When Amy Douglas first began on the unbiased pro-wrestling scene nearly 20 years in the past, she struggled to seek out outfits and needed to supply them from “bizarre locations”, together with a store that specialised in customized bathers.
“It wasn’t good, however I used to be like, ‘I’ve acquired one thing, I assume’,” she mentioned.
So Ms Douglas dusted off her stitching machine and commenced making her personal wrestling gear.
As her seamstress abilities developed, she began making costumes for different wrestlers too.
Bronson Reed is amongst Ms Douglas’s shoppers. (Equipped: Amy Douglas)
Quick ahead 15 years and she or he has now has a profitable enterprise with shoppers which have included Adelaide’s personal World Wrestling Leisure (WWE) star Rhea Ripley, Victorian wrestler Indi Hartwell, and South Australian Bronson Reed.
Ms Douglas, who performs as Savannah Summers, mentioned girls’s costumes can value upwards of $300 however she didn’t make wrestling gear for revenue.
“I simply love wrestling and I need to assist out the business just about, as a result of there’s not many individuals that do it,” she mentioned.
Fellow Adelaide wrestler Ash additionally needed to make her personal costumes when she started within the business, utilizing her abilities honed by way of her cosplay pastime.
Ash, who goes by the stage title of Axe Bloodbath, mentioned she was quickly making costumes for others too.
Axe Bloodbath (left) began making her personal wrestling gear when she could not discover something appropriate. (Equipped: Justin White)
“I informed one individual that I used to be going to make my very own gear and once they discovered that I might sew, it form of snowballed from there,” she mentioned.
Ash mentioned the significance of a wrestler’s picture shouldn’t be underestimated.
“Should you come out and also you look boring otherwise you look foolish, or like what you are sporting would not match the character that you simply’re attempting to place on the market … folks aren’t going to have an interest or they’ll be very confused,” she mentioned.
Costumes ‘make or break’ character
It was not simply feminine wrestlers who needed to create their very own costumes within the early days.
Travis Cleves, who performs as Jett Armstrong, mentioned what wrestlers put on was simply as vital as creating memorable moments within the ring.
“A stand-out costume can both make or break your character,” he mentioned.
However 20 years in the past, he and his brother, who wrestles as Nick Armstrong, needed to supply their costumes from wedding ceremony costume designers.
“They’d by no means completed a wrestling costume earlier than, however they knew the way to sew and do some form of cool trying issues,” he mentioned.
“We gave them as a lot steering as we knew the way to, however on the finish of the day, I am much more joyful now that we now have precise wrestling gear designers that know precisely what they’re doing.”
Travis Cleves says he used to supply his costumes from a marriage costume designer. (Equipped: Jaidyn Maidment)
Mr Cleves mentioned he was glad up-and-coming wrestlers now have extra choices, and mentioned they had been attaining what he might “solely dream of” when he first began.
“Nowadays we now have a whole lot of actually good designers for the costumes right here in South Australia, and throughout Australia,” he mentioned.
And, he mentioned, the business general was “rising phenomenally”.
“Folks depart right here simply feeling unbelievable after a present and that is why we do it,” he mentioned.
