Heritage Series 03: Faith Melody-Ramautar

Written by Lauren Bryant

No longer side-lined as “just” an accessory, Indian-Jamaican hair sculpture artist, Faith Melody-Ramautar’s designs reconcile ancestral traditions with modern forms of expression, rejecting and redefining the harmful beauty standards of the fashion and art worlds to carve out a new space where cultural heritage and creativity converge. 

Faith’s work is a culmination of memories and moments: braiding her hair as a child, the behind-the-scenes of her mum’s work as a sculptor at Madame Tussauds, and her time studying Fashion Jewellery at UAL. 

It was the voluminous hair and hibiscus flowers of Diana Ross’ 1969 performance I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair (a style she later recreated) and Solange’s iconic halo braid and durag at the 2018 Met Gala, designed by cultural coiffeur, Shani Crowe, that first caught her eye. 

Her own intricate designs are a love letter to many passions: music, poetry, film, nature, theatre. From towering waterfalls and blossom trees, to mosaic church windows, moons, and bird cages, Faith’s visual expressionism is a profound exploration of love, femininity, self-acceptance, and strength, brought to life with fabrics, jewels, cowrie shells, and pearls.

As an onlooker or admirer, it’s easy to see the beauty in her designs without the heartache behind them. Much like songwriters, Faith’s concepts are led by thought and feeling, often drawing on insane breakups or hard times and acting as a therapeutic process. This can be seen in I’LL GIVE YOU MY HEART, a wire-style design inspired by one of her diary entries which represents “the confession of feelings, fears of the heart, and giving your heart to someone in the hope that they won’t crush it.” It’s this rawness and deep feeling that draws us in—a collective hurt we might not understand but automatically resonate with.

Central to Faith’s work is her Indian-Jamaican heritage; two cultures for which hair holds great historical and cultural significance. Having felt a pressure to choose “one or the other”, the artist’s younger self would use art and hair to be seen, as an act of self-love. This remains a continual driver of her work, creating opportunity for intergenerational healing and connection for other Black and POC women and girls. 

In majority-Black cultures, hair is your pride and glory–your crown—and as an ancient symbol of familial background, wealth, and fertility, it was (and remains) a central part of African dress. Faith’s work reinstalls this crown with a modern flair, marking a return to her ancestors and simultaneous rejection of western beauty standards. In redefining these standards as “my skin, my crown. An honouring of my sisters who wore their hair like this before–the people of my culture”, Faith’s designs are a powerful reminder of what it means to be bold with and proud of your hair. 

While fashion has, and always will be, a mouthpiece for personality and style, it is hair that often bears the weight of cultural meaning and enduring political connotations. For Faith, “Hair is political. Always political. It’s this feeling of having to take out our cane rows, get a perm, and hide our natural hair away from the world”. But, her designs are a rejection of this—a reigniting of hair’s storytelling potential—all at once weaving history, pain, power, and resistance. 

Despite the hair industry being just as exclusive and tied to a one-size-fits-all approach, artists like Faith are creating their own space. From brand partnerships with Urban Outfitters, to creating looks for the Brit Awards, LFW, and editorials with the likes of Crack magazine, as Faith says herself, “my gift is making room for me.”