The deputy Lilia Lemoine She didn’t always present herself as libertarian, or even as blonde. Recently, on social networks, a fragment of a television interview was broadcast in which a young cosplayer with black hair showed her own designs for an event to be held in Tecnópolis. In a late-night program broadcast on C5N, an enterprising Lemoine promoted her clothing that would participate in Comicopolis, a convention for those interested in comic, anime and fandom culture held in 2014.
On the Kirchnerist news channel Cristóbal López and Fabián De Sousathe future legislator presented her costume design workshop. “In Tecnópolis there are going to be workshops that we are going to be giving to teach these things. They are free workshops,” explained the designer while having the host of the television series try on an armor of a Japanese animated character. “If you have to go to a convention, go to this one, especially because it’s free,” he highlighted.
Far from libertarian preaching, in which subsidies to culture are criticized and media close to Kirchnerism are questioned, Lilia Lemoine actively participated in spaces identified with the story constructed by former president Cristina Kirchner. 11 years ago, Tecnópolis and C5N were clear examples of a time in which the discourse of the ruling K party dominated those areas.
In those years, Lemoine combined her passion for costumes with her activity as a makeup artist, photographer and “effects artist.” In that niche, she was recognized as a celebrity who traveled to international conventions, made costumes of fictional characters and earned money for “stories” on networks as an influencer. Adopting the stage name “Lady Lemon”, this young woman born in José León Suárez achieved a level of visibility that earned her thousands of followers.
Years later, dating the liberal streamer Emmanuel Danannthe renowned cosplayer would show an ideological turn not anticipated by many. Despite her origins as an “artist-cosolayer-influencer”, she began to approach critical discourses of the dominant culture: she questioned aspects of feminism, showed conservative positions and, later, adopted a libertarian stance in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2019, Lemoine entered politics fully when she was a candidate for national representative for the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires for the space headed by José Luis Espert. His participation then went almost unnoticed, but it marked his first electoral experience. The link with Javier Milei It began to consolidate after that first precedent.
After the emotional breakup with Danann, Lemoine met Milei through her sister, Karina, and became part of her inner circle: she was the leader’s makeup artist, hairdresser, photographer and image consultant. In this framework, she left her artistic past behind to become an activist in the brand new space. Freedom Advances. Later, in March 2024, she would admit that she was the economist’s partner. “I fell in love with his intelligence,” he declared in an interview, although he clarified that today they maintain a relationship of friendship and shared militancy.
Her definitive leap occurred in 2023, when she was elected national representative for the province of Buenos Aires on the LLA lists. On his bench, Lemoine adopted a combative and unfiltered stance: he has been a strong voice to amplify the official narrative. She describes herself as part of Milei’s “executing arm” in the legislative chamber, willing to say what others do not dare to say. Lemoine’s transit shows a profound personal and political metamorphosis, in which his cultural past merges with an unusual political and media identity.
Currently, with her seat in Congress, the parliamentarian embodies one of the most visible expressions of what is usually called “renewal of faces and styles” in Argentine politics: someone who combines social networks, provocation, irreverence, emerging cultural past and discursive activism. Her jump from cosplay to politics did not leave many indifferent.
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