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LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 12.14 85 looking at the actor to know it's a wig. I am essentially creating a work of art that needs to disappear in order to be believed." Originally from the small town of Pana, Illinois, Fleming went to Illinois State Univer- sity with a major in theater design and production ("far less relevant than I had expect- ed") and a minor in business administration ("far more relevant than I expected"). While pursuing her master's at the University of Illinois in 2003, Fleming started working in the theater department's wig shop. Soon after, the professor in charge unexpectedly packed her bags. Fleming took over. "Destiny," she says. She had never made a wig before. "Tey threw me into the deep end and it worked," she says. "It almost killed me, but I learned a lot." By 2005, Fleming was the "wig master" at the Barter Teatre in Virginia. Tree years later, she had the same position at Actors Teatre (she loved making wigs for Pride and Prejudice). When she opened the Custom Wig Co. in 2010, she never thought St. Nick would be such a large part of the business model. Her frst Santa lived in Cleveland. Now she has shipped Santa wigs, which cost anywhere from $1,100 and $1,750, to Japan and Australia. Fleming is essentially weaving a latch-hook rug. She threads thousands of human hairs (overfowing in FedEx boxes in her basement studio) into a nylon mesh, one knot at a time, doing every strand by hand so the mane "falls" like real hair. Each Santa wraps his head in a simple plastic wrap, which Fleming and her four-person crew use to stay true to the shape of each cranium. Like a milliner, Fleming places the mold on a canvas block, which the cus- tom hairpiece does not leave until it meets the client's head. Fleming calls this 40-hour pro- cess "the internal combustion engine of wig-making." Tis year, she estimates she's done 80 to 100 Santa wigs. "Tese Santas all see this job, this re-enactment of this beloved mythical fgure, as something of great meaning. Tey are men of such vast walks of life," Fleming says. "I just give them a piece of the puzzle." Photos of Fleming clients by her husband, Ben Marcum. Spoiler alert: George Newcomb (top), Dave Kind (left) and Robbie Levensbaum.