Maria Thattil On Ancestral Roots & Showing Up In Culture

Refinery29

23-05-2025

Maria Thattil 's relationship with her hair hasn't always been wrapped in confidence. For years, it was knotted with experimentation and the unspoken pressure to fit into beauty ideals. But these days, as she reflects on her beauty journey perched at Australian Fashion Week, she's no longer looking to blend in. She's building looks and a legacy, from the roots up.
Her hair, as she describes it, is 'naturally a little bit wavy, a little bit textured.' But it's more than just a texture or aesthetic. It's an inheritance, one that ties her to mum, grandma and ancestors. Thattil proudly shares that she has 'the same long, dark, silky South Asian hair as them,' and that sense of connection has become central to her identity.
Over the years, though, she's strayed from that hair, or rather, was nudged away by beauty ideals that didn't include her. "I've experimented a lot," she tells Refinery29. "And not always for the right reasons." Thattil previously opened up to us about how she dyed her hair to look less Indian in the past — like so many women of colour, her hair became a site of negotiation, something to lighten or tame in pursuit of belonging.
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It's been really nice over the years coming back to myself and being confident in that.
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Maria is an ambassador for Shark Beauty, the presenting partner of Australian Fashion Week 2025. The brand's tagline — 'For all hair kind'— is something she personally resonates with. It's more than branding. It's a reclamation. A refusal to shrink her identity to meet Eurocentric standards. And, in her words, it's deeply political.
As a South Asian woman growing up in Australia, Maria remembers being teased for oiling her hair. "That's my earliest memory of hair care," she reflects. "My grandma did it to my mum, my mum would oil my hair. It's an act of love, but it's Ayurvedic."
What once drew ridicule, the scent, the slickness, the visible difference, is now trending. But it stings when traditions passed down through generations become aesthetic currency only when worn by someone else.
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It only becomes cool when it's on someone else. What belongs to you is only celebrated when it's on other bodies.
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Maria is clear: she's not against appreciation, she's against erasure. "We don't want our culture repackaged and resold to us. It's just honouring that this is who we've always been."
That distinction is particularly relevant during Fashion Week, where South Asian aesthetics are often borrowed but rarely credited. Maria notes the trend of wearing scarves styled like dupattas, traditional South Asian garments, without context. "People will take something from a culture and not honour the roots, and profit off it and exploit it and commodify it," she says.
Still, there are moments of joy and reclamation. She points to the showgoers, the journalists, the creators who are turning up in 'jumkas and bangles and dupattas and saris,' wearing their culture loudly and proudly. 'We're going to show up and we're going to wear our culture with pride,' she says, and her voice lights up at the thought.
Hair, for her, is often the starting point for that expression. "Hair is actually very often the base, where I then build these looks around it," she explains. Whether she's feeling grunge in a tee and baggy jacket or stepping out in couture, her hair is her anchor, an extension of how she feels that day.
' Fashion should be something that empowers you, not makes you blend in,' Maria says. She loves seeing the shift away from trends for trends' sake. For her, the real power lies in style as self-expression, in dressing and styling from the inside out.
And while she might now have access to 'the best hair stylists' and tools, her off-duty vibe is more low-key. "Honestly, on my days off, I'm just a hair mask and plaits kind of girl," she laughs. 'It's a balance.'
Maria is hopeful about the direction the fashion and beauty industries are moving, especially with how digital voices are forcing change. 'I think the biggest change I've seen is that brands are listening a lot to people when they call for diversity,' she explains. 'But we still have a long way to go.'
That long way includes body diversity, age inclusion, and disability representation, not just in front of the camera, but backstage, in boardrooms, and on design teams. "Fashion really, truly is for everyone," she says. And that has to be reflected across every layer.
Her partnership with Shark Beauty reflects that alignment. 'Their ethos is for all hair kind,' she says. 'It's about people embracing their hair in all its unique and diverse textures and forms. That sets a precedent.'
For Thattil, reclaiming her hair kind isn't just about looking good, though that's very much on the cards. It's about honouring the rituals, resisting the repackaging, and choosing to show up fully in the world as she is.
The girl who once got teased for oily plaits is now setting the standard for what hair, and pride, really look like. Roots and all.