ABOUT
MERRIA DEARMAN
Merria Dearman has always loved helping people. Long before recognition or press, that instinct guided her work. For more than two decades, she has worked with men and women at deeply personal turning points in their lives. Some were navigating medical hair loss and trying to recognize themselves again. Others were stepping into reinvention and wanted their outward appearance to reflect who they felt they were becoming. Through each experience, Merria came to understand something fundamental. Hair is not superficial. It is identity, memory, and power.
Her path began with curiosity and a desire to master her craft. She furthered her education at Vancouver Film School, studying makeup and hair for film and stage. While immersed in character design, she discovered the technical and emotional depth of wig making. The detail, the patience, the precision. The ability to build something so seamless that it disappears into the person wearing it.
GLOBAL EXPERTISE
She began her career as a hairstylist in Santa Rosa, California, earning national recognition within two years. But the moment that truly shaped her life came later. After completing her studies, Merria returned home to learn that her beloved aunt had been diagnosed with Stage IV cancer. When treatment took her aunt’s hair, Merria used her training to create a hyper realistic wig that would allow her to look in the mirror and still see herself.
That experience changed everything. Watching her aunt regain confidence during such a difficult time clarified her purpose. Wig making was no longer simply a craft. It became a responsibility.
In 2013, Merria moved to New York City and opened her first wig salon on the Upper East Side. Within a year, demand for her work had grown so rapidly that she needed assistance fabricating her designs. As she looked outward for production support, she was confronted with the realities of the global hair trade and mass market wig manufacturing. What she discovered changed the trajectory of her career.
Determined to do better, Merria made a commitment to ethical sourcing. She chose to work only with facilities that practice fair market exchange, where women are paid directly and fairly for their hair, where workers receive living wages, and where harsh chemical processing is not forced upon laborers. She personally traveled to countries of origin to witness how hair is harvested and processed, and to understand how a wig should be responsibly built from start to finish.
Today, she continues to source directly from partners in China, Indonesia, Eastern Europe, Vietnam, and the United States, maintaining hands-on oversight of both human and environmental standards.
As Merria often says, hair is a naturally occurring commodity. It is organic, it decomposes, and it continues to hold immense value. If we can be humane in sourcing and fully responsible in processing without harming our environment or the people in it, we all win. We help guide a billion dollar industry toward regulation while ensuring the public is informed, protected, and empowered when purchasing.
For her advocacy and her work to change industry standards, Merria was honored with a Humanitarian Award at the Fashion For Charity Gala, recognizing her efforts to improve the treatment of marginalized women around the world.
Her artistry has reached some of the most visible stages in fashion and culture. She served as an official hair partner for Vogue World 2025 at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. Her work has been worn by cultural figures including Karlie Kloss, Madonna, Naomi Campbell, Irina Shayk, Gisele Bündchen, Leslie Mann, Debi Mazar, Hailee Steinfeld, Megan Fox, Dove Cameron, Rihanna, Elizabeth Debicki, Billie Eilish, and Sarah Jessica Parker. Her work has also been featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and through leading industry education platforms such as Hair Mastery.
In the theater world, Merria served as Wig Master at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, widely known as an incubator for many acclaimed Broadway productions. She has also worked with California Shakespeare Theater and American Conservatory Theater, building a reputation for precision, historical detail, and transformative character work.
Her advocacy and expertise have been widely covered in national and international press. She made her major debut in The New York Times with “Last of NY’s Master Wigmakers,” a story she pitched and sourced that brought rare attention to disappearing craftsmanship. She was later featured again in The New York Times in “Our Tangled World of Hair,” expanding the conversation around the global hair trade.
Her work and voice have also appeared in HuffPost, WWD, InStyle, AARP, VoyageLA, NYCityWoman, The Tease, and Metro Silicon Valley, where she has spoken about craftsmanship, sourcing transparency, and raising standards within the beauty industry.
At the heart of everything she does is the same intention that first guided her. To help people feel whole, confident, and fully themselves, without compromising the dignity of anyone else in the process.
