All Things Beautiful: Aminata Kamara

A New Wave series exploring beauty in its various manifestations. For the duration of the series, Angel Oseghale will be sitting down with creatives from various spheres of the beauty industry and exploring their journeys in the industry, and what beauty means to them.

The first episode of the series focuses on Aminata Kamara, an award-winning Session Hair Stylist and Textured Hair Educator. Aminata has been an integral part of the beauty team at London, Paris and Milan fashion weeks, and has provided services as a hair artist for Chanel Couture, Dolce & Gabbana, and Louis Vuitton amongst many others.

Aminata opens up about her beginnings in the industry, her work progressing the culture surrounding the representation of black models in high fashion, and the natural hair holy grail products she swears by.

There is never a better place to start than the beginning. Could you tell us about how you started off in the industry?

I’ve been doing hair for years. From when I was younger, I would be playing around with various hair colours - blue hair extensions, red hair extensions. And I went to school in a predominantly white area, so being able to experiment with my own hair was always something that was so massive to me. Even when I went to university, doing hair was what helped me pay my way through university. Then I just stopped doing it for a really long time because it just took its toll on my body physically. 

About three years ago, I decided to pick it up again and the original plan was just to do “everyday” hairstyles - wigs, weaves, braids. But I set up a photoshoot and since that photoshoot, I started sharing my content on Instagram, building a community and a network and that’s how I got into fashion. 

Photographed by Tré Koch

It's interesting when speaking to people who are doing these amazing things, they frequently describe the trajectory of their journey as something they didn’t previously anticipate. Yet, when we dissect the roots of their journey a bit more finely, it usually leads back to a childhood passion.

How do you feel your work progresses the culture surrounding representation of black hair in high fashion?

I think it just shows what is possible. I think that’s why in such a short space of time, I’ve been able to build such a strong community. I know, through my own experience as a black woman experimenting, the opportunities are endless. There is so much we can do with our hair, and I feel privileged enough to be able to showcase that. 

I think historically, and to an extent currently, some of the people in the highest of positions do not come from our background. They don’t understand our hair and they have never been educated about how to work with it. Black models have systematically been excluded from the picture, and historically, there haven’t been a lot of people that look like me working in these spaces. 

Over the years that has changed, and I’m just one of many people who are doing the work. I remember starting out in the industry, and thinking I was going to come in and make this huge impact and “save” all these black models from the treacherous experiences they’d been having. And I remember being shocked by how many stylists backstage actually did look like me. A lot of the skills I showcase, I’ve learnt from other black (and non-black !) hairstylists backstage or on set.

Photographed by Sarah Sunnie

The fashion industry is such an exclusive space, and so, social media is still a fairly new thing. Most people aren’t seeing the real diversity of talent present backstage because a lot of these people are too busy actually doing the work to record it - and when things do go viral, it is usually the bad stuff because bad news spreads so much faster. For me, I am very intentional about changing this narrative, so it's so important to me to share. It's important to me that people see that, at the highest level, black women are being catered for. I know these experiences I share are not the full story. There is still shocking stuff that happens, but my mission is to show progression and give other hairstylists access to show them that you don’t just have to work in a salon, or your room, or just do braids for your friends. There is a space for you here and you can do it in this environment too.

You mentioned that there are a lot of people that you admire currently doing the work behind the scenes. Can you share some stylists that you think are doing some really cool things right now?

One of the first people that brought me onboard was Cyndia Harvey. I remember coming across her work and being like, oh my goodness, this is a black woman in the highest level of fashion, and I just felt so much synergy with her and her journey. There are also people like Jawara. Jawara used to live in London, and I think for a period he was in between London and America, but I think he is permanently in America now. But I work with him quite a lot and again, he is someone who is highly creative and amazing at what he does. 

There’s also Isaac Pollen. Again, just amazing. These are people who are at the top of their game. One of my friends, Muriel, is a hair stylist for Naomi Campbell. Also, Rio, who I have worked with on Mabel, Mahalia etc, also styles for Naomi Campbell. These are people who inspire me greatly and they just show me what is possible. Many of them have given me the opportunities I have today, and equally, I would like to pay that forward for other people as well.

I’m curious about your creative process. Could you walk us through how you conceptualise and manifest your creative visions on the model?

So, it depends. If it is a photoshoot and I have been brought in as lead stylist, I’m usually expected to deliver a look. The client will come onboard with a mood-board or concept, which can be very helpful as it steers you in the right direction off the bat, especially because they’ve probably worked with the stylist and the creative director to establish a look. That’s important because, unless it is a hair shoot, the hairstyle is really only to complement everything else. So, I’m used to being able to execute an external vision.

When I arrange my own projects, it is usually for the pure purpose of showing what is possible. On these shoots, I get to have control of the creative direction, and I collaborate with my team - from the photographer to the makeup artist and stylist to bring a cohesive look together.

Fashion week can be a bit different. It tends to be quite collaborative between the brand, the stylist, and the lead hairstylist. There are a number of lead hairstylists that I frequently work with, who are tagged all over my Instagram. There will usually be a team of us that come together on the day to execute the vision. Sometimes it’s a uniform look, sometimes it’s catered to the model. But even when creating uniformity, you still have to adapt to each model’s features - models with shorter or thicker hair might have their hairstyle adapted in a manner that still executes the brand vision, whilst catering to their individuality. You have to always sit and really look at your model, so you can gauge what is needed.

Hair can hold so much power, for Black women especially. It is ingrained in our culture, and it speaks deeply to our versatility. Black hairstyles are a symbol of our oppression, and a symbol of our beauty simultaneously. It tells a story of who we are and where we come from. Despite this, black women can find themselves falling into the trap of feeling the need to “over-perform” when it comes to their hair - perhaps, to combat the hyper-masculinised brush society tends to paint them with. What advice would you give to black women who feel their natural hair is not “good enough”?

I think the journey actually starts away from your hair. I think it starts within you and learning to love yourself in its entirety. I’m a mother and my daughter is nine years old now, and that journey has really defined my existence. It’s been so challenging at times, discovering who I am as a mother, but also who I am outside of that. For me, it took therapy, but it might be different for someone else. Regardless, I think once you can separate your internal worth from your external appearance as a whole, you develop a confidence that enables you to give yourself the time and grace you need to figure out every single part of yourself. 

I follow a woman called Paige Lewin on Instagram and she is very candid about her natural hair journey. She has gone on this miraculous journey from despising her natural hair and only really wearing wigs to spending time investing in her natural hair, finding the right routines, and learning how to style it.

It is so important to uplift yourself - go to a natural hair specialist, visit the trichologist, get your nails done, have a spa day, enjoy yourself! Once you can believe that every single part of you deserves love and that you are worthy enough to pour the time and energy into being your most authentic yourself – that is where the real magic happens.

What natural hair products would you recommend for women on this journey? What are your holy grails?

Definitely Amika. It’s a Brooklyn-based brand that has started its expansion to the UK. It’s currently stocked in Sephora and Cult Beauty. I would never recommend a product that I didn’t swear by, and Amika products are really that good. You can definitely develop a very solid natural hair care routine utilising their entire product range. Alternatively, I also really recommend Colour Wow and Mizani.