Sandra Gray is a fashion and costume designer known particularly for her work designing and building costumes for wrestling.

Biography

Gray was born June 27, 1956. Her father was in the Army, and her mother won a sewing machine in a bingo game while on the base that she passed to her daughter, and Gray taught herself how to sew and make clothes for herself and her friends. In 1994, while living in

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

, Gray was engaged to make a costume for

Marc Mero Marc Mero (born July 9, 1960) is an American motivational speaker and retired professional wrestler and amateur boxer. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) under his real name and with World Champ ...

. Mero stated that Gray answered a newspaper advertisement, although Gray recalls being approached by Mero's girlfriend at the time Rena Greek, who had heard about her sewing skills. The costume that Gray created established Mero's signature character, Johnny B. Badd, based on

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

. As a result of this commission, and due to word-of-mouth from Mero, Gray became a successful designer and costumier specialising in wrestling wear. With the support of

Miss Elizabeth Elizabeth Ann Hulette (November 19, 1960 – May 1, 2003), best known in professional wrestling circles as Miss Elizabeth, was an American professional wrestling Manager (professional wrestling), manager, occasional professional wrestler and prof ...

and

Lex Luger Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and gridiron football player. He is best known for his work with Jim Crocke ...

, she signed an exclusive contract with

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

which the majority of its assets were acquired by the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

in 2001. Gray was employed as costume designer for WWE until 2015. Gray got hired at

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...

in 2019 as their in-house seamstress. In her job, she was often seen on the WWE reality programme

Total Divas ''Total Divas'' is an American reality television series that aired from July 28, 2013, to December 10, 2019, on E!. The series gave viewers an inside look into the lives of female WWE wrestlers from their work within WWE to their person ...

. She was succeeded by Sarath Ton, a former independent wrestler known as Mikaze. Gray's other wrestling clients include

Layla El Layla El (born 25 June 1977) is an English retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, dancer and Model (person), model. She is best known for her tenure in WWE, under the mononymous ring name Layla. She danced for Carnival Cruise L ...

Nikki Bella Stephanie Nicole Garcia-Colace (born November 21, 1983), also known by the stage names Nikki Bella and Nikki Garcia, is an American television personality and professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE. She is the host of the game show, '' B ...

Alicia Fox Victoria Elizabeth Crawford (born June 30, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where she performs under her real name as the on-screen Deputy Director of Authority, and also performs ...

Cameron Cameron may refer to: People * Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan * Cameron (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Cameron (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) ;Mononym * Cam'ron (born 19 ...

, Dustin and

Cody Rhodes Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (born June 30, 1985) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. As of April 2022, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. He is also known for co-fou ...

Dolph Ziggler Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he performs under his real name, stylized as Nic Nemeth, where he is one-half of the TNA World Tag ...

and

Allie Allie is a unisex given name, a nickname and, more rarely a surname. It is a diminutive form of several names beginning with ''Al-''. It may refer to: Given name or nickname Female * Allie (wrestler) (born 1987), Canadian professional wrestler ...

. She originated

Naomi Naomi or Naomie may refer to: People and biblical figures * Naomi (given name), a given name and a list of people with the name * Naomi (biblical figure), Ruth's mother-in-law in the Old Testament Book of Ruth * Naomi (Romanian singer) (born 1977 ...

's trademark glow-in-the-dark costumes in 2016, and created wedding dresses for Naomi's 2014 wedding to

Jimmy Uso Jonathan Solofa Fatu (born August 22, 1985), better known by his ring name Jimmy Uso, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, brand. He is a member ...

and for

Penelope Ford Olivia Hasler (born September 14, 1992) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Penelope Ford. She is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). She is also known for her work in Combat Zone Wrestling. Professional wrestling ...

's on-screen marriage to

Kip Sabian Simon James Kippen (born 19 May 1992), better known by the ring name Kip Sabian, is an English professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is a member of The Patriarchy (professional wrestling), The Patriarchy. Ear ...

AEW Dynamite ''AEW Dynamite'', also known as ''Wednesday Night Dynamite'' or simply ''Dynamite'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by the American Professional wrestling promotion, promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It air ...

in February 2021. Gray has also made cheerleader uniforms, including the inaugural cheerleader uniforms for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

squad's debut in September 2011. In 2016, Gray opened a shop in

Riverview, Florida Riverview is an unincorporated census-designated place in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. It is located south of Brandon. The population was 107,396 in the 2020 census, up from 71,050 in the 2010 census. Many of Tampa Bay's radio ...

, selling both her original designs and vintage clothing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Sandra 1956 births Living people African-American fashion designers All Elite Wrestling personnel American fashion designers American costume designers American women costume designers Place of birth missing (living people) Women in WWE People from Marietta, Georgia People from Riverview, Hillsborough County, Florida