prestigious Folies Bergère in Paris and Burgtheatre in Vienna. Dita made theatrical history bringing burlesque to the Opera Garnier Monte Carlo, with Prince Albert II of Monaco in attendance.

These sensational spectaculars, along with her current residency at The Venetian, present a gender- and body-diverse cast of the crème de la crème of neo-burlesque performers, hailing from all over the world—and always celebrating the spirit of joie de vivre so dear to Dita Von Teese.