A New Wrestling League’s Secret Weapon? Fashion.

Sukeban, a Japanese wrestling league, is making a splash on American shores with high-flying heroes and incredible costumes. Next stop: Art Basel Miami. By Ellen Gamerman | Photography and Video by Brian Finke for WSJ. Magazine Dec. 1, 2023 Tap story

How does a group of entrepreneurs sell a new sport to Americans? For “Sukeban,” the Japanese female wrestling league that recently made its U.S. debut, the answer is, make it chic.

On a recent evening in New York City, 90 minutes of wrestling inside a magenta-roped ring was one part kawaii cute, one part fight-club subversive and one part WWE outrageous.

The 400-seat venue had sold out immediately after word spread about Sukeban’s U.S. premiere.

This browser does not support the video element. The wrestling league, which is planning a fight night in Miami on Dec. 6, was founded by American and Japanese entrepreneurs heavily into Joshi , the term for Japanese female wrestling.

Tastemakers from the worlds of fashion, art and design are involved, with a pivotal role played by Japanese female wrestling legend Bull Nakano, known by some as a Japanese female version of Hulk Hogan. Wrestlers gather backstage in New York.

The league gets its name from the 1960s Japanese female gang subculture known as Sukeban .

This browser does not support the video element. The movement’s tough-girl aesthetic informs the look and feel of the brand, which happens not only to be about candy-colored delinquent style but also about sports.

The women are divided into four crews, or what wrestlers call stables : the Vandals (zippers, ripped fishnets, scowls), Harajuku Stars (taffy-colored sailor suits, braids, pouts), Cherry Bomb Girls (streetwear, satin, masks) and Dangerous Liaisons (fake fur, Marie Antoinette hair, ruffles).

The league is working with a manga artist and animator in Japan, with art direction from Jamie Reid Studio, the London design group whose clients include Missoni and Versace.

Milliner Stephen Jones, who outfitted the late Princess Diana and recently put Beyoncé in one of his hats on her Renaissance tour, designed the headpieces.

Mei Kawajiri, the Japanese nail artist who has collaborated with Dua Lipa and Cardi B, created short and long nail looks for the women on and off the mat.

This browser does not support the video element. The league is headed to Miami for Art Basel this month, then on to Los Angeles. Sukeban will tour the U.S. throughout 2024 and hold matches in Tokyo.

Female wrestling was once big in Japan but slipped off the scene in recent decades. Since Covid, this flamboyant Japanese version of the sport has seen an uptick of popularity at home and abroad.

This browser does not support the video element. Most tickets cost about $50, but the league hopes to make money in the future from content partnerships, sponsorships, merchandise and potential TV and streaming deals.

Fashion designer Olympia Le-Tan, a founder and the creative director of Sukeban who often draws inspiration from British punk and Harajuku street style, was hooked after watching women wrestlers on recent visits to Tokyo.

This browser does not support the video element. Le-Tan designed the league's latex costumes, which though hot still allow the necessary give for fight routines and help the fashions stand out from the wrestling world's traditional spandex.

On fight night in New York, as a fashion model milled next to a documentary filmmaker and a wrestling writer, pink stalls offered complimentary cans of sake and Sapporo, candy apples, popcorn and branded lollipops.

“There’s not a lot of Japanese wrestling in America,” said Baker, 25, a one-named wrestling writer from Brooklyn who sat on a waitlist before getting his ticket to the event. “So when it does come here, it’s kind of a big deal.”

Produced by: Leah Latella and Lily Kupets READ MORE: Every Holiday Splurge Worth Making this Year The Style Upgrades You Didn’t Know You Needed: Neoprene and Neon See The World's Most Elaborate Flower Festival