Taya Valkyrie Is Creating Visual Moments With Fashion And Wrestling, Bringing ‘LOCA’ To Fruition
Taya Valkyrie is staying busy by creating memorable moments in wrestling as she branches out into the world of fashion.
Valkyrie recently spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard about her influences both in and out of the ring. Taya has been able to reinvent herself over the years through fashion, and she says it’s really important as an artist to have a chance to mix things up visually while remaining true to who she is.
“As artists, it’s so important to evolve. I feel like—and I’m glad you said it—but my [in-ring] work is the same but I’ll bring in new stuff from different things that I’ve learned and continue to learn. I’m still training all of the time and trying to become better, and when it comes to the way Taya is presented—let’s say [ring] gear-wise or entrance gear-wise, it’s always just these ‘inspirational moments’ or these ideas that I have. I’m really happy that seamstresses accept me for me [laughs] and all of my ridiculous requests that I have,” Taya said. “The reason I did, for example, Cruella DeVil—Cruella is always wearing fur coats so it was just a natural, fun, different theme for me because I don’t ever really do a lot of that, dressing up, even though I have a lot of jackets. For example, my orange jacket at BFG last year was inspired by a Lady Gaga jacket that she wore on RuPaul’s Drag Race a million years ago.
“So, I find I have inspiration from different places but nobody notices it as much, but with Cruella I was like ‘OK, maybe I will do another Disney-inspired villain outfit.’ I thought Captain Hook was fun and obviously, I’m doing a female-inspired Captain Hook but I’m not completely turning into him. It’s not exactly cosplay but it’s more inspired by that [character]. We have some things planned for the next pay-per-view that are completely different again and I have fun doing this. I have fun thinking about and creating visual moments for my fans,” Taya said, “visual moments for those people who are watching at home and when I come out say, ‘Ah! I get it!’ Or maybe you don’t and I have to explain it, but I’m creating moments in time with my art that I’m doing.”
Photo Credit: IMPACT Wrestling
Taya has also been busy creating her LOCA by Taya Valkyrie fashion line, which ended up getting a jump start due to the pandemic. Taya revealed she started fashion school earlier in the year, but she found a positive outlet during the pandemic and a way to
“The clothing line came about because I’m a student—I’m a fashion student and I have been since January. And then the pandemic happened, and I’m a very—I need to be doing or creating something or I go crazy, and that’s pretty much what was happening. [laughs] I think like everybody else I was depressed for a little bit and then I was just like, OK, I’m still in school and trying to study and learning about all of this stuff. I always originally planned to have a clothing line but it wasn’t going to happen for a long time because of my schedule, and I only like doing things that I can do 100 percent. I don’t like half-assing things,” Taya explained, “and I wanted to make sure I was educated on what I was doing and not just putting my name on it. So when everything started happening with the pandemic and things shutting down, I said I need to find something and I decided to go for it.”
“It’s clearly grown and it’s continued to grow. We’ve had three drops so far and it’s only been going since May, so it’s pretty nuts to think that. I’m right on the cusp of being able to announce all of the autumn/winter 2020 stuff that is coming out. I’m so proud of this stuff that’s coming out specifically because it was from my drawing. I sketched out all of the clothes that are coming out. It’s coming into fruition, so it’s been another creative process,” Taya added, “It’s another layer of who I am and it’s a lot of fun to see people supporting it.”
The LOCA by Taya Valkyrie Winter Collection drops on November 7th at 12pm PT on http://tayavalkyrie.com; check out our full interview with Taya at the top of this post.
Read More: Taya Valkyrie Suffers Second Degree Burns At Home
LOCA Winter is HERE! – https://t.co/yEhIAqQhDO pic.twitter.com/OiPDQb6Fkg
— LOCA by Taya Valkyrie (@LocabyTayaV) November 6, 2020