Meet Sonya, S. Riviere Hair Collection
Founder • Stylist • Creator

Sonya
Riviere

15+ Years • IATSE Local 798 • Georgia

"I needed hair I could trust to use in my clients, so I sought out and tested suppliers to offer you the best quality hair & longevity"

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Sonya
15+
Years of Craft
Who She Is

Not just a brand.
A working stylist.

"I wanted more control over my earnings, and over the quality of the product I put in my clients' hair."

Sonya Riviere has been doing hair for over 15 years. Not managing a brand, but actually doing hair, for brides the morning of the most important day of their lives, on television anchors under studio lights, on film sets where continuity demands perfection.

She knows what hair has to do under pressure. She knows what holds and what fails. She knows what a client needs to feel before they walk down that aisle or step in front of that camera. S. Riviere Hair Collection was built on that experience and knowledge.

The Journey

Fifteen years
in the making.

Sonya did not start S. Riviere overnight. The brand is the result of 15+ years of working across every discipline in beauty, from salon chair, film sets and bridal, to name a few.

Early
Empire Beauty School, Master Cosmetology

Lawrenceville, Georgia. Where the foundation was laid, technique, discipline, and a passion for the craft that started in childhood watching how hair changes everything about the way a woman carries herself.

Training
Toni & Guy Salons, Precision Cutting

Advanced precision cutting training under one of the most respected salon brands in the world. This is where "good enough" stopped being acceptable and technical mastery became the only standard worth having.

2012
GlowDry, Buckhead, Atlanta's First Blowout Salon

Joined one of Atlanta's most sought-after salons in Buckhead. Expanded into makeup, freelance bridal, fashion, and commercial work. The clientele here shaped Sonya's understanding of luxury service and what high-end clients expect, and remember.

Film
WSB-TV Atlanta, Film & Television Begins

First foray into broadcast television with Atlanta's WSB-TV. Hair and makeup for on-camera talent under the supervision of Tymeka McNeil. The discipline of on-camera work, precision under time pressure, continuity across multiple takes, became a permanent part of how Sonya works.

Union
IATSE Local 798, Film & Television Union

Joined IATSE Local 798, the union for professional makeup artists and hair stylists in the entertainment industry. This credential places Sonya in the same professional tier as stylists working on major film and television productions. Her extensions have appeared on screen, on stage, and on red carpets.

2016
Sonya Riviere LLC, Independent

Founded her own company. Full-time freelance across bridal, film, television, commercial, and editorial. Partnered with makeup artist Danina Nicole for bridal work. The independence gave her control over the quality of every client experience, which is the only kind of control she wanted.

2018
The Foundation

Sonya saw the problem clearly: quality extensions were nearly impossible to find. Brides were bringing her hair she couldn't stand behind, and the market wasn't offering anything better. So she started building her own solution — launching Wigs & Extensions by Sonya Riviere LLC.

During that same season, her curiosity about wig making led her to The Hair Diagram, where she completed a machine wig making course and earned her certification. Fascinated by what she was learning, she kept going — adding a specialization in lace customization, including knot bleaching and lace melting on pre-made lace frontals. But Sonya wanted to go deeper.

2019
The Art of Ventilation & Lace Wig Making

In 2019, Sonya took her craft further with the I Make Wigs program, where she learned the art of ventilation — hand-tying individual knots into lace by hand. She studied cap construction and head molding, skills that would later prove invaluable on film sets where precision, fit, and durability aren't optional.

Why S. Riviere Exists

Hand selected. Personally trusted. Built over time.

Over the course of her career, Sonya has worked across high pressure environments, on set, fashion shows, before the alter, learning firsthand what quality hair extensions require to deliver the best outcome. Investing in extensions isn't just about one day, it's about hair that performs long term. Too much of what was on the market didn't hold up. It was often mixed with fibers or synthetic hair, too thin or couldn't be resued, a problem Sonya set out to solve, both as a hairstylist and as a consumer. So she started sourcing and testing different hair on the market. Along the way, she realized the problem was bigger than just finding quality hair, most people had no real and honest information about what they were buying.

Raw Indian single donor hair, sourced directly from South Indian temples, where donation has been a sacred tradition for centuries. One donor per bundle. No chemical processing. No blending. No deception about what the hair is or where it came from. Just the real thing, accurately described, sold by someone who uses it herself.

That is what S. Riviere is. That is why it exists.

Sonya's Original Creation
The Chandani Collection

She did not just
sell it. She
created it.

Chandani faux locs are Sonya's own creation — a technique she developed, refined, and named herself. Trained across multiple faux loc methods, she quickly discovered that raw Indian single donor hair demanded a different approach. It was finer, more delicate, and required a technique built specifically for it.

But technique wasn't the only driving force. Sonya was also chasing a look. She wanted faux locs that didn't look like faux locs — extensions that moved, aged, and felt like the real thing. Authentic was the only standard she would accept.

Named after the Sanskrit word for “moonlight,” Chandani means soft, feminine, and radiant. Wearing them is not just a style choice — it is an experience. Chandani faux locs are exclusive to S. Riviere, designed specifically for raw Indian single donor hair and finished to look like a naturally beautiful, authentic loc extension.

When you wear Chandani, you are wearing something Sonya made. That is not a marketing line. It is literally true.

Her Credentials

The proof is
in the record.

A message from Sonya

"When you invest in S. Riviere, you are not buying from a brand. You are buying from a stylist who has spent 15 years learning what hair has to do, and who built a product line because she could not find anything else she trusted enough to use herself. That is the standard everything here is held to."

Sonya Riviere

Shop the Collection
Ready to Invest?

Hair that lasts.
From someone who knows.

Browse the full collection, raw Indian single donor bundles, the Sundari wig collection, and Sonya's original Chandani faux locs. Or book a session with Sonya directly.

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