On Tuesday evening, May 19, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, a red runway was rolled out. Groups of very stylish young women in themed, intricate outfits walked down it in a manner not dissimilar to the Victoria's Secret show. Lila Moss, Norman Reedus, and Rowan Blanchard were all sitting on the front row. Only, at the end of the runway was not a moment to pose, turn and walk back – there was a wrestling ring. This was not your average fashion show; it was Sukeban’s latest World Championship, and the girls were there to fight each other.

Founded in 2022 by designer Olympia Le-Tan and her brother-in-law Alex Detrick, the Japanese all-women’s wrestling league combines the entertainment and sport of wrestling with explosive aesthetics, fashion and beauty. And, while the previous fights have always been a fashionable affair – with over-the-top hair, makeup and nails, and customised outfits – the New York World Championship fight took Sukeban style to the next level. There was even a special performance from rapper Molly Santana and the surprise pro-wrestling debut of two-time Olympic gold medalist and boxing World Heavyweight Champion Claressa Shields.

Sukeban takes its name from the Japanese girl gangs that emerged in the 1960s and 70s. In bringing joshi puroresu (the Japanese term for women’s pro wrestling) to a US audience, Le-Tan tells me that the original idea was this: Maybe if the wrestlers were well dressed, it could attract more people. “In Japan, women’s pro wrestling has always been more important than men’s,” she says. “But they are all wearing these metallic bikinis and do their own makeup. Wrestling is such a niche audience; maybe with makeup, fashion, and manga, we can attract different audiences.” 

In the crowd, I sat next to a 20-something-year-old Japanese woman’s wrestling superfan, who had travelled from a different state to make the match. At one point, he turned to me and asked, “So, are you into wrestling or are you in the fashion industry?” In the ring, each team was wearing something custom from a different buzzy brand. The latex worn by Straycat, for example, is made by Soft Skin Latex. The Cherry Bomb Girls also wore graphic embroidered jackets from Nike. Crush Yuu’s piece was embroidered entirely by hand with beads and Swarovski crystals, taking 564 hours to complete.

For the debut of the Tokyo Toys (whose characters are inspired by the vintage toy stores in Nakano Broadway), Le-Tan tapped Miss Claire Sullivan to create a custom, multilayered tutu for Krackin’ Kouki’s full soldier costume. “I never thought I'd see one of our tutus flying around in a boxing ring – making garments for performances is definitely something we're used to, but this is the first time we made something for a fight,” says Sullivan. “There was just enough movement for it to look amazing when the fighter is flying around, but we had to keep agility and utility in mind while making it.” 

Then, there was the debut of another new character in the Tokyo Toys, Seri Bear, who wore (you guessed it) brown bear ears tied together with a big silk ribbon, and fuzzy brown shorts. It was rising New York designer Vanna Youngstein who created the t-shirt worn with the look. “My tees are usually easy to wear. They are a boxy baby tee fit, so we knew it would work well for her costume,” she says. “The tee has a big pink glitter name logo with her name on it and a diamanté sparkle bear motif.” Under Le-Tan’s vision, the full looks also included two debut hats from Stephen Jones, bags by Katie Hillier, nail art by Mei Kawajiri and makeup by the Pat McGrath team.

Before designing costumes for wrestlers, Le-Tan had her own brand and no experience with performance wear. This, perhaps, allowed her to think outside the box when it comes to clothes you can move in but still look interesting: choosing latex instead of something like spandex and keeping a latex specialist on hand backstage. “You’re creating a character rather than a look for someone who’s going to wear it in the street, so it’s extra, but it’s not just spectacle, it’s also athletes”. Still, the wrestlers seem as committed to the outfits as they are to throwing each other in the air. “Even if it is uncomfortable, they want to try and wrestle in it if they love it, because they want to look great.”

At the end of the night, after many moments where wrestlers jumped outside of the ring and even threw street signs at each other, Ichigo Sayaka defeated Queen of Hearts to retain the Sukeban World Championship. With Sukeban’s next fight taking place on July 3, during the Anime Expo in Los Angeles, there are many more fashion moments to come. Moving forward, Le-Tan hopes they’ll continue collaborating with Nike and other exciting new designers in the fashion world on future characters they develop (they have debuted new characters in every match so far). 

I’ve had the pleasure of watching two Sukeban matches at this point – one in Miami last year and the championship in New York – and, each time, it’s the fashion that has hooked me, before the extreme action keeps me watching. In fact, I spent most of the match picking whose outfit I’d like to wear (for New York, it was Krackin’ Kouki’ because I am partial to a tutu). This made me think about how we can all inject some of Sukeban’s signature theatrics into our own personal style. Le-Tan had a simple answer for me: “By being more wild and eccentric”.