Kayra Theodore is the hair architect pushing beauty’s boundaries
Hair artist Kayra Theodore’s show Untied sees her difficult childhood experiences and ever-expanding creativity unite across 30 wild and whimsical hairstyles.
This July, a group of models were seen sauntering through 99 Scott Studios in Brooklyn adorned with whimsical braided bows, some exceeding their own wingspan. The fantastical hairstyles were geometric, wiry, curled, and looped. Some designs balanced atop the heads of their stewards while others presented as quirky bowties radiating from the chest of their wearers like erratic sunbeams. Hair stylist and artist Kayra Theodore was the architect behind each of those looks.
Growing up in a strict Haitian household, the 27-year-old often felt suppressed by expectation. Her inaugural hair show opened with a performance recounting a childhood memory in which Theodore was mocked for her hair and culture. That same pressure persisted at home. Sponsored by Instagram Drafts Fund, the 30-look collection Untied was conceived as an act of reconciliation and a way to soothe the tension around assimilation and authenticity that permeated her life at that time. As the show progressed, the styles became more grand and freeing until the final look revealed a structureless veil, undoubtedly illustrating the moment Theodore finally untied her feelings of shame and moulded them into expressions of creative freedom.
Following the show, Theodore joined EE72 to talk about how the concept of Untied came to be, and the hairstyle that made her fall in love with braiding…
PHOTOGRAPHY TAIYE GODBODY
Where did you learn how to braid?
My mom would take me to the African braiding salons, and I remember seeing a picture of jumbo box braids. I thought they looked so cool. The next time that I went in, I asked them to do it and was told they would be too big and too heavy. I was the type of kid where if you told me I can’t do it, I’m going to find a way to do it. If I have a vision, I always do whatever I can to see it through. So I went home and looked it up on YouTube, and I just did it. I bought braiding hair and I bought gel. It started as me trying to achieve a certain style, but because people were asking me to do hair, I realized I can also keep doing my own instead of waiting for someone at a salon.
How did the idea of hosting a hair show come about?
Two years ago, I was invited to Black Hair Reimagined, and that was the first time I’d ever seen a hair show or heard of one. To be honest, I thought that they would’ve asked me to showcase work. Many of the people who did showcase told me how trailblazing my designs were. At first I was in my feelings about it, but I said, ‘I’m still going to go.’ I went, and it was a great opportunity to take notes, learn, and apply next year. My goal was to pitch myself to them. When the event came around the following year, I received another invite and wondered where I went wrong. So again, I went and had a great time. Then I said, ‘You know what? If I can’t be a part of a hair show like this, why don’t I just have my own?’
How did Instagram get involved?
I wanted to create something meaningful to me. I wanted the first collection I ever put out to trace back to my roots, showing how I got into doing hair and my relationship with it. I made a bunch of sketches. I was ready to go, but I didn’t have the funding. I contacted haircare brands that I’d worked with, block parties, everyone. Every door closed. It was a hot mess. I’m not going to lie. Then a few months ago, Instagram hit me up and asked if I had an idea that I was trying to make happen. I said, ‘There’s no freaking way!’ I cried. I know God does everything for a reason because the ideas that I had last year don’t even compare to what I was able to create this year. I do everything in my room, so I’ve never had a studio or anything. Through the funding, I was able to book a studio for the summer, and I didn’t have to worry about getting glue on my sheets.
I wanted to create something meaningful to me. I wanted the first collection I ever put out to trace back to my roots, showing how I got into doing hair and my relationship with it.
KAYRA THEODORE
What inspired the concept of Untied?
It stemmed from a place of family having certain expectations of me. It was always school and home. Those were the environments I was exposed to. I wasn’t going out on weekends. My parents were very strict, and I had to be this certain person. I always thought I had to listen. I carried that into high school. It wasn’t until I went to college and saw people express themselves that I realized I was never being myself. I never had a moment or an opportunity to ask myself, ‘What do I want to do? How do I want to show up?’ Those weren’t things that I was able to explore. Through Untied, I want people to have that internal reflection.
It wasn’t until I went to college and saw people express themselves that I realized I was never being myself. I never had a moment or an opportunity to ask myself, ‘What do I want to do? How do I want to show up?’ Those weren’t things that I was able to explore. Through Untied, I want people to have that internal reflection.
KAYRA THEODORE
Did responses to the show meet your expectations?
There are a lot of people who have personally messaged me that I have on my list to work with. The fact that they went out of their way to give me my flowers shows me that they see the value. I felt like a lot of people weren’t considering me before, especially to do hair for others. It’s really brought my work to the forefront of people’s minds. I hope that people can believe in what I can contribute, but I can’t even take full credit. The collection I thought up last year was just about bows. There’s a creative named Zai who’s a cinematographer and just an overall storyteller. We thought about how to make this more of a story versus just the hair looking beautiful. The event would not have come out the way that it did without him. He was my co-creative. People cried at the show, and people wouldn’t have cried at the one I originally planned last year.
What’s the scariest part about this creative process?
It’s that I’m still navigating financial independence. The views don’t pay the bills; it’s the sponsorships, but I don’t want to build my career on doing sponsorships. It’s nice to make that chunk of change, but I want the work to be able to fund itself and to fund my life. I’m still trying to figure out what the next step is. It can feel a little scary not having your footing. I love my ideas, but I have to consider how people are perceiving them too. I’m not only making things for myself anymore. I’m making them for people like you and everyone else.
What’s next for you?
I didn’t want this show to only be a moment on social media and then disappear. That’s what happens so often when people come out with a project. It’s talked about, and then people move on to the next. So I thought, ‘How can I leverage this? How can I introduce this to a new audience?’ I want to possibly showcase Untied in different spaces, maybe not at the magnitude of 30 pieces, but I definitely want to put out the collection. I have concepts for other hair shows, but I don’t want to move on from this yet.
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